The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Baseball Notes For The Alabama Game
4/10/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 10, 2002
TONIGHT
(Wed.? 4/10):
UAB vs.
ALABAMA (7 pm CDT)
?
THIS
WEEKEND'S SCHEDULE:
?
Fri.
4/12 * UAB vs. TULANE (7 pm CDT)
Sat.
4/13 *?UAB vs. TULANE (3 pm CDT)
Sun.
4/14 * UAB vs. TULANE (1 pm CDT)
?
THE
BLAZERS: Are 9-22 overall (2-10 C-USA) and coming off
a weekend series at Saint Louis (Apr. 5-7), in which the Blazers won one of three games.
AT LEAST
THAT'S OVER:
Saturday's 8-3 win at Saint Louis snapped a 10-game losing streak for the Blazers
(seven games in C-USA play), that streak was the second-longest in school
history.
THE
CRIMSON TIDE:? Alabama enters tonight's game
with a 28-5 overall record and a five-game win streak, the Tide's current
national poll rankings:
??????????? Collegiate
Baseball: 3rd
??????????? Baseball
America: 4th
??????????? Baseball
Weekly/ESPN Coaches': 5th
GOOD
NEWS:
Tonight's game is not in Tuscaloosa, where Alabama is 22-0 this season.
BAD
NEWS: The Blazers
will play at Alabama on May 1 (6:30 pm).
UAB vs. ALABAMA:? The Crimson Tide leads the all-time
series 24-13, dating back to the
1979 season (UAB's first year of NCAA competition).
LAST
SEASON: UAB took
both games -- on successive nights, winning 10-6 in Tuscaloosa on Apr. 10 and
6-5 in a thriller at Young Memorial Field (Apr. 11).
UAB
STARTER: Freshman
right-hander Rusty McIntyre (0-0, 1.42 ERA in four appearances) makes? his first collegiate start
tonight.? McIntyre (Decatur,
Ala./Decatur HS) had his most recent outing vs. Samford at Young Memorial Field
(Mar. 26), working 2.2 innings and allowing one (earned) run on four hits with
two walks and four strikeouts. McIntyre also saw action in games vs. Alabama
State (Mar. 12), Auburn (Mar. 19), and Charlotte (Mar. 22).
BAMA
STARTER: Sophomore
right-hander Jared Woodward (2-1, 3.58 ERA) will be the first of several pitchers for
the Tide tonight.
CALL HIM
"GINO":
Larry Giangrosso
(UAB '75) is in his third season as head coach of the UAB Blazers.? The Birmingham native? is? 62-84 (.425)? overall at
UAB.? Giangrosso was named head
coach at UAB on June 16, 1999.?
Prior to that, he spent nine seasons as head coach at Central Alabama
Community College (1991-99), where he posted a 320-183-1 (.636)
record and led his teams to a state championship (1998) and three conference
titles. Giangrosso also had a very successful stint as head coach at
Birmingham's W.A. Berry High School (1979-90), where he had a 254-115 (.688)
record and led the Bucs to the Alabama 4A state title (1981), as well as five
regional and four Jefferson County championships.
A
PIONEER: Coach Larry
Giangrosso played
baseball for UAB in the mid 1970s, prior to the establishment of the
NCAA-sanctioned athletics program in 1978.? The team competed essentially as a club program (it was
administered by the school's Physical Education Department), but the
baseball was definitely real -- the team competed against many of the local and
state colleges (e.g. Birmingham-Southern) that UAB faces now (Gino has the
letter jacket to prove it).
1K CLUB:
Counting his high
school, junior college and four-year collegiate head coaching experience, UAB
Head Coach Larry Giangrosso worked his 1000th game as a head coach vs. Auburn
on Mar. 5.
INJURY
PROBLEMS:? Injuries have played a big role in the
Blazers' woes this season, virtually every position has been affected at
one time or another, and several players have missed a great deal of playing
time or are out completely.? A
summary of the UAB injury situation as of Apr. 10:
RHP
* Andre Parks (back, currently out of starting rotation, day-to-day)
INF *? J.B. Fesmire (back, last played vs.
Connecticut on Mar. 9, day-to-day)?
OF *? Chad House (bruised knee, missed four
games but now close to 100%)?
OF *? Kyle Leon (abdominal strain, missed
eight games, also close to 100%)?
OF*
Quincy Williams (hamstring, has played in 21games but rarely at 100%)?
C *
Al Hecklinski (shoulder, played in eight early games - will take a medical
redshirt).
C *
Brad Bamberg (abdominal strain, missed 12 games but now close to 100%)
C *
Brett Tilley (out for season after shoulder surgery)?
RHP *
Scott Gibson (out for season after shoulder surgery)
YOUNGSTERS
CONTRIBUTE: ?The Blazers have counted heavily on the
contributions of several true freshman this season, including second baseman Seth
Rollin (Montgomery,
Ala./Jeff Davis HS),? center
fielder Chad House
(Memphis, Tenn./Christian Brothers HS), and pitcher Tony Falls (Montgomery, Ala./Lee HS).? Rollin and House are every day starters
who have appeared in 26 or more games this season, and Falls has been one of the
Blazers' top bullpen performers, with 17 appearances.? Also beginning to make an impact are
pitcher Jeff Brown
(Montgomery, Ala./Calvary Christian Academy) who has nine appearances and
started his first collegiate game at Saint Louis last Saturday (Apr. 6) and
pitcher Rusty McIntyre (Decatur, Ala./Decatur HS), who has four appearances and will start vs.
Alabama tonight.
ROLLIN
ALONG: Freshman
second baseman Seth Rollin has been swinging a very hot bat over the past week, Rollin
hit .583 (7-12) in the Saint Louis series, with two doubles and two RBI. He
went 6-8 in Saturday's double-header vs. the Billikens, hitting safely in
his first six at-bats that day.?
For the week of Apr. 1-7, Rollin hit .467 (7-15).?
UAB vs.
THE SEC: The
Blazers are 1-2 vs. SEC teams in?
2002, with a? 3-1 win over
Kentucky at Young Memorial Field on Feb. 17 and a 13-1 loss to Auburn at Young
Memorial Field (Mar. 5) and a 9-2 loss in Auburn (Mar. 19). UAB finished 4-4
against? SEC teams in 2001. Along
with its two wins over Alabama, the Blazers also went 1-1 vs. Mississippi State
and Vanderbilt and 0-2 vs. Auburn.
YOUNG
MEMORIAL? FIELD:? Jerry D. Young Memorial Field is in its 19th season as the
Blazers' home field (the program called historic Rickwood Field home from
1979-83). The Blazers have a 331-206-1 (.616) all-time record at Young Memorial
Field (1984-? ) and are 8-11 at
home in 2002.
IN PLAY:? The 30-foot high "batter's eye" wall in center field, which was
once located behind the outfield fence, is now actually part of the fence and is
in play (this
became effective at the beginning of the 2001 season after the wooden fence
replaced a chain link fence as part of general stadium renovations).
APRIL 13
GAME TIME CHANGED:? Saturday's game vs. Tulane at Young Memorial Field (Apr. 13)
has been moved back to a 3:00 pm CDT start time to accomodate the events of "Blazer Day
2002," which
include a football spring scrimmage earlier that afternoon.
BIRMINGHAM-SOUTHERN
GAME RE-SCHEDULED:
The Feb. 27 home game vs. Birmingham-Southern (which would have been the
beginning of an11-game home stand), was postponed because of frigid
weather.? The Blazers and Panthers
will now face each other on successive nights in May -- Tuesday May 7 on the hilltop at Scrushy-Striplin
Field (6 pm) and Wednesday May 8 at Young Memorial Field (7 pm).
PITCHER'S
BEST FRIEND: UAB
turned eight (8) double-plays in the Houston series, including six (6) in
Saturday's game (Mar. 16).?
The six twin-killings tied a UAB single-game record, set vs. Middle
Tennessee in 2000.
COMING
UP: After
tonight's game vs. Alabama, the Blazers return to Conference USA action, playing a
three-game Conference USA series vs. Tulane, Apr. 12-14 (7 pm/3 pm/1pm).
