The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Baseball Notes For The Tulane Series
4/12/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 12, 2002
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 9-23 overall (2-10 C-USA) and coming off a 5-3
loss to No. 3 Alabama Wednesday (Apr. 10) at Young Memorial Field.
THE GREEN WAVE: Tulane is 18-17 overall, 5-7 Conference USA, and
coming off a 9-5 loss to LSU Wednesday (Apr. 10) at the Louisiana Superdome
before an NCAA single-game record-setting crowd of 27,673.?
THE UAB-TULANE SERIES: Tulane has dominated, holding a 17-2 edge in a series
that dates back to 1996.
LAST SEASON: Tulane swept the 2001 season series at Turchin
Stadium in New Orleans, winning 11-6 (Apr. 27), 5-4 (Apr. 28), and 4-3 in 10
innings (Apr. 29). The Green Wave eventually won the Conference USA
championship and advanced to the 2001 College World Series.
UAB STARTING PITCHERS:? The
Blazers' projected weekend pitching rotation is:
Fri. 4/12 * Joe
Yarbrough (Sr., LHP, 0-4, 3.04 ERA)
Sat. 4/13 * Ross
Dobbins (Sr., RHP, 3-2, 6.40 ERA)
Sun. 4/14 * TBA
TULANE STARTERS:? The
Green Wave projected starting rotation is:
Fri. 4/12 * Nick
Bourgeois (Jr., LHP, 5-1, 3.10 ERA)
Sat. 4/13 * Michael
Aubrey (So., LHP, 6-1, 4.66 ERA)
Sun. 4/14 * TBA
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.
CALL HIM
"GINO": Larry Giangrosso (UAB '75) is in his third season as head coach of the UAB
Blazers.? The Birmingham
native? is? 62-85 (.422)? 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.
SORT OF A MILESTONE: Sunday's game vs. Tulane will be Larry
Giangrosso's 150th as head
coach of the UAB Blazers.
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 27 or more games this season, and Falls has
been one of the Blazers' top bullpen performers, with 18 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 five appearances including his first collegiate start vs. Alabama
Wednesday.
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 331-204-1 (.619) all-time
record at Young Memorial Field (1984-?
) and are 8-12 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).
ROLLIN HOT: Freshman second baseman Seth Rollin (Montgomery, Ala./Jeff Davis HS) 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) and he's hitting .474 (9-19) in his last five
games overall.? Rollin enters the
Tulane series with a four-game hitting streak, the longest current streak among
every day members of the UAB lineup.
LEON LEADS: Junior DH/outfielder Kyle Leon (Guelph, Ontario/transfer from Charleston Southern)
has a .293 season batting average, the highest among the Blazers'
everyday players.? Leon, who missed
eight games earlier in the season with an abdominal strain, has started 15
games in right field and eight at designated hitter. He hitting .345 (10-24) in
nine C-USA games to date, with one double, one home run and three RBI, and .343
overall in his last 10 games.
LYON'S SHARE: Senior outfielder Eric Lyon (Kirkland, Wash./Edmonds CC) has also stepped up in
recent weeks, hitting .281 overall (18-64) and .312 in his last 10 games
(10-32).? Lyon? has started 17 games this season, 12 in
right field, three in left field, one at designated hitter, and one at first
base. Lyon hit .750 in the East Carolina series (Mar. 29-31) and has a .256
batting average in 12 C-USA games to date. His two-run homer in the first
inning of the Houston game (Mar. 17) helped propel the Blazers to a 6-2 victory
over the Cougars.
A RELUCTANT SWITCH
HITTER:? Senior catcher Brad Bamberg (Montevallo, Ala./Central Alabama CC) is currently
hitting .267 (4-15) in 11 games (he's started five).? After undergoing shoulder surgery in
the off season, Bamberg found it difficult to swing the bat comfortably in his
natural right-handed stance, so he switched to batting left-handed, something
he had never done in his life before this season.?
HE DESERVES BETTER: Senior left-hander Joe Yarbrough (Hazel Green, Ala./Jefferson State CC) struggled in
his last start -- at Saint Louis (Apr. 5) -- allowing seven runs (five earned)
on nine hits, with two walks and six strikeouts in four and 1/3 innings (his
shortest outing of the season). He has, however, been one of the team's
most effective starters this season, despite his 0-4 record.? Yarbrough has a team-high 45 strikeouts
(vs. 18 walks) in 50.1 innings pitched (also a team high). Yarbrough has not
always benefited from offensive and/or defensive support from his teammates, in
his eight starts to date, the Blazers have a .192 team batting average and have
scored 19 runs (2.4 per game) and have committed 20 errors (2.5 per game).
Yarbrough has an 0-3 record with a 3.96 ERA in four starts vs. C-USA teams this
season.
ROSS DOBBINS: The UAB pitcher who has started? the team's last two victories (both
C-USA wins) is senior right-hander Ross Dobbins (Tanner, Ala./Central Alabama CC).? Dobbins is? 3-2 overall with a 6.40 ERA, and has wins over Kentucky
(Feb. 17), Houston (Mar. 17) and Saint Louis (Apr. 6).? Dobbins is 2-2 with a 6.95 ERA in four
starts vs. C-USA opponents this season.?
He was the team's "Sunday" starter for much of the
2002 season, but was moved into the "Saturday" slot for last
weekend's Saint Louis series after a shakeup in the pitching rotation, he
is slated to start the Saturday game vs. Tulane.
TONY FALLS: True freshman Tony Falls (Montgomery, Ala./Lee HS) has been a welcome
surprise out of the bullpen for the Blazers in 2002. The right-hander is
2-2? with a 1.25 ERA in 17
appearances and 21 and 2/3 innings -- all in relief.? Falls got a pair of wins in the Oakland series (Mar. 1-2),
and is 0-1 with a 0.84 ERA in seven appearances vs. C-USA opponents (10.2
innings).
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.?
The Blazers have turned 30 double plays in 31 games this season.
UAB vs. THE SEC: The Blazers are 1-3 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) , a 9-2 loss in Auburn (Mar. 19) and a 5-3 loss to No.
3 Alabama at Young Memorial Field
on April 10.? 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.
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 accommodate the events of "Blazer
Day 2002," which include a
spring football 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).
COMING UP: Next week the Blazers play a road game vs. Alabama
State on Tuesday at
Montgomery's Paterson Field (6:00 pm CDT) and then travel to Memphis for a weekend Conference USA series vs. the Tigers, April
19-21 (7 pm/2 pm/1 pm).
