The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Memphis
Baseball Wins 15-Inning Marathon At Memphis Friday
4/19/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 19, 2002
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Pinch runner Scottie Holden scored on a balk in the top of the 15th inning
and relief pitcher Tony Falls
shut out Memphis for eight and 1/3 innings as UAB pulled out a 9-8 victory in
15 innings Friday at AutoZone Park.
??????????? The
15 inning game is the second longest in UAB history, tying the 15 inning loss
by the Blazers to Southern Illinois in 2001.
??????????? With
one out and Holden on third base, Memphis reliever Gabe Council was attempting to intentionally walk UAB first
baseman Matt Womble to set up a
potential double-play when the balk was called by the first base umpire on
Council's second pitch.
??????????? Holden
came in to run for Blazer catcher Justin Miller, who led off the 15th inning with a
double off the left center field wall. ?Holden moved to third on center fielder Chad House's sacrifice bunt, and scored from third to give UAB a
9-8 lead.
??????????? In
the bottom of the 15th,?
Memphis second baseman Chris Godwin led off with a bunt single, but Falls induced a 6-4-3 double-play off
the bat of Tiger pinch hitter Justin Thomas and then retired designated hitter Paul Reuer on a groundout to end the game.
??????????? Falls
(3-2), a true freshman from Montgomery (Lee HS) worked eight and 1/3 innings in
relief - the longest outing of his collegiate career. He allowed no runs
on five hits, with no walks and a career-high 10 strikeouts.
??????????? Memphis'
Council (0-1) worked three complete innings in defeat, allowing the one run on
two hits, with one walk and one strikeout.
UAB
jumped out? to a 4-0 lead in the
top of the third inning.? The
leadoff hitter, shortstop Mark Garner, was hit by Tiger starter Ryan O'Malley, and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by right
fielder Mitch Jones.? Catcher Brad Bamberg then drew a walk. Garner scored on an RBI double by House,
and both Bamberg and House scored as the next batter, Womble, slammed an
O'Malley pitch 368 feet over the left field wall for a three-run homer.
The
lead was short-lived, however, as Memphis battled back with four runs on five
hits in the bottom of the third, highlighted by back-to-back RBI singles by Reuer
and left fielder Josh Payne, and
a two-RBI single by shortstop Brent Dlugach.?
Memphis
took a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the fourth as third baseman Kyle Scott led off with a double and scored as the next batter,
Godwin, also doubled. That ended the evening for UAB starter Joe Yarbrough, who was replaced on the mound by Cody Cillo.
UAB
tied the game at 5-5 in the top of the fifth as Womble doubled with one out and
scored on an RBI single by designated hitter Kyle Leon.
The
Tigers threatened in the bottom of the fifth, loading the bases with one out ?on three walks by Cillo, but the junior
right-hander battled his way out of the jam, striking out Scott and Godwin to
end the inning.
UAB
reclaimed the lead in the top of the seventh, scoring one run on an RBI single
by right fielder Eric Lyon, and then
two more as Tiger relievers Nick Rogers and Matt Krabbe each
walked in a run, giving the Blazers an 8-5 lead.
Memphis
tied the game at 8-8 in the bottom of the seventh, as shortstop Ryan Leach and catcher Barrett Smith both drew walks from Cillo and Leach scored on Scott's
two-out single. Right fielder Paul Cookman then slapped a double into the left field corner that scored both Smith
and Scott and chased Cillo from the game.?
Enter
Falls, who replaced Cillo and ended the inning by striking out Reuer.
UAB
squandered a golden opportunity in the top of the ninth.? With one out and runners on first and
third, shortstop Garner was unable to punt down a bunt on a safety squeeze
play, popping up to catcher Smith for the second out.? Reliever Payne, who had moved to the mound from the
outfield, then struck out Jones to end the inning.
UAB
(12-25, 4-12 C-USA) and Memphis (13-21, 6-10 C-USA) will play game two of their
Conference USA series Saturday at 2:00 pm CDT at Nat Buring Stadium on the
Memphis campus.
