The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Blazers Hold 2004 Media Day
2/10/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 10, 2004
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - UAB Baseball held its media day Tuesday at Bartow Arena on the UAB campus in preparation for the upcoming season. The Blazers open at Alabama State Tuesday, Feb. 17 at 1 p.m., with the home opener coming Friday, Feb. 20 at 6 p.m. as the Blazers begin a three-game series with Murray State.
UAB head coach Larry Giangrosso, who begins his fifth season at the helm of the baseball program in 2004, said the team and coaching staff are excited about the upcoming season.
"It doesn't seem like baseball weather, but it's right around the corner," said Giangrosso. "We are excited about our season. I think overall, we'll be good defensively. I think we'll be a good gap-to-gap team. We have the guys that can hit doubles and that's how you win games in conference play. We have good players throughout the lineup. We have added some depth, especially on offense.
"One of our concerns is pitching. We lost our Friday, Saturday and Sunday starters. We feel like we have a lot of good arms, but they just haven't been tested. That being said, this is a fun team to be around. We are really excited about this team. We work them extremely hard and bring them back the next day and they are ready to go to work again."
Senior infielder Daniel Hill, who started all 53 games for the Blazers last season at first base and hit .322 to go along with 10 home runs, 10 doubles and 47 RBI, spoke about the Blazer offense and how it hopes to help the young pitching squad.
"I think that we're going to be alright this season even though we lost some of our weekend starters," said Hill. "I think that we will be able to contend. We're going to need to be able to score some runs. We have some good transfer guys that have come in and can help out in the middle of the lineup. At the bottom of the lineup, I think that we are pretty solid as far as hitting. I think that we will be able to score some runs early for our pitchers to help them out while they are in the process of getting some experience."
On starting off 13-0 last season and then falling into a winless streak:
"I think that we will be able to keep up a good streak this season," Hill said. "I don't think that the wheels necessarily fell off last season because we played some really tough teams. We played against the top conference teams and then we went up against some SEC teams during the mid-week games. I think that we can keep it going this year."
Senior outfielder Sam Clark, the Blazers' top returning base stealer (stole 22-of-25 attempts last season), commented on the Blazer offense as a whole.
"To compete in Division I, you have to be offensive and we have a group that can do that. We have six or seven that can go deep and you need to have that when you get into conference play. He's (Giangrosso) one of the best in teaching small ball. It gives us a chance to win games."
Junior pitcher Jeff Brown, the Blazers' top returner on the mound, addressed UAB's pitching situation.
"Each of the guys has improved since the fall, especially the incoming freshman," said Brown. "Their overall skill is solid. This pitching staff is going to help overcome what we went through last year. We have more depth, we're quicker and we have better bats."
