The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
CHARLOTTE*
Brown's Complete Game Leads UAB Past Charlotte, 7-2
4/30/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 30, 2005
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.-- Cole Helms hit a fifth-inning grand slam and Jeff Brown threw UAB's first complete game of the season as the Blazers defeated Charlotte, 7-2 on Saturday afternoon at Young Memorial Field. With the win, the Blazers evened the three game series and improve to 27-16, 11-9 in Conference USA. The 49ers are now 25-18, 8-12 in league play.
Brown scattered nine hits and one walk while striking out four and allowing just one earned run to collect his seventh victory of the season and sixth complete game of his career.
UAB got on the board first with a run in the bottom of the third inning. Ryan Metcalf doubled down the left field line with one out, then scored when Zac Ward roped a two-out single into the left-center field gap.
After Charlotte tied the game at one in the top of the fourth, the Blazers jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth. Metcalf singled and Dan Stucky and Ward walked to load the bases. With two outs, Helms stepped up and cleared the bases with a grand slam home run over the left field wall. The homer was Helms' team-leading eighth of the season and UAB's first grand slam this year.
A two-out, RBI double by Charlotte's Mike Ambrose in the top of the sixth scored Adam Willard and brought the 49ers back within three runs of the UAB lead.
Nathan McCorkle tied Helms for the team's home run lead in the bottom of the seventh when he launched a solo shot deep over the left field wall.
The third and deciding game of the series will be played on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
