The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
JACKSONVILLE STATE
UAB Drops 5-1 Contest To Jacksonville State
5/11/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 11, 2005
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.-- Jacksonville State scored four times in the eighth and ninth innings to break a 1-1 tie and defeat UAB, 5-1 on Wednesday evening at Young Memorial Field. The Blazers fall to 30-20 on the season while the Gamecocks improve to 26-22. UAB took an 8-3 victory when the teams met Tuesday night in Jacksonville.
Jacksonville State's Danny Andres (1-3) recorded his first victory of the season, working three shutout innings and striking out three Blazer batters. Ryan Huffman (6-2) suffered his second loss in three games for UAB.
The Gamecocks got on the board first when Jake Ball led off the top of the second inning with a solo home run to right field, his second of the season.
The Blazers tied the game at one in the bottom of the fifth thanks to rightfielder J.R. Bond. With one out in the inning, Bond stepped to the plate and hit a towering home run over the 30-foot hitter's background in center field. It was Bond's fifth home run of the season and the first ball hit over the Young Memorial Field green monster this season.
Jacksonville State grabbed the lead with another solo homer in the top of the eighth inning. With one out, Austin Stein launched a Ryan Huffman pitch deep over the right-center field wall. It was Stein's team-leading eighth home run of the season and gave the Gamecocks a 2-1 advantage.
The Gamecocks scored again in the top of the ninth, putting the game out of reach. After an error by UAB second baseman Seth Rollin, Bret Pettus stroked an RBI double off Blazer reliever Eric Roberts. Jason Horn followed with an RBI triple and Winston Pearson finished the scoring with a sacrifice fly to right field.
The Blazers return to action this weekend when they host East Carolina in a pivotal Conference USA series. Game one is scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m. at Young Memorial Field.
