The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Heads to Memphis For Conference USA Series
5/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 4, 2006
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB baseball team hits the road this weekend, travelling to Memphis, Tenn., to take on the Memphis Tigers in a three-game set at Nat Buring Stadium. The Blazers look to continue their historical success against the Tigers, with UAB holding a 34-26 advantage all-time against Memphis.
Both teams enter the series having battled tough competition, with both squads losing to ranked teams over the past month. UAB lost 2-of-3 to No. 19 Houston last weekend, with the Cougars sweeping Memphis the weekend before. The Blazers also dropped a contest to No. 6 Alabama, while the Tigers struggled with No. 1 Rice earlier in the month.
Memphis strength has been its offense, as the Tigers sport a team batting average of .310, good enough for second in the conference. There are eight Tiger batters over .300 on the year, and they have combined to score 321 runs so far this season. First baseman Adam Amar is in the middle of an All-American-type year, as he leads Memphis with a lofty .396 average. Amar has 57 hits and has driven in a team-high 42 runs. His .477 on-base percentage is tops on the squad and the junior also has only been punched out 19 times in 2006.
The Blazers pitching staff has been better in recent weeks, as head coach Larry Giangrosso has seen four pitchers in his last six conference games throw six or more innings on the hill. Jim Crew heads the list, throwing his first career complete game in his last outing against Houston. That came on the heels of a 6.2 inning performance in a win against UCF in his previous start. Jacob Legg and Lyle Northington have also worked deep into games, both working eight innings in outings over the past two weekends. Legg has already thrown a complete-game this season, suffering a hard luck loss to Rice 2-1 on April 7th. Northington's eight innings came in relief, as he helped lead the Blazers to their first C-USA series win in the finale against UCF 16-4 on April 23rd.
When it comes to the offense, UAB has seen improvement from its entire lineup. The Blazers have scored over four runs in five of their last seven contests. Danny Sawyer and Jorge Gutierrez have been on a tear over during that span, with both hitting over .350. Sawyer has 10 hits in his last 27 at-bats, including two home runs and seven RBI. Gutierrez has flourished out of the leadoff spot, going 7-for-20 with two doubles while getting on base at a .381 clip. Ryne Lovdahl and Phillip Bell has provided some pop as well, hitting two home runs apiece during that stretch. They both have driven in seven RBIs while scoring eight runs for the Blazers.
First pitch Friday is set for 6:30 p.m., with Saturday game time set for 2 p.m. The finale between the two schools will be Sunday at 1 p.m. For complete postgame coverage, check out UAB's athletics website, www.uabsports.com.
