The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Blazer Trio Sits Atop Conference USA Batting Chart
3/26/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 26, 2007
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - UAB is home to the top three batting averages in all of Conference USA this season as UAB baseball's senior outfielder J.R. Bond leads the league with his .396 batting average, while fellow senior, third baseman Ryne Lovdahl, is tied for second at .380. Also tied for second is Blazer junior first baseman Ryan Keedy.
UAB head coach Brian Shoop has been pleased with the production from the middle of his lineup but stresses that the toughest stretch is coming up as his team enters league play.
"Ryan, J.R. and Ryne have given us a presence in the middle of our lineup and are certainly off to a good start," said Shoop. "We realize the level of pitching we face will continue to go up as we enter Conference USA play, but we certainly need these three to continue to be the center of our offense. We also realize that they will need improvement and help from the top and bottom of our lineup for us to be competitive in this great league."
The trio of Blazers also rank as the top three on-base percentages in the league as Keedy leads at .495 with Lovdahl and Bond following at .468 and .466, respectively.
As a team, the Blazers have the best overall team batting average in Conference USA at .299 with Houston in second at .297. UAB also leads the league in triples with 11.
Bond's three triples on the season rank him second in the league and help him to rank fourth in total bases (55).
UAB begins Conference USA play this week when UCF comes to Young Memorial Field for a three-game weekend series. First up this week for the Blazers will be a pair of mid-week games against Samford.
