The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Begins Conference Play at Home Against UCF this Weekend
3/29/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 29, 2007
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB Blazers begin Conference USA play this weekend when they host the UCF Golden Knights for a three-game series at Young Memorial Field. The Blazers will hope for a similar result from last season's series with the Golden Knights as UAB took two-out-of-three games at Jay Bergman Field in 2006. UAB is 12-15 (0-0 C-USA) entering the weekend, while UCF is 16-13 (0-3 C-USA).
The Blazers begin conference play eager for a win having lost each of their last three games by just one run, holding a ninth inning lead in two of those.
The center fielders of the two teams this weekend could be the difference makers as UAB senior center fielder J.R. Bond leads the league in hitting at .408, while topping the Blazers in RBI with 27 and is tied with two others for the team-lead in home runs with three. UCF center fielder Tyson Auer is hitting .336 this season with six doubles, 12 RBI and an impressive 15 stolen bases.
Last season against the Golden Knights, senior catcher Danny Sawyer and outfielder Steven Turner helped UAB win the final two games of the series with their standout play. Sawyer went 5-for-11 (.455) against UCF in 2006, hitting one home run and driving in four runs, while Turner was 4-for-8 (.500) with a home run and five RBI.
Bond hasn't been the only Blazer swinging the bat extraordinarily well this season. Senior third baseman Ryne Lovdahl is hitting .374 to rank amongst the Conference USA leaders and has 26 RBI and three home runs, while junior first baseman Ryan Keedy is hitting .364 with 15 RBI and two homers.
Sophomore outfielder Brint Hardy leads the team with nine stolen bases on as many attempts this season, while fellow outfielder, junior Phil Bell, is currently on a team-long six-game hitting streak.
UCF is searching for its first league win of the year after being swept by Houston last weekend. UAB had a bye for the first weekend of league play, making it the only team to not have had a conference game thus far.
The Blazers will start sophomore right-hander Mitch Kloskowski (3-2, 2.35 ERA) on Friday and freshman left-hander Shay Crawford (2-1, 4.72 ERA) on Saturday. Junior Ben Styes (1-3, 4.55 ERA), who threw a career-most 7.1 innings last Sunday will round out the series again this weekend.
The Golden Knights will look to Auer to get their bats going, while left-hander Carmine Giardina (1-0, 2.35 ERA) and right-handers Derek Abriola (0-0, 4.01 ERA) and Jaager Good (3-2, 3.76 ERA) will get starts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Fans are encouraged to come support the Blazers as they begin Conference USA play at 7 p.m. on Friday with games two and three scheduled for a split doubleheader, due to the threat of inclement weather on Sunday, on Saturday at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
There will be a Gang Green tailgate with free hotdogs and UAB baseball t-shirts down the first base line for the first 100 students in attendance on Friday. UAB volleyball standout and Conference USA Tournament MVP, Ivana Bozic, will throw out the first pitch on Friday.
Fans can follow all three games live through GameTracker at UABsports.com and can also watch live through the site's All-Access section.
