The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB to Work Toward Postseason Aspirations at Tulane this Weekend
5/2/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 2, 2007
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Every league series is important, but perhaps none more so than this weekend's three-game series at Tulane for UAB. The Blazers are currently in seventh place in the Conference USA standings and with Marshall and UCF making late season charges to join the field of eight at the Conference USA Tournament in Greenville, N.C. May 23-27, they will look to take advantage of a struggling Green Wave club that has lost four straight and seven of eight.
All three games of the series will be played at 12 p.m. at Zephyr Field, a change from the originally scheduled times.
UAB is currently 18-28 (5-10 C-USA) after being swept by first place Rice last weekend. The Blazers hold a slight lead over Marshall and UCF, which are 4-10 and 4-11 in league play, respectively, with UAB already holding the tiebreaker over UCF.
The Blazers are vying for their fourth straight Conference USA Tournament appearance.
Tulane started Conference USA play 8-4 but has since lost six straight to falter to 8-10 after being swept by Houston and UCF the past two weekends. For the year, Tulane is 29-18.
Very little separates each team throughout Conference USA standings, with the exception of first place Rice (16-2). The league is so tightly contested right now that a UAB sweep this weekend could catapult the team to as high as fourth place, depending on how other teams in the league fare over the weekend.
Last season's series between the Blazers and the Green Wave at Young Memorial Field had no shortage of offensive exhilaration. Tulane won game one, 8-6, and then unloaded for a 17-8 victory in game two. Game three was about as action-packed as they come. Tulane put up eight runs in the first inning, only to have UAB came back to score 10 in the eighth behind a Zac Ward grand slam that led the Blazers to a 20-11 triumph.
After an offensive powered series last season, UAB will look to its consistent sophomore right-hander Mitch Kloskowski (4-5, 4.31 ERA) to take to the mound Friday in hopes of containing the Green Wave bats. Kloskowski is coming off an outing against No. 3 Rice in which he bounced back from a slow start to throw an impressive 5.1 innings with four strikeouts.
Freshman southpaw Shay Crawford (3-3, 5.56 ERA) earned himself another Saturday start after his showing against the Owls last weekend. The Bartlett, Tenn., native gave up just two runs in the first five innings of his 5.1 of work last Saturday.
The Blazers have yet to determine their Sunday starter.
Backing up the UAB arms will be a number of hot bats. Freshman shortstop Jonathan Merritt is hitting a club-best .404 in C-USA play, while junior outfielder Phil Bell is coming off a career-long 15-game hitting streak.
Senior outfielder J.R. Bond has been impressive all year long and continues to lead the team with his .349 average. He also leads the squad in triples with four and has driven in 36 runs to rank second.
One bat that was cooled off against Rice but is sure to heat up once again is that of senior third baseman Ryne Lovdal. Lovdahl was 0-for-11 against the Owls, yet is still hitting .331 for the year and holds the team-lead in home runs with four. In games UAB has won, Lovdahl has batted .446 and he is a .348 road hitter.
Tulane has excelled on the mound this season with right-hander Sean Morgan (7-3, 3.96 ERA) leading a proven rotation that is led in wins by right-hander Matt Goebel (8-2, 5.33). Morgan leads the club with a remarkable 96 strikeouts, while right-hander Shooter Hunt (6-4, 2.00) has the lowest ERA and has struck out 82.
Not only has the Green Wave starters put up solid numbers in 2007 but its closer, right-hander Daniel Latham, has done a great job closing out games as he has 10 saves for the year and is the Tulane and Conference USA all-time career saves leader.
Morgan is expected to start on Friday, while Hunt will get the nod on Saturday. On Sunday, senior Brandon Gomes (5-4, 4.11 ERA) will get the start.
Infielder Brad Emaus has a team-best .339 batting average to go along with 32 RBI and four homers. Four Green Wave hitters currently have at least 30 RBI and four homers.
The series gets underway Friday afternoon at 12 p.m. at Zephyr Field. All three games can be followed live on Gametracker at UABsports.com.
