The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Travels To In-State Rival Jacksonville State Tuesday
3/3/2008 12:00:00β―AM | Baseball
March 3, 2008
Gameday Central
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Coming off a four-game series split with Brown this past weekend, the UAB baseball team travels to Jacksonville State on Tuesday in search of its second consecutive victory over the Gamecocks. UAB and JSU will get underway at 6:30 p.m. at Rudy Abbott Field.
Fans can listen to the game live on Blazer All-Access at UABsports.com.
The Blazers (4-5) are expected to start junior left-hander Johnny Volk (0-0) who will be making his second career start as a Blazer. In his first outing, Volk pitched three innings and allowed five runs.
Jacksonville State (2-6), the preseason favorite to win the Ohio Valley Conference, will send right-hander Justin King (1-0) to the mound. King has appeared in three games this season, making one start. He boasts a 3.86 ERA having allowed four earned runs in 9.1 innings.
UAB will be playing just its second road game of the season after losing at Mississippi State last Tuesday. Jacksonville State is 1-4 at home in 2008.
Senior first baseman Ryan Keedy paces the Blazers offensively and ranks sixth in Conference USA with his .441 batting average. Keedy leads C-USA in doubles (5), RBI (11) and putouts (90). Sophomore third baseman/designated hitter Luke Stewart has also been strong at the plate this season, hitting .333 with a home run and six RBI, while leading the club and Conference USA in walks with nine.
Gamecock freshman outfielder Todd Cunningham is hitting a team-best .429 at the plate, while senior outfielder Clay Whittemore is batting .276 with a home run and six RBI. Whittemore is a 2008 Brooks Wallace Award candidate and was named the OVC Preseason Player of the Year.
UAB and Jacksonville State split their two meetings last year by large margins. UAB lost game one, 14-5, after committing three errors and allowing five unearned runs to allow JSU score 11 runs over the last four innings at Rudy Abbott Field.
The following day, UAB beat the Gamecocks, 15-5, at Young Memorial Field. JSU walked a total of 13 Blazers in that game and hit five others.
Jacksonville State leads the all-time series between the two clubs, 17-14.
