The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Marshall
Grand Slams Cost UAB In 10-9 Loss To Marshall
4/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 26, 2008
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB offense couldn't overcome two Marshall grand slams at Young Memorial Field Saturday afternoon as the Thundering Herd evened the series with a 10-9 victory. Designated hitter Victor Gomez and catcher Tommy Johnson hit grand slams for Marshall in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively.
UAB falls to 19-23 (4-10 C-USA) with the loss, while Marshall improves to 21-21-1 (8-8-1 C-USA).
UAB was led offensively by third baseman Luke Stewart who finished 2-for-3 with three RBI, a home run and two walks to add to his league-leading total.
Center fielder Cody McMurry had another impressive day as he was 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Left fielder Phil Bell ran his current hit streak to 13 games by going 1-for-4 with two runs scored.
Catcher Kevin Cope made his first career start behind the plate on Saturday and went 2-for-4 with three RBI.
Second baseman Nick Crawford was 1-for-3 in the game and had his 14th sacrifice bunt of the season to move him into a tie for second all-time at UAB in single-season sacrifices, three away from matching the school record.
Mitch Kloskowski (5-4) got the loss on the mound for the Blazers after throwing 7.0 innings in which he allowed nine runs on 10 hits, while walking and striking out three.
Steve Blevins (6-2) earned the win having allowed five runs on six hits in 7.0 innings.
Gomez and Johnson each finished the day 2-for-5 with four RBI which came on their grand slams.
After Marshall snuck out to a 1-0 lead on a double steal in the top of the third, UAB came back and went ahead 3-1 in the fourth thanks to a three-run double down the left field line by Cope.
In the fifth, UAB extended its lead to 4-1 when Bell singled and then moved up to third on a passed ball and wild pitch to be in position to score on a sacrifice fly to left field by McMurry.
Marshall came back and took a 5-4 lead in the sixth after Kloskowski gave up back-to-back singles and then walked another to load the bases for Johnson who crushed a towering grand slam over the left field wall to clear the bases.
The Blazers were quick to come back and even the score, 5-5, in the bottom half of the sixth when designated hitter Billy Lichtner drove his first home run of the season to right field.
Kloskowski started the seventh just as he did the sixth, giving up back-to-back singles before later being elected to issue an intentional walk to load the bases with two outs, which brought up Gomez who launched his grand slam over the right-center field wall to take a 9-5 lead.
After the Blazers got one run back in the eighth, Marshall center fielder Nate Lape provided what proved to be a vital insurance run via a solo home run to take a 10-6 lead.
The Blazers came around looking to get a rally going in the bottom of the ninth and nearly pulled off a comeback as Stewart hit a three-run blast over the right-center field wall to cut the deficit to 10-9, however the Herd was able to get a fly out to end the inning and close out the victory.
The series finale is scheduled for Sunday at 1:00 p.m. at Young Memorial Field.
