The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Radford
Blazers Come From Behind To Defeat Radford, 8-7
2/20/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 20, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB baseball team scored eight unanswered runs over the final six innings Friday to turn a 7-0 deficit into an 8-7 win over Radford on opening day at Young Memorial Field.
Left fielder Cody McMurry and shortstop Jonathan Merritt each recorded two doubles in the game to lead the Blazers offensively. McMurry posted a team-best two RBI as UAB won its seventh straight opener and improved to 23-8 all-time in season-opening games.
Tristan Farrell, a transfer from Chattahoochee Valley Community College, earned the win on the mound in his first game at UAB. After the Blazers tied the game at 7-7 in the bottom of the fifth inning, Farrell took the mound in the top of the sixth and pitched four scoreless frames.
The decisive run for UAB came in the bottom of the eighth. Third baseman Andrew Manning led off the inning with a double and advanced to third when catcher Allen Aubin laid down a sacrifice bunt. Merritt then hit a fly ball to right field that brought Manning home and gave the Blazers their first lead of the day.
Farrell returned to the mound to work the top of the ninth. Two late Radford singles put runners on first and second with two outs before Farrell picked off the Highlander runner at second base to end the game.
"I thought we had a veteran team that showed a lot of composure in fighting back after falling behind early," UAB head coach Brian Shoop said. "And I also thought we had a strong arm in Tristan Farrell to give the ball to out of the bullpen and finish the game for us."
UAB and Radford will continue their three-game weekend series Saturday with game two at Young Memorial Field. First pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. CT.
In Friday's game, Merritt's winning RBI capped a comeback that started back in the fourth inning.
On the strength of some timely hitting and some Blazer miscues in the field, Radford built a 7-0 lead through three frames. But the Blazer bats came alive with a two-out rally in the fourth inning. Right fielder Brint Hardy broke through with UAB's first hit, then stole second and scored on McMurry's first double of the game. After a pair of walks, the Blazers then tacked on two more runs on a Radford error to cut the lead to 7-3.
UAB bested its fourth-inning effort with four runs in the fifth as the Blazers drew even at 7-7. Hardy plated the first run of the inning with a sacrifice fly, and UAB scored another run on a wild pitch before back-to-back RBI doubles from McMurry and first baseman Luke Stewart knotted the game.
The game remained even through scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh before Merritt's sacrifice fly in the eighth.
In addition to his fifth-inning double, Stewart also walked twice to reach base in three of his four plate appearances Friday. UAB drew five walks as a team and tallied six extra-base hits.
Radford catcher Robert Lamas and third baseman Ben Toth led the Highlanders with two hits in the game. Jake Quigg took the loss on the mound after entering the game in relief of Radford starter Shane Pysh.
Kyle Roberson took the ball to start for the Blazers and pitched five innings before giving way to Farrell. Roberson allowed seven runs on seven hits, but only two of those runs were earned.
