The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Radford
UAB Wins Second Straight, Goes For Sweep On Sunday
2/21/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 21, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Nick Crawford pounded out three hits Saturday as the UAB baseball team defeated Radford, 11-5, at Young Memorial Field.
For the second straight day, UAB (2-0) fell behind early. But for the second straight day, the Blazer bats came alive.
UAB trailed 2-0 heading into the bottom of the second inning before a four-run outburst gave the Blazers a lead they would not lose. Jonathan Merritt plated two runs with a single in the inning, and Cody McMurry laced a double to bring two more home and give UAB a 4-2 advantage.
The Blazers picked up two more runs in the fourth inning, scoring one on a Brint Hardy single and another when Luke Stewart was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded as the Blazers extended their lead to 6-2.
That was all the run support the UAB pitching combination of Shay Crawford and Nick Graffeo would need. Crawford earned the win in his first start of the season, allowing three runs on five hits while striking out five batters in 5.1 innings of work. He then handed the ball over to Graffeo, who threw the final 3.2 innings to earn his first save of the season.
It marked the second consecutive game the Blazers had a strong pitching performance out of their bullpen. In Friday's season opener, Tristan Farrell pitched 4.0 scoreless innings in relief to earn the win.
In Saturday's game, Radford (0-2) trimmed the Blazer lead to three runs at 6-3 in the sixth inning on an RBI groundout from Ben Toth. But UAB put the game away with five runs in the eighth.
Allen Aubin highlighted the eighth-inning scoring with a three-RBI double, and UAB also scored runs on an Andrew Manning single and a bases-loaded walk by Stewart.
Aubin led all players in the game with three RBI, while Merritt, McMurry and Stewart finished with two RBI each.
After his double in the second inning, McMurry walked in each of his final four at-bats to reach base each time he came to the plate. For the game, UAB drew nine walks as a team.
After UAB extended the lead to 11-3 with the five-run eighth, Radford managed a pair of unearned runs in the ninth, but Graffeo struck out the final Highlander batter to close out the game.
UAB stole four bases in the contest, including two by Brint Hardy. The senior outfielder moved into fifth place on the Blazers' all-time steals list with 45 in his UAB career.
Radford's Alex Gregory led the Highlanders offensively with two hits. Aerik Taylor took the loss on the mound, allowing four runs -- one earned -- in 2.0 innings of work.
With the victory, UAB takes a 2-0 lead in the weekend series. The Blazers and Highlanders will close out the weekend Sunday with the series finale, slated for 1 p.m. CT at Young Memorial Field.
