The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Hosts Jacksonville State Tuesday In Midweek Affair
3/2/2009 12:00:00β―AM | Baseball
March 2, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB baseball team will take on Jacksonville State on Tuesday for the second time in as many weeks when the Gamecocks pay a visit to Young Memorial Field.
First pitch is slated for 3 p.m. CT in the second of four scheduled meetings between the teams in 2009.
UAB won last Tuesday's contest with JSU, 10-4, in its first road game of the season. Nick Crawford tallied three hits in that game, and Andrew Manning drove in three runs to lead the Blazers offensively. UAB scored in six out of the nine innings, but it was a five-run fourth inning that proved to be decisive in the Blazer win.
The Blazers enter Tuesday's contest at 3-3 on the season, looking to bounce back from a pair of losses over the weekend in their weather-shortened, two-game series with Presbyterian.
Austin Taylor collected four hits in the Presbyterian series and now leads UAB with a .348 batting average on the season. Cody McMurry homered in game one against the Blue Hose and continues to lead UAB in RBI (7), slugging percentage (.722) and on-base percentage (.538).
Jacksonville State is 1-4 in the early going and also had its weekend series affected by weather. The Gamecocks managed to play just one of three scheduled games at Middle Tennessee, winning the Friday game for their first victory of the season.
Though they have started slowly, the Gamecocks are the defending Ohio Valley Conference regular season champions and the preseason pick to win the league again in 2009.
Jacksonville State is led by Steven Leach, who is hitting .400 through the first five games, while Todd Cunningham owns a team-best five RBI. On the mound, Jacksonville State features preseason All-American Ben Tootle, who is scheduled to see action Tuesday along with fellow right-hander Austin Lucas.
UAB will counter with either James Oliver or Beau Pender as its starter on the hill. Oliver was scheduled to make his second start of the season in Sunday's cancelled series finale with Presbyterian. Pender has thrown 4.0 scoreless innings in two appearances out of the bullpen this season.
