The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Blazers Set For Two Midweek Contests With Alabama
3/23/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 23, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB baseball team is ready for five games this week, starting Tuesday with the first game of a home-and-home midweek series with 24th-ranked Alabama.
The Blazers will travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for a road game on Tuesday before hosting the Crimson Tide on Wednesday at Regions Park, the home of the Double-A Birmingham Barons. Both games are scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. CT first pitch.
Both games will air live in Birmingham on WSPZ-AM 690. Tuesday's game is the first UAB baseball broadcast of the season.
For Wednesday's game at Regions Park, the first 200 fans will receive a free UAB Baseball collectible pen. Blaze, the UAB mascot, will be on hand, and the game will also feature prize giveaways throughout.
Tuesday's game will be the last of a five-game road stretch for UAB that began last Wednesday at Mississippi State. Starting with Wednesday's game at Regions Park, the Blazers will then play 10 of their next 11 games in Birmingham.
UAB is 11-9 and 1-2 in Conference USA after dropping two out of three games over the weekend on the road at Houston. Despite out-hitting the Cougars in each game, UAB lost on Friday and Saturday before bouncing back to claim a 10-2 victory Sunday in the final game of the series.
Digger Towe was 4-for-4 with three RBI in Sunday's win and leads UAB with 26 RBI on the season, followed by Cody McMurry with 25. Brint Hardy tops the Blazers in batting average at .384 and ranks first in Conference USA with 18 stolen bases. UAB has stolen 44 bases as a team in 48 attempts.
UAB will send right-hander James Oliver to the mound to start Tuesday's game. Oliver, a Lowe's Senior CLASS Award candidate, is 1-2 on the season and earned a no-decision in his last start, March 14 against Harvard. He pitched 1.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen last Wednesday against Mississippi State.
Alabama will start right-hander Jimmy Nelson, who, like Oliver, is 1-2 on the year. Though he will be making his first start, Nelson leads the Crimson Tide with 11 appearances out of the bullpen.
Alabama is 15-7 and 3-3 in the SEC. Like UAB, the Crimson Tide lost the first two games of its weekend conference series at 12th-ranked Ole Miss before rebounding to win on Sunday. Alabama pounded out 23 hits and scored 19 runs in a 19-6 Sunday victory.
Kent Matthes hit two home runs in Sunday's game and leads the nation with 15 homers this season. He also leads the Crimson Tide with 41 RBI. Alabama is hitting .343 as a team, led by Matthes at .439 and Taylor Dugas at .422.
UAB will be looking for its second straight win over Alabama after defeating the Crimson Tide 8-5 last season at Regions Park. The Blazers lost 6-4 in the 2008 meeting in Tuscaloosa, and Alabama leads 35-15 in the all-time series, dating back to 1979.
