The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Savannah State
Blazers Sweep Savannah State With 8-3 Sunday Win
3/29/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 29, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Luke Stewart capped an impressive offensive weekend by reaching base four times and driving in two runs in an 8-3 UAB victory on Sunday. The Blazers defeated Savannah State in the third game of their weekend series.
Stewart went 2-for-2 with two walks Sunday and finished the series 6-for-8 (.750) with three bases on balls. The junior first baseman homered three times this weekend and posted nine RBI as the Blazers out-scored Savannah State 39-10 in a three-game series sweep.
Nick Crawford picked up three hits in Sunday's game, while Andrew Manning added two. Kevin Cope matched Stewart with two RBI for the Blazers, who improved to 14-10 on the season. Savannah State fell to 14-14 with the loss.
"It was a good weekend for us at the plate," UAB head coach Brian Shoop said. "We did some positive things offensively, and we had a chance to play a lot of guys."
Nick Graffeo earned the win on the mound Sunday after entering for starter James Oliver in the fifth inning of a 3-3 game. Graffeo allowed just one hit and faced the minimum through 3.0 scoreless frames as UAB turned a tie game into a 7-3 lead.
All four of those runs came with a two-out rally in the fifth inning. Following back-to-back walks to Cody McMurry and Digger Towe, a single from Stewart started the scoring. Cope later doubled home a pair of runs, and Manning added a run-scoring single as UAB opened up a four-run advantage.
Each of those runs was charged to Savannah State starter Michael Allegretti, who took the loss Sunday.
Dychal Bowles led the Tigers offensively with two hits and an RBI.
UAB kept Savannah State off the scoreboard after the fourth inning as Colin McMurry and Mikael Saway followed Graffeo with scoreless innings of relief out of the Blazer bullpen.
UAB tacked on its final run of the day in the eighth inning when Stewart drove in his ninth run of the weekend on a sacrifice fly to extend the Blazer lead to 8-3.
UAB will now prepare for a home-and-home midweek series with Samford. The Blazers will host the Bulldogs on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. (CT) at Young Memorial Field before heading across town for a game at Samford on Wednesday at 6 p.m. (CT).
