The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Troy
UAB Drops 11-3 Decision Tuesday Night At Troy
4/21/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 21, 2009
TROY, Ala. -- Cody McMurry, Austin Taylor and Digger Towe each collected a pair of hits Tuesday night, but the UAB baseball team lost 11-3 in non-conference action against Troy at Riddle-Pace Field.
UAB (22-18) and Troy (24-13) were playing the first game of a midweek home-and-home series. The teams will be back in action Wednesday night at Young Memorial Field in Birmingham. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. (CT), and the game will be carried live in Birmingham on WSPZ-AM 690.
Solo home runs were the preferred method for scoring early in Tuesday's game. Unfortunately for the Blazers, it was Troy that hit four of the game's five solo shots.
McMurry went deep for UAB, but Miles Hoyle and Trevor Tyre each homered twice as Troy methodically opened up a lead. Tyre's second homer came as part of a three-run sixth inning that put the Trojans on top 7-1.
"Troy is a good hitting team, and they're hot right now," UAB head coach Brian Shoop said. "We hit some balls hard that didn't find holes, but they hit the ball harder and more often. I thought they clearly outplayed us tonight, and, thankfully, we have another opportunity against them tomorrow."
The first three Troy runs were charged to UAB starter James Oliver, who pitched the first 4.0 innings and took the loss. Troy starter Jason Watts earned the win, pitching 4.0 scoreless innings and allowing just two hits.
Troy put the game out of reach with four runs in the seventh inning. Adam Bryant highlighted the seventh-inning scoring with a two-RBI single, but three of the Troy runs off reliever Trey Vice were unearned as the result of two UAB errors.
Hoyle led all players with four hits in the game for Troy, while Hoyle, Tyre and Steven Felix managed two RBI each for the Trojans. The two hits for McMurry, Taylor and Towe led UAB offensively.
UAB tacked on one run in the seventh on an RBI single from Nick Crawford, and the Blazers added their final run of the day in the eighth on a Luke Stewart sacrifice fly.
Tuesday's game was scheduled for a 6 p.m. start but was delayed 30 minutes because of rain in the Troy area.
Blazer Notes
-- Cody McMurry's sixth-inning home run was his 10th of the season, tying him with Luke Stewart for the team lead.
-- McMurry walked in the fourth inning for his 42nd free pass of the season as he moved into a tie for ninth on the UAB single-season walks list.
-- UAB fell to 6-10 in night games, 7-8 in road games and 17-11 in non-conference games.
-- UAB now trails 21-16 in the all-time series with Troy.
