The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Starts Stretch Run This Weekend Against Memphis
4/30/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 30, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB and Memphis baseball teams will both be more rested than they have been all season when they get together for a three-game series this weekend at Young Memorial Field.
Taking a break from midweek games, each team has been off since Sunday and will be eager to get back in the win column after dropping a Conference USA series last weekend. UAB lost two out of three games to UCF and enters this weekend at 24-20 (6-9 C-USA), while Memphis lost two out of three at Tulane and stands at 19-25 (5-10 C-USA).
This weekend's series gets underway Friday at 7 p.m. (CT) with games to follow Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. The Saturday and Sunday games will air live in Birmingham on WSPZ-AM 690, while Gametracker live stats and All-Access streaming video will be available for all games through www.uabsports.com.
The teams will be jockeying for position in the league standings as the stretch run begins. Only three weekends remain before the Conference USA tournament May 20-24 in Hattiesburg, Miss.
For UAB, Friday's series opener with Memphis is the first of 11 games remaining on the regular-season schedule. The Blazers will be looking to reverse a trend that has seen them play well on the road but struggle at home in conference play.
UAB has posted a 5-4 record in league road games while going 1-5 at Young Memorial Field. The biggest difference home and away has been the Blazer pitching staff, which has posted a 4.09 ERA in the nine road games and an 11.50 ERA in the six home contests.
The Blazers will look to the starting rotation of Beau Pender (3-4, 5.29 ERA), Shay Crawford (4-2, 5.74 ERA) and Kyle Roberson (6-4, 5.64 ERA) to turn things around on the mound this weekend. The pitching staff -- which surrendered 56 runs on 49 hits in the UCF series -- will look to regain the form it had the previous two weekends when UAB allowed just 29 runs on 43 hits over six games while winning series at Marshall and Southern Miss.
At the plate, UAB features five starters hitting better than .300, led by Digger Towe at .364. Towe is also one of three Blazers to drive in at least 40 runs this season. The junior catcher has tallied 52 RBI, followed by Cody McMurry with 46 and Luke Stewart with 40. The UAB offensive attack also features Brint Hardy, who is hitting .351 with 39 RBI and continues to lead the nation with 40 stolen bases.
Memphis will counter the UAB bats with the starting rotation of Brennon Martin (5-3, 3.84 ERA), Heith Hatfield (1-3, 4.11 ERA) and Brach Davis (1-5, 6.36 ERA). As a pitching staff, the Tigers have struck out 318 batters on the season while walking 179. Martin leads the rotation with 49 strikeouts and just 10 walks.
Offensively, Memphis enters the weekend hitting .272 as a team, led by Drew Martinez at .331. Cole Shelton owns a team-best 10 home runs for the Tigers, while Shelton and Brett Bowen are tied for team-high honors with 31 RBI.
UAB will be seeking to avenge a three-game sweep to the Tigers last season in Memphis. The Blazers hold a slim 36-34 lead in the all-time series.
