The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB, Houston Open Second Half Of C-USA Baseball Slate
4/29/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 29, 2010
Game Notes 
| Friday Gametracker | Watch Live
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB baseball teams returns to Conference USA action this weekend with a three-game series against Houston at Young Memorial Field.
The series gets underway Friday at 6:30 p.m. CT. Because of a schedule change due to impending weather, the teams will play a doubleheader Saturday at 11 a.m. CT instead of the originally scheduled single games Saturday night and Sunday morning. Fans can follow all the action through All-Access streaming video and Gametracker live stats online at uabsports.com.
UAB has faced Houston more than any other team over the past two seasons with the teams meeting a total of 11 times. In addition to the traditional three regular-season games each year, the teams played three times at the 2008 C-USA tournament and twice in the 2009 league tourney.
The Blazers and Cougars split the six meetings evenly in 2008 with UAB winning the regular-season series in Birmingham. Houston won three of the five 2009 contests, including two out of three in the regular season in Houston.
This year, the Blazers (21-18, 5-7 C-USA) and Cougars (17-23, 4-8 C-USA) are both at the midway point of the 24-game conference schedule. In the tight league standings, UAB is tied for sixth and Houston is ninth, but only two games separate fourth place from last.
UAB has not played a conference series since April 16-18 at East Carolina. The Blazers were scheduled to play out of conference last weekend against Manhattan, but the series was cancelled because of inclement weather in Birmingham.
After a five-day break, UAB split a two games of a midweek home-and-home series with Jacksonville State, earning a 7-5 road win Tuesday and falling at home Wednesday by the same score.
Designated hitter John Frost collected a pair of hits in both matchups with the Gamecocks. Frost has been UAB's most consistent hitter throughout the entire season and currently ranks second on the team with a .331 batting average, trailing center fielder Jamal Austin's .377 mark. Austin leads Conference USA with a .519 average in league games only.
UAB right-hander Mitch Kloskowski (3-3, 4.74 ERA) is slated to make his seventh consecutive weekend-opening start when he squares off with Houston righty Michael Goodnight (4-6, 5.11 ERA) on Friday night.
Goodnight will be trying to get the Cougars back on track after they suffered a three-game sweep last weekend at Southern Miss. Houston then split two midweek games, falling 5-3 at Sam Houston State on Tuesday and picking up an 8-7 victory Wednesday over Lamar on Caleb Ramsey's game-winning single in the 11th inning.
Ramsey, an outfielder, leads the Cougars with a .367 batting average as one of four Houston regulars hitting better than .300. Ramsey has also driven in 28 runs, trailing only outfielder Joel Ansley's 29 RBI for the team lead. Catchers Chris Wallace and M.P. Cokinos and infielder Austin Gracey top the Cougars in the home run department with four each.
