The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
UCF
Woolley Pitches Blazers To Doubleheader Sweep, Series Victory
4/3/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 3, 2010
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Pitching was the name of the game again Saturday night as the UAB baseball team closed out a Conference USA series victory over UCF with a 6-1 win in game two of a doubleheader at Jay Bergman Field.
After Beau Pender nearly went the distance in game one Saturday, junior right-hander Ryan Woolley pitched six and two-thirds scoreless innings to earn the win in the nightcap, helping UAB to its third doubleheader sweep in four tries this season.
The win also gave UAB its fifth series victory of 2010, and the Blazers have now won six series in a row dating back to last season. UAB ran its record to 17-9 overall (4-2 C-USA), while UCF fell to 18-12 overall (2-4 C-USA).
Woolley turned in his longest outing of the season, striking out five and allowing only three hits. After giving up a leadoff double to Ronnie Richardson in the first inning, he held UCF without another hit until the sixth. Woolley retired the side in order in the second and faced just four batters each from the third through the sixth frame.
"That was the best Ryan (Woolley) has been this season, and that's the kind of pitching he is capable of," UAB head coach Brian Shoop said. "He has electric stuff, and today he got on a roll and was hitting his spots. Our pitching really got it done for us in both games today."
After a double from UCF's Darnell Sweeney and a pair of hit batters, Woolley turned the ball over to closer Nick Graffeo with two outs in the seventh.
Graffeo came out of the bullpen to face one of UCF's most dangerous hitters in Shane Brown, who entered the game hitting .464 on the year. But Graffeo struck out Brown to keep the Knights off the scoreboard, and the senior right-hander went on to pitch the final two and one-third innings to pick up the save.
Freshman outfielder Ryan Ussery keyed the Blazer offense Saturday night with a career-high five RBI. Ussery accounted for UAB's first two runs of the game against UCF starter Alex Besaw on a second-inning homer, his second in the past four games. He also plated the Blazers' final two runs of the game on a ninth-inning double.
Besaw pitched only one and two-thirds innings but took the loss for UCF. Left-handed reliever Joe Rogers then came on and held UAB to just two runs over the next six and one-third frames before being charged with the two ninth-inning runs, as well.
"Thankfully Ryan (Ussery) was playing for our team tonight because it seemed like he was driving in every run out there," Shoop said. "We had a really tough time against their left-hander, but we scratched out enough runs to win."
Sandwiched in between UAB's two runs in the second and ninth frames were single runs in the third and seventh. UCF finally broke through for three hits and a run in the bottom of the ninth on a Ryan Breen single, but that was just the third run in two games Saturday for a Knight team that entered the series averaging 8.4 runs per contest.
Jamal Austin and John Frost joined Ussery with two hits on the night for UAB, while Jonathan Merritt drove in the one Blazer run Ussery did not. Richardson finished with a game-high two hits for UCF.
UAB has now won 10 of its past 12 games, and the Blazers return to action Tuesday with a trip to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for a midweek game against an Alabama team they defeated, 6-4, last Wednesday. First pitch is slated for 6:35 p.m. CT, and the game will air live in the Birmingham area on WJOX-AM 690.
