The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
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Auburn
UAB Closes Opening Weekend With Loss To No. 23 Auburn
2/20/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 20, 2011
AUBURN, Ala. -- The UAB baseball team couldn't get its offense going Sunday afternoon against Auburn starting pitcher Derek Varnadore as the Blazers went down 6-0 at Plainsman Park on the final day of the Auburn Tournament.
Varnadore surrendered only three hits in seven innings to earn the win. He didn't give up a hit until the fifth and allowed only two runners past first base.
"He over-matched us," UAB head coach Brian Shoop said. "He threw fantastic, and we struggled at times to generate anything against him. I actually thought our guys pitched pretty well, but he over-matched us and we'll tip our hat to him."
With the loss, UAB closed out its opening weekend at 1-2 with both losses coming against ranked opponents. No. 23 Auburn improved to 2-1 with the win. UAB is back in action Tuesday with a midweek trip to Kennesaw State for a 4 p.m. ET (3 p.m. CT) first pitch.
UAB's Sunday starter Michael Busby, a junior college transfer who didn't pitch last year because of injury, needed just 11 pitches to get through the first two innings against Auburn before finding some trouble in the third. Busby gave up only four hits in his five innings of work, but three of the six free base runners he allowed - five walks and one hit batter - came around to score.
The first two scored on a third-inning double from Auburn's Justin Hargett, and the third came around two innings later on a double from Casey McElroy. Five of the Tigers' six hits on the day were doubles.
"I thought Michael was great," Shoop said. "He was lights-out early. He's a great competitor with great composure. We can't walk that many guys, but this was the first time he pitched in two years, and I think he's going to be very good for us against any pitchers we see on Sundays."
Auburn scored its final run against Busby on a Kevin Patterson double in the fifth inning and added two more late runs against UAB reliever Blake Huddleston on single from Hargett in the eighth.
Hargett reached base in four of his five plate appearances and led all players with four RBI. He was the only player with multiple hits in the game.
Nick Crawford, Jamal Austin, Ryan Ussery and Jacob German accounted for UAB's four hits on the day. Austin's single gave the Blazers two base runners with two outs in the eighth, but Auburn's Justin Bryant relieved Sean Ray to shut down that threat.
The Blazers then had two base runners with two outs again in the ninth on a walk and a hit batter, but Bryant induced a ground ball out from pinch hitter Ryan Nance to close it out.
Sunday's game marked the first time UAB had been shut out since an April 7, 2009 contest at Mississippi State.
