The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Xavier
Blazers Crank Up Offense In 11-2 Win Over Xavier
2/26/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 26, 2011
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- UAB head baseball coach Brian Shoop preaches to his players the importance of generating big innings offensively, telling them the team that wins the big-inning war rarely loses the game.
Through five contests this spring, UAB had not tallied a single inning with more than two runs. Saturday against Xavier, however, the Blazers recorded two such innings and scored eight runs over their final four at-bats to pull away for an 11-2 win at Young Memorial Field.
UAB evened its record at 3-3 on the year, while Xavier fell to 2-3. The Blazers will look for the sweep of this weekend's three-game series on Sunday when the teams meet for a noon CT first pitch.
On Saturday, UAB got seven strong innings from its starting pitcher for the second day in a row as Ryan Woolley allowed just two runs to earn the win.
"We continued to get good pitching from Ryan, and it's funny how contagious hitting is," Shoop said. "We haven't been swinging it well, but we kept telling our guys that somebody was going to square one up to get us going. We hit a lot of balls hard today."
Woolley pitched the Blazers to a 3-2 lead through four and a half innings before the UAB offense really opened things up in the bottom of the fifth. The Blazers sent 10 batters to the plate in the frame, tallying seven hits and scoring five runs.
Five consecutive batters reached to start the inning, including Patrick Palmeiro with an RBI double and Jacob German with a run-scoring single, as UAB forced Xavier starter Jon Richard from the game. Nick Crawford then drove in two more runs with a double and Ryan Nance added an RBI single against the Musketeer bullpen as UAB pushed its lead to 8-2.
"We got our first big inning of the year," Shoop said. "We've been waiting for that, and it's really encouraging. Xavier is a very solid ball club, and we were facing a pitcher that only gave up one run in his first start last weekend."
Crawford went 3-for-5 at the plate and scored three runs to lead the attack for UAB. Jamal Austin, Ryan Ussery and Keith DePew each hit safely twice as the Blazers cranked out a season-high 15 hits.
UAB later tacked on three more runs in the seventh inning against Xavier reliever Shane Liska, highlighted by a two-RBI double from Ussery, to open up the final nine-run margin.
Woolley seemed to get stronger as the game went on, allowing just three hits over his final four innings after surrendering single runs in the first and third. He then turned the ball over to the bullpen. Reliever Mark McKinley pitched a scoreless eighth inning, and freshman Chase Mallard saw his first action of the season as he tossed a perfect ninth.
Xavier's John McCambridge finished with three of his team's eight hits on the day, while Seth Willoughby drove in both of the Musketeers' runs.
DePew drove in UAB's second-inning run, and the Blazers scored their other two early runs on double steal plays before the five-run explosion in the fifth.
