The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Kent State
UAB Baseball Falls To Kent State in Saturday Nightcap
3/12/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 12, 2011
Box Score | PDF Box Score 
| Sunday Gametracker
CONWAY, S.C. -- Patrick Palmeiro and Ivan De Jesus had a pair of hits Saturday night, but the UAB baseball team fell 7-1 to Kent State in its second game of the day at the Caravelle Resort Classic.
The Blazers dropped to 8-5 on the season, while the Golden Flashes improved to 7-5. UAB will conclude its weekend on Sunday with an 11 a.m. ET (10 a.m. CT) first pitch against host Coastal Carolina at BB&T Coastal Field in Myrtle Beach.
Kent State starter Kyle Hallock worked seven innings without allowing an earned run to earn the win Saturday night. The left-hander scattered seven hits, struck out eight batters and walked only one.
UAB starter Dillon Napoleon suffered his first loss, allowing six runs in six innings, but three of those runs were unearned as the result of UAB errors.
After plating the game's first run on a UAB error in the fourth inning, Kent State opened things up with a four-run fifth. Travis Shaw's bases-clearing double scored three runners -- one that originally reached on an error and two that reached on walks. Shaw later scored on a sacrifice fly from T.J. Sutton to give the Golden Flashes a 5-0 lead.
UAB found the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth when Jamal Austin scored from second after Hallock threw the ball away trying to pick off Nick Crawford at first base.
Kent State, though, got that run back in the top of the sixth on an RBI double from Jimmy Rider and added another in the ninth on a David Lyon sacrifice fly for the final six-run margin.
UAB managed nine total hits in the game but couldn't string them together, posting multiple hits in only three innings. The Blazers had two hits in the fourth but stranded runners on the corners. UAB also had a pair of hits in the ninth but left runners stranded at second and third.
De Jesus recorded his first multiple-hit effort as he made his first career start in left field after missing the season's opening weeks because of injury.
Blake Huddleston pitched two innings of relief for UAB and allowed one run, and Trey Waltman came on to pitch a scoreless ninth.
Rider, Sutton and Joe Koch paced Kent State with two hits each.
