The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Baseball Closes League Play With Home Series Versus UCF
5/12/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 12, 2011
Game Notes 
| Friday Gametracker | Watch Live
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB baseball team plays at home for the final time this weekend when it welcomes UCF to Young Memorial Field for a three-game series. It is also the final Conference USA series of the season for the Blazers.
UAB (27-22, 9-12 C-USA) and UCF (30-19, 7-11 C-USA) will get things started Friday with a 6:30 p.m. CT first pitch. The Blazers will honor their six seniors with a Senior Day ceremony prior to Saturday afternoon's game.
This Weekend's Schedule
Game 1 -- Friday (6:30 p.m. CT)
Pitching Probables: RHP Dillon Napoleon (UAB) vs. LHP Brian Adkins (UCF)
Game 2 -- Saturday (2:00 p.m. CT)
Pitching Probables: Ryan Woolley (UAB) vs. RHP Danny Winkler (UCF)
Game 3 -- Saturday (11:00 a.m. CT)
Pitching Probables: TBA (UAB) vs. TBA (UCF)
Live Coverage
Fans can follow the action this weekend through Gametracker live stats (free) and All-Access streaming video (premium) at uabsports.com. All three games will air live in Birmingham on WJOX-AM 690.
About UAB
UAB rebounded from last weekend's sweep at No. 12 Southern Miss by winning two midweek games against Jacksonville State. The Blazers slugged out a 14-11 road win on Tuesday and then defeated the Gamecocks 4-2 at home on Wednesday.
Patrick Palmeiro has homered in three of UAB's past four games and leads the team with eight home runs and 37 RBI on the year. Jamal Austin continues to pace the Blazers with a .359 batting average and 23 stolen bases, while Nick Crawford owns a team-best .437 on-base percentage as UAB's leadoff hitter. Defensively, the Blazers own an impressive .977 fielding percentage as a team.
On the mound, Dillon Napoleon (5-2, 2.58 ERA) makes his return to the weekend rotation after missing the past two weeks and will start the series opener. Ryan Woolley (6-5, 3.12 ERA), the C-USA leader in innings pitched, is slated to start Saturday's game. The Blazers, which own a 3.93 ERA as a pitching staff, have not yet announced a pitcher for Sunday.
Scouting UCF
UCF picked up an 8-1 midweek win over Bethune-Cookman on Wednesday. The Knights were out of conference last weekend, when they took one out of three games at sixth-ranked Florida State. In its most recent C-USA action, UCF dropped two of three games to Houston two weeks ago in Orlando.
The Knights enter the weekend hitting .300 as a team, led by D.J. Hicks at .343 and Jonathan Griffin at .337. Hicks has driven in a team-high 49 runs, followed by Griffin with 42, and the pair has combined to hit 25 of the team's 41 home runs. Both players are slugging better than .600 for the year. UCF's Travis Shreve ranks second in C-USA with 21 stolen bases, trailing only UAB's Jamal Austin.
The Knights are scheduled to send Brian Adkins (6-3, 3.49 ERA) to the mound in Friday's series opener, followed by Danny Winkler (3-4, 5.22 ERA) on Saturday. The Knights also have yet to announce a starter for Sunday. As a team, they come into the series with a 4.08 ERA.
All-Time Versus UCF
UAB owns a 9-6 lead in the all-time series with all 15 meeting coming since UCF joined Conference USA for the 2006 season. The Blazers are 4-2 is six previous contests between the teams in Birmingham, having swept the 2007 series at Young Memorial Field and dropped two out of three to the Knights in 2009. Last season in Orlando, UAB took two of three on the road. The Blazers lost 16-7 in the series opener on April 2, 2010 but rebounded to sweep a Saturday doubleheader by scores of 7-2 and 6-1 on April 3.
The Last Time Out
UAB took a pair of midweek games from Jacksonville State. On Tuesday, the Blazers posted season-highs for hits and runs and withstood an eight-run rally from Jacksonville State to hold on for a 14-11 road victory. The Blazers pounded out 17 hits, including a career-high four by Andrew Manning, and built a 12-3 advantage before JSU cut the lead all the way to one run. Manning finished the game 4-for-6 at the plate with a double, a home run and two RBI. Nick Crawford went 3-for-4 with a triple, three stolen bases and a career-high four runs scored, while Coy Arrowood drove in a season-best four runs.
Wednesday's game featured much less offense. Trey Waltman made his first start of the season and pitched into the seventh inning, allowing only two runs in the Blazers' 4-2 win at home. Patrick Palmeiro's solo home run in the sixth inning broke a 2-2 tie and proved to be the game-winner. UAB tacked on an insurance run in the seventh on the second RBI single of the night from Keith DePew.
