The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Blazers, Pirates Square Off In Greenville
3/29/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 29, 2012
Game Notes 
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Blazer baseball team takes its first road trip in Conference USA play, by heading to Greenville, N.C. to play the East Carolina Pirates. The two teams will meet on the diamond three times, starting Friday at 6 p.m. ET at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
UAB (17-9, 2-1 C-USA) | ECU (16-8, 1-2 C-USA)
Multimedia
Live video, audio, GameTracker and a live chat will all be available for all three games at UABsports.com
Game Times & Probable Starters
Location: Greenville, N.C. (Clark-LeClair Stadium)
Game 1: Fri., 6 p.m. ET
UAB: RHP Dillon Napoleon (3-1, 2.95 ERA)
ECU: LHP Kevin Brandt (3-2, 1.65 ERA)
Game 2: Sat., 2 p.m. ET
UAB: RHP Ben Bullard (2-2, 2.34 ERA)
ECU: LHP Tyler Joyner (3-0, 3.09 ERA)
Game 3: Sun., 10:30 a.m. ET
UAB: RHP Michael Busby (2-1, 2.01 ERA)
ECU: RHP Jharel Cotton (5-0, 2.29 ERA)
Inside The Series: ECU leads, 22-5
ECU leads the all-time series with the Blazers, 22-5, but UAB took two of three at Young Memorial Field in 2011.
Under head coach Brian Shoop, UAB is 4-11 vs. the Pirates and 0-6 at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
2011 Rewind
UAB captured the first two games of the series in 2011 vs. ECU, claiming a series with the Pirates for the first time since 2007 and breaking a 10-game losing streak against them in the process.
The Blazers hit only .255 in the three games with ECU, but the pitching staff out dueled the Pirate arms, holding their bats to a .228 clip and allowing eight earned runs in 27.0 innings (2.67 ERA).
The two teams were almost even in hits (UAB 24, ECU 23) and runs (UAB 14, ECU 12) in the three games played in Birmingham.
Game 1: UAB 4, ECU 1
Dillon Napoleon fired a complete game, scattering four hits and striking out five and needing only 92 pitches to shut down the Pirate offense and earn the victory.
Napoleon out-dueled ECU's Seth Maness, who also went the distance, giving up four runs (two earned) in 8.0 innings.
Keith DePew and John Frost each knocked in a run, while Jamal Austin went 2-for-4 at the dish.
Game 2: UAB 5, ECU 3
The Blazers scored four of their five runs in the bottom of the third, which included a RBI single by Patrick Palmeiro to earn the 5-3 win.
Ryan Woolley worked the first 5.0 innings, giving up two runs (one earned) with four strikeouts. In relief, Ben Bullard fired 3.0 innings giving up just one run (earned), while Ryan Nance pitched a perfect ninth to earn the save.
Game 3: ECU 8, UAB 5
Michael Busby and Blake Huddleston combined to allow only two earned runs over the first eight innings, but the Pirates scored four times in the top of the ninth to avoid a three-game sweep to the Blazers.
UAB broke a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the eighth on a suicide squeeze bunt by Nick Crawford that plated Coy Arrowood. The next half inning, ECU touched home four times, highlighted by a Zach Wright three-run homer. Wright finished 3-for-4 with two homers and four RBI.
DePew went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI.
UAB NOTEBOOK
>The Blazers enter the weekend series with a 17-9 record, earning a 1-0 victory in 12 innings against in-state foe Alabama at Regions Park. John Frost broke up a scoreless tie with two outs in the last of the 12th on a RBI single to right-centerfield to plate Ivan De Jesus from second base.
>The 12-inning shutout lowered UAB's team ERA to 3.19, second-best in the league behind only nationally ranked Rice (3.07).
>UAB is scoring an average of 4.77 runs per game and giving up only 3.92.
>On the base paths, the Blazers have 25 steals in 30 attempts for a success rate of 83.3 percent, the highest amongst all C-USA teams. Ivan De Jesus leads the team with six steals in seven tries, as no player has been caught stealing more than once.
>OF Jeff Schalk tops the team in average at .325. The freshman has 26 hits in 80 at bats, including a three-hit game against Alabama on Tuesday. The game vs. the Crimson Tide was the first time he has batted in the third in Shoop's lineup.
>UAB sports a deep bench, with 14 different players having 28 or more at bats thus far in 2012.
>UAB has only walked 63 batters in 237.0 total innings, including no free passes in the 12-inning win against Alabama. For the season, the Blazers' staff is walking just 2.39 batters per nine innings.
>3B Patrick Palmeiro leads the team in RBI (16) and is one of five players that has homered for the Blazers this season.
>UAB has turned 26 double plays, the most in C-USA and the ninth most in Division I. Miami (Ohio) tops all teams with 37 twin killings.
>Three pitchers - RHP Tanner Bryant (1.69), RHP Michael Busby (2.01) and RHP Ben Bullard (2.34) - appear in the top-10 in C-USA for lowest ERA.
>RHP Ben Bullard ranks third in C-USA in strikeouts (47) and as of March 26, tied for 12th nationally.
>The scheduled starters for UAB - RHP Dillon Napoleon, RHP Ben Bullard, RHP Michael Busby - have given up 31 earned runs in 113.1 total innings for a ERA of 2.46.
SCOUTING ECU
>ECU dropped two of three to UCF during the C-USA opening weekend. The Pirates, like UAB, also played in extra innings during their lone midweek contest, but came up on the short end of the stick, falling to N.C. State, 4-3 in 11 innings at Raleigh, N.C.
>Friday night starter LHP Kevin Brandt is 3-2 and owns the fourth-lowest ERA in the conference (1.65). He has also picked off a league-best four base runners.
>DH/RHP Drew Reynolds is a dual threat, topping C-USA in saves with seven and hitting .377 at the plate.
>RHP Jharel Cotton, Sunday's starter, is 5-0 in six starts this season, the most victories by a pitcher in the league.
>ECU is hitting .285 as a team with 18 homers and 114 RBI.
>The three weekend Pirate starters - LHP Kevin Brandt, LHP Tyler Joyner, RHP Jharel Cotton - combined have 11 of ECU's 16 victories.
