The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
East Carolina
No. 30 ECU's Comeback Bests Baseball, 11-6
3/31/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 31, 2012
GREENVILLE, N.C. ---- John Frost launched a homer as part of a three-hit game, but UAB was outscored by East Carolina 9-1 over the final five innings to defeat the Blazer baseball team, 11-6 on Friday night at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
The Blazers (17-10, 2-2 C-USA) will look to even the series with Pirates on Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. ET.
“It’s a funny game,” head coach Brian Shoop said. “On Tuesday night, we could get everybody out, but tonight it was a different story. It was one of those nights that looked like it was going to be an offensive night and they just produced a little more on offense than us.”
For the 10th time in his career, Frost recorded three base knocks in a game, tying a career-high as he also plated a pair of runs. Patrick Palmeiro and Tanner Bryant each added a pair of singles as UAB connected for 13 hits as team.
The Blazers looked to be in control, leading 6-2 entering the bottom of the sixth. However, ECU (17-8, 2-2 C-USA) scored three in the sixth, two in the seventh and four more in the eighth to claim the come-from-behind victory.
Tim Younger finished 3-for-4 with four RBI and Jay Cannon roped four hits and scored three runs to pace the Pirates’ offense.
Following a two-hour rain delay, UAB took little time greeting ECU starter Kevin Brandt, as leadoff hitter Ivan De Jesus roped a triple off the wall in right field to start the game. Frost followed up by extending his current hit streak to five games with a stinging RBI single to center to hold a 1-0 lead.
Friday night marked the shortest outing for Brandt this season, as the Blazers snapped his string of six consecutive quality starts on the ECU mound.
After stranding a pair in the second, UAB touched home four times in the third. Frost started the rally by launching a solo homer, his first of the season, to straight-away center field. Jacob German and Keith DePew each roped RBI base knocks sandwiched around an error giving UAB a 5-0 cushion.
Dylan Dickens (1-0) came out of the ECU bullpen and shut down the Blazer lineup in place of Brandt, firing four scoreless innings. The right-handed sidearmer scattered three hits with a pair of strikeouts.
ECU had cut the deficit to one run, 6-5, entering the bottom of the seventh. With two outs, Younger knocked a two-run single up the middle to plate what proved to be the tying and winning runs for the Pirates.
Pinch hitter Ryan Prinzing roped a double in the top half of the eighth putting the tying run in scoring position with one out. But, reliever Tanner Merritt held him stranded and sent the Blazers down in order in the ninth to earn his fourth save.
Dylan Munger (2-3) suffered the loss out of the UAB bullpen.
