The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
C-USA Championship Bound!
5/25/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 25, 2012
Saturday's GameTracker | Video | Live Chat
PEARL, Miss. ---- The No. 7 seed UAB baseball team clinched a spot in the Conference USA Championship presented by Trustmark to play the No. 5 seed Memphis on Sunday at Trustmark Park. It marks the first-ever appearance for the Blazer baseball program in the league's championship game.
"It's a new step for our group of kids and we are really excited about the opportunity," head coach Brian Shoop said. "It has come down to the way we have executed in our first two games here and, like I've I said all year, when you win the freebee war you are going to be successful."
The C-USA Championship game will be played at 1 p.m. on Sunday and will be nationally-televised by CBS Sports Network. The game will also be broadcasted on WJOX-AM 690 with David Crane on the call.
UAB defeated Tulane earlier on Friday, 6-3 and clipped UCF, 15-1, on Thursday to own a perfect 2-0 record in pool play in its respected pod.
UCF (1-1), Tulane (1-1) and ECU (0-2) have all been eliminated from championship contention, allowing the Blazers to play for the league crown.
The Blazers still have to complete pool play on Saturday by playing the Pirates at 3 p.m. CT., despite already clinching a championship spot.
UAB, the No. 7 seed, is the highest seeded team to ever advance to the C-USA Championship game in league history. Also, it is the first time the Blazers have competed in a league championship game since 1994, when the Green and Gold defeated, coincidentally enough, Memphis when both teams were members of the Great Midwest Conference.
"The last two games we've put together quality at bats, had strong strike zone discipline and limited our walks as a pitching staff," Shoop said. "It is a pretty neat challenge in front of us going against Memphis and all you can ask for is a shot."
Memphis (31-26) locked its spot in the championship on Thursday night with a victory against Rice and is also 2-0 in pool play. The Tigers still have to play Houston on Friday night with their scheduled off day in the tournament set for Saturday.
On the season, UAB dropped all three meetings at Memphis and has lost seven straight contests to the conference foe.
