The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
.png&width=60&height=60&type=webp)
Western Michigan
Luna Leads UAB To 4-1 Win Over Western Michigan
2/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Senior pitcher Alex Luna tossed 7 2/3 innings of shutout work to lead the UAB baseball team to a 4-1 win over Western Michigan Friday afternoon at Regions Field.
"Alex was Alex," head coach Brian Shoop said. "He pounds the strike zone and gets a lot of ground balls. What made him and us good last year, was that he does that and we are really good defensively. That's a typical Alex Luna game and I thought he was outstanding."
Luna picked up from where he left off in 2014, settling in to strike out six Bronco hitters and allow just three hits. He moves to 1-0 on the year, while Western Michigan's Keegan Akin was tabbed with the loss.
After three innings of scoreless action, the Blazers (1-0) put up single runs in back-to-back frames in the fourth and fifth and added two more in the eighth.
Redshirt junior Esteban Tresgallo recorded the first RBI of his UAB career on an RBI double to plate Griffin Gum in the fourth. UAB added a run in the fifth when Matthew Furuto doubled to score Matt Morse who drew an earlier walk.
The Blazer offense pieced together timely at-bats in the eighth to add two more one-out runs. Nathan Vincent singled to left and stole second before Gum drew a walk. With two on and one away, senior Jeff Schalk tripled to right center, sending home both Blazers to cap UAB's scoring.
Western Michigan posted its lone run in the top of the ninth with a bases loaded fielders choice, before reliever Cory Eller sealed the deal with a strikeout swinging to earn the save and give the Blazers the season-opening victory.
Tresgallo finished the game with two hits and an RBI, while Vincent also added two hits and a run scored. Schalk tallied two RBI, Furuto had one and Gum scored two of the Blazers' four runs.
UAB and Western Michigan return to Regions Field on Saturday for a doubleheader to close the series. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. in game two of the series, and the final contest will follow soon after. Admission is free to both games.
"It's a long day, but you just have to adjust to it and they do too," Shoop said of the doubleheader Saturday. "One thing that hurts you is being able to bring pitchers back. It's much easier to go Friday and Sunday for a reliever than it is to go Friday and Saturday. What will happen is this will force us deeper into our pen, and the other way to look at that is an opportunity for some guys to help us out of the pen and maybe the first opportunity for some freshmen."
For more information on the UAB baseball team, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_Baseball). For more on all Blazer sports teams follow the official Twitter account of UAB Athletics (@UABAthletics).
.png&width=84&height=84&quality=100&type=webp)
