The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Blazers Begin Spring Break Road Trip at Ole Miss
3/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
UAB (12-9, 2-4 C-USA) at Ole Miss (13-10, 3-3 SEC)
Details: Tuesday, March 24 • G1: 11 a.m., G2: 2 p.m. • Swayze Field •Oxford, Miss.
Game Coverage: Twitter| UAB Notes
Live Stats: Game One • Game Two
Live Audio: Game One •Game Two
Watch Live (SEC Network+): Game One •Game Two
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB baseball team hits the road for five-straight games beginning Tuesday with a doubleheader at Southeastern Conference foe Ole Miss at 11 a.m.
Live stats and live audio will be available for both games. The doubleheader will also be aired live on SEC Network+, with Will Kollmeyer (PXP) and David Dellucci (Analyst) on the call.
Leading Off
• UAB and Ole Miss clash Tuesday for a midweek, spring break doubleheader for the first meeting since the 1999 campaign when the Blazers took a thrilling, 20-15 victory.
• The Blazers' last time out resulted in a C-USA series win when UAB took 2-of-3 from Marshall at Regions Field last weekend. The Blazers won the opener, 5-2, fell 7-6 in 11 innings in the middle game and came back to record a 2-1 victory in the finale. The two squads played a DH Saturday, forcing UAB's fourth doubleheader of 2015.
• Tuesday's games mark the start of a five-game road swing for the Blazers, who travel to Bowling Green this weekend to face Western Kentucky in a C-USA series.
• UAB's pitching staff has been its strength this season, a group that leads the league in opponent batting average (.219), is third in ERA (3.10), second in runs allowed (74), first in hits allowed (142), second in doubles allowed (22) and first in home runs allowed (4).
• UAB's defense, the biggest strength of the team, which ranked in the top-25 in the NCAA all of last season, again leads the league thus far with a .972 fielding percentage. The Blazers are fourth in assists (244) and third in fielding double plays (20).
• Dylan Munger, UAB's projected starter for game one of Tuesday's tilt, will be making his first appearance since the 2013 campaign. The redshirt sophomore last pitched on Feb. 24, 2013, and sat out the remainder of that season, plus all of 2014, dealing with injuries.
• UAB played its first game against a Southeastern Conference opponent last Tuesday (6-4 loss to Auburn), and will play three games vs. SEC teams over the next week, totaling five games vs. the league this season.
Series History
UAB and Ole Miss meet for the first time since 1999 on Tuesday when the two squads battle it out in a doubleheader in Oxford.
The last meeting was nothing short of exciting, when the Blazers won, 20-15, on March 2, 1999. The Rebels lead the all-time series, 13-8, as the two clubs will be meeting in Oxford for the first time since 1998.
Scouting The Opponent
Ole Miss enters Tuesday's doubleheader winners in three of its last five contests, with a 13-10 overall mark on the year. Tuesday's games mark the end of an eight-game homestand, where the Rebels are currently 10-4 in games played at Swayze Field this season.
The Rebels are 0-1 against C-USA teams this season, with a 5-1 loss at Southern Miss back in early March. Ole Miss took 2-of-3 from Florida in SEC action this past weekend.
Kyle Watson and Will Golsan lead the Rebels offensively in batting average at .300 each, while J.B. Woodman has a team-best 22 hits. Sikes Orvis, Preseason All-SEC First Team, leads the club in RBI with 21 on the year. Cameron Dishon and Watson are both dangerous on the base paths with a combined 19 stolen bases, a squad that has 28 total on the year.
The Rebels' pitching staff has a 3.95 team ERA entering Tuesday, with 168 strikeouts and 64 walks on the year. Sam Smith, the projected starter in Tuesday's game one, is 1-3 with a 7.30 ERA in 24.2 IP, while Evan Anderson, game two's starter, is 1-2 with a 6.29 ERA in 24.1 IP.
Looking Ahead
The Blazers continue their spring break road trip this weekend with a trip to Bowling Green, Ky. to face Western Kentucky in a C-USA series.
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).
