The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Baseball Hosts Old Dominion in Regular Season Finale
5/13/2015 12:00:00β―AM | Baseball
UAB (28-23, 13-14 C-USA) vs. Old Dominion (26-25, 12-15 C-USA)
Details: Young Memorial Field | Birmingham, Ala.
Thursday, May 14 -- 6:30 p.m. |Friday, May 15 -- 6:30 p.m. |Saturday, May 16 -- 1 p.m
Follow the Blazers: Twitter
Radio: 1070 WAPI-AM | Talent: David Crane (PXP)
Live Stats: Game One | Game Two | Game Three
Live Video: Game One | Game Two | Game Three
Probable Starting Pitchers:
Friday -- RHP James Naile (8-3, 2.23) vs. RHP Sam Sinnen (6-2, 2.11)
Saturday -- RHP Alex Luna (3-3, 3.79) vs. TBA
Sunday -- RHP Johnny Lieske (3-5, 3.82) vs. TBA
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --UAB's baseball team closes the book on the 2015 regular season beginning Thursday with a three-game Conference USA series vs. Old Dominion at Young Memorial Field.
Both Thursday and Friday's games are slated for a 6:30 p.m. start, and the regular season finale is set for a 1 p.m. first pitch on Saturday.
Live stats and live video will be available for all three games. Information to that can be accessed at UABSports.com or in the links above.
Leading Off
- UAB controls its own destiny heading into the final weekend of the 2015 regular season. The Blazers are sixth in the C-USA standings at 13-14 (.481) in league play, and can clinch a spot in next week's C-USA Championship with one win this weekend vs. Old Dominion.
- ODU and five other teams, UAB included, are fighting for the final three spots in the tournament. The top-8 finishing teams in the regular season based off winning percentage earn spots in the championship in Hattiesburg. Rice, Middle Tennessee, Florida Atlantic, Southern Miss and UTSA have all punched their tickets to Mississippi heading into the final weekend.
- The Blazers are coming off their final midweek tilt of the regular season Tuesday night, where they fell to in-state foe Jacksonville State, 8-7, in 10 innings.
- UAB will honor its nine seniors and two managers on Saturday. OF Chase Davis, INF Tyler Hamby, LHP/1B Sam Kelley, RHP Johnny Lieske, RHP Alex Luna, 1B/C/OF Tyler Mims, INF Matt Morse, OF Jeff Schalk, INF Nathan Vincent, and managers Adam Brookins and Garrett Wallace will be taking part in their final regular season home game at Young Memorial Field.
- R-Jr. catcher Esteban Tresgallo is coming off a monster week at the plate, and was named the C-USA Hitter of the Week and was named one of the Louisville Slugger Collegiate Baseball National Players of the Week for his efforts. The Guaynabo, Puerto Rico native drove in 11 runs, hit home runs in four-straight games, scored seven times and collected seven hits during the week, surging to a slugging percentage of 1.312%.
- RHP James Naile is looking for his third-straight start of allowing just five hits or less and one run or less. He's struck out a combined 15 hitters in his last two starts and allowed one run over those 15.2 IP.
Series History
The series between the Blazers and Monarchs sits at 4-4 entering the weekend. The two clubs first met in the 1983 campaign as part of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in Norfolk, Va.
UAB took 2-of-3 from ODU last season, winning the first two games in Virginia, 4-2 and 8-6, before dropping the series finale, 4-1.
Scouting The Opponent
Like UAB, Old Dominion controls its own destiny heading into the final weekend of the regular season. The Monarchs are 12-15 (.444) in league play heading into the weekend having won two C-USA series' in a row over Louisiana Tech and FIU. ODU also took 2-of-3 from Rice back in March and is one of seven teams still in the hunt for a spot in next week's Conference USA Championship.
The Monarchs hit .290 as a team, led by P.J. Higgins' clip of .352, which is second best in the league. He's 14th nationally 14th in hits with 77 and 20 XBH. Taylor Ostrich has a team-best 42 walks, which ranks 13th in NCAA. He and Josh Eldridge are tied for the team lead in RBI at 34, while Eldridge's five long balls leads the team.
ODU has a 4.39 team ERA led by RHP Sam Sinnen's mark of 2.11 with a 6-2 record in 55.1 IP. He's allowed just 13 earned runs in five starts and 48 strikeouts. Adam Bainbridge is 4-2 with a 2.53 ERA in six games started, while Greg Tomchick has started 13 times and is 3-5 with a 3.82 ERA.
Weekend Promotions
Family Fridays: Every home Friday Blazer baseball game a family of four (two adults, two children) can purchase a discounted ticket package for $10 at Young Memorial Field.
Senior Day and Social Saturday: Help celebrate the UAB baseball seniors in Saturday's contest. Fans are encouraged to spread the word on social media and can receive up to two free tickets by sharing a special Senior Day social media message while at the ticket window.
Looking Ahead
With one win in this weekend's series, UAB punches its ticket to next week's C-USA Baseball Championship in Hattiesburg, Miss. Action there gets underway Wednesday and will run through Sunday.
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).
