The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Ole Miss
No. 8 Ole Miss Tops Blazers, 5-1, Wednesday
3/16/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The UAB baseball team dropped its series finale to Ole Miss ,5-1, Wednesday afternoon at Regions Field. The No. 8 Rebels improved to 17-1 and took both games in the midweek series from the Blazers.
The Blazers (6-11, 0-0 C-USA) struck first in the bottom half of the fourth. Evan Peterson smoked a single up the middle, followed by a Griffin Gum double down the left field line. With runners at second and third, Esteban Tresgallo grounded out to short to plate Peterson and give UAB a 1-0 edge.
The fifth inning was the difference in the game and was a struggle for UAB, as Blazer pitchers allowed five runs without surrendering a hit. After recording the first out, starter Stephen Baggett walked three straight hitters to load the bases, before surrendering to reliever Cory Eller.
Eller did not fare well in his first outing since 2015 as he allowed free passes to the first two batters he faced to bring in a pair of runs. A third run (all charged to Baggett) scored on a Ryan Olenek sacrifice fly.
Freshman Matthew Calvert inherited a couple of runners, and both scored on wild pitches before he got out of the inning.
Baggett (0-2), making his second start of the season, was in a jam from the get-go, but escaped harm in the first inning. He posted a final line of 4.1 innings, four hits, three runs, four walks and two strikeouts.
After allowing the first two runners to reach via base hits in the fourth inning, Baggett retired the next three to strand a pair in scoring position.
Calvert, Kyle Davis, Josh Floyd and Luke Eigsti combined to hold the Rebels off the scoreboard for the final four innings, surrendering a total of just three hits and three walks.
“I thought we pitched great,” head coach Brian Shoop said. “We threw a lot of guys who haven’t pitched hardly at all. I thought Stephen was fantastic. I am really proud of him and happy for him. We held a really good offensive team scoreless through eight of the nine innings, and their five runs came without hits. We lost the strike zone, and it was really unfair of us to put Cory in there in that setting. He hasn’t pitched in a year because of injury.”
Gum led the UAB offense with a 2-for-4 day, with a bunt single to go along with his double. Brewer Hicklen, Peterson, Carter Pharis and Riley McCown added single hits on the day.
“We just have to be more competitive offensively if we are going to be competitive in the league,” Shoop said.
Starting pitcher James McArthur (2-0) registered the win for Ole Miss, allowing a run on five hits in five innings of work. Connor Green and Andrew Lowe each pitched two scoreless innings to finish the game.
UAB welcomes Louisiana Tech to Regions Field over the weekend. Game times are Friday at 6:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m.
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 social media accounts of UAB Athletics on Twitter (@UABAthletics), on Facebook (Facebook.com/UAB.Blazers), on Instagram (@uabathletics) or on Snapchat (@uabathletics).
