The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Baseball Visits No. 25 Rice for Weekend Series
4/7/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
HOUSTON, Texas – The UAB baseball team continues its Conference USA schedule in the Lone Star State beginning Friday in a three-game series with No. 25 Rice.
The league foes face off at 6:30 p.m. Friday night, followed by a 2 p.m. Saturday first pitch and Sunday 1 p.m. start at the Owls’ Reckling Park in Downtown Houston, Texas.
The Green and Gold (11-18, 3-6 C-USA) goes into the weekend after dropping a disappointing one-run loss at Jacksonville State Tuesday night. Along with goals of picking up wins over a top 25 opponent for a second time this season, the Blazers are in search of their first victory on the road.
Freshman Carter Pharis and redshirt freshman Brewer Hicklen are both coming off a big night at the plate against JSU. Hicklen and Pharis each homered and totaled two hits against the Gamecock in Tuesday’s 10-run offensive explosion. The two sluggers rank just behind Griffin Gum’s team-best .317 average.
Right-hander Tanner Graham has been tabbed Friday’s starting pitcher, while lefty Ryan Ruggles is handed the ball Saturday. Both hurlers have five days of rest under their belts, splitting duties in last Saturday’s doubleheader against Western Kentucky. Graham (1-3) is coming off a tough loss to the Hilltoppers in a six-inning outing in which he yielded just two runs on three hits. Ruggles (3-2) picked up the win in his start against WKU, throwing 8.1 innings of shutout, one-hit baseball.
Rice (18-10, 7-2 C-USA) goes into the series ranked 25th in the Baseball America top 25 poll. The Owls picked up a 4-3 victory over No. 3 Texas A&M in Houston Tuesday night.
Left fielder Ryan Chandler leads the Rice offense with a .330 average, followed by outfielder Charlie Warren at .319 and infielder Ford Proctor at .302. Chandler leads the squad with seven doubles, while Proctor tops the statistics with 15 RBIs.
The Owls look to Jon Duplantier, Blake Fox and Ricardo Salinas to lead their efforts on the mound. Salinas stands at 4-1, while Duplantier is 2-3 with a team-best 61 strikeouts and Fox is 2-4 with a 2.58 ERA. All three hurlers rank among the conference’s top five in strikeouts.
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