The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB and Samford Clash at Regions Field
3/27/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Two local rivals will do battle at Regions Field on Tuesday night as the UAB baseball team hosts Samford. The Blazers carry a mark of 14-10 while the Bulldogs are 15-9 this season. This will be the first ever meeting between the two at Regions Field and first pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.
HOW TO FOLLOW
GAME NOTES • UAB | Samford LIVE STATS • LIVE STREAM • Blazer Vision
LIVE RADIO • WAPI-AM 1070
TWITTER • @UAB_Baseball
INSTAGRAM • @UAB_Baseball
SNAPCHAT • UABathletics
WEEKEND ROTATION
| Day | Player | R/L | Class | Stats | Opp. Pitcher | R/L | Class | Stats |
| Tuesday | TBA | - | - | - | Cody Shelton | R | So. | 1-0, 1.62 ERA |
QUICK RECAP - BLAZERS DROP WEEKEND SERIES TO OWLS
The UAB baseball team won the first two games of a three-game home swing versus FAU on Friday, but was unable to earn wins in the other games and lost its first Conference USA series of the weekend.
The last game was stretched across two days because of rain forcing each side to use five pitchers. The Owls eventually won the finale 9-5 on Sunday afternoon.
Brewer Hicklen and Carter Pharis each sent balls over the fence in the series with Phari's being his first of the season. Price Visintainer added a solid line in the series, batting 3-for-7 with four runs and one walk. Thomas Lowery earned the Blazers lone win, his second straight in as many starts.
SPEED DEMONS
Speed is a common denominator for teams under Coach Shoop. The pace of this year's squad has already been on full display as the Blazers are the only team in Conference USA with nine triples as they rank 27th in the nation. Brewer Hicklen ranks third in the country with five triples and is the only player in C-USA with five-or-more three baggers. Price Visintainer has added three triples and Stephen Dobbs has the other triple. Hicklen and Visintainer are the only pair in C-USA with three-or-more triples as just one other player has reached that mark this season.
The Blazers 30 steals also now ranks 51st in the country and first in the conference. Hicklen leads the team with 10 steals and is at the top C-USA in that mark as well. Tyler Tolbert has added six steals and ranks tied for fifth in the conference. The two have also been extremely efficient in their steal attempts, being caught three times across 19 chances between both of them. During the Blazers five-game winning streak early in the year, the two combined for seven steals.
HOME COOKIN'
UAB enjoys the benefit of being able to call two parks home. The Blazers play the majority of their home games at Regions Field, the ballpark of the Birmingham Barons. Since beginning play there in 2014, the Blazers own a 44-21 record at the minor league ballpark. UAB opened 2014 by winning its first nine games played at Regions. The rest of their home games come at the campus field, Young Memorial Field. The Blazers have had a winning record at home each of the last three seasons, posting a record of 63-38 at Regions and Young combined.
SCOUTING SAMFORD
Samford has been strong at the plate this year, ranking 23rd in the nation with 26 home runs. Kevin Williams, Jr. and Austin Edens have combined for 15 of those dingers, both ranking top 28 in the country individually.
SERIES HISTORY
The Bulldogs have taken three straight in the local series including both games last season. Samford narrowly took the second game 3-1 after taking the first game 13-2.
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 (@UAB_Athletics), on Facebook (Facebook.com/UAB.Blazers), on Instagram (@uab_athletics) or on Snapchat (@uabathletics).
