The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Alabama State
UAB Sweeps In-State Midweek Contests
5/3/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Final Stats (PDF)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The UAB baseball team carried over the momentum from yesterday’s big win at Samford into today’s game versus Alabama State. The Blazers smacked two home runs in the first inning as they went on to win 5-4 against the Hornets at Young Memorial Field. UAB matched its win total from last season as they moved to 21-24 on the year with ASU now standing at 24-23.
“We got off to a great start offensively,” said UAB head coach Brian Shoop. “Credit to their left-handed pitcher that came in but we didn’t make a very good adjustment to a lower-velocity left-hander that gets you out vertically and not with power. All-in-all, happy to get two midweek games. We’ve had trouble doing that. Back to work now against a very, very good Old Dominion team.”
Colton Schultz kept up his hot streak of play by singling to get the game started. Pierce Ressmeyer pushed the count full two batters later and delivered one out of the park to left centerfield. Carter Pharis followed with a single and two batters later, Antonio Ralat smacked a two-run home run to left field to give the Blazers an immediate 4-0 lead.
Alabama State tied the game with a pair of two-run home runs in the top of the third inning. Joseph Estrada and Carlos Ocasio were the culprits that tied the game at 4-4.
The tie would be broken quickly as Brewer Hicklen led off the bottom half of the inning with a double and advanced to third on a wild pitch with Ressmeyer at the plate. The senior catcher delivered a frozen rope over the head of the third baseman to score Hicklen and make it 5-4.
Pharis made a pair of superb defensive plays in the top of the fifth inning. The first was making a backhanded snag at third base while running into foul territory. The sophomore turned and jumped simultaneously to fire towards first base and was just able to get the batter out on a play reminiscent of former New York Yankee great Derek Jeter. To end the frame, Pharis knocked down a sharply hit ball, scooped it, and flipped to second base to start a 5-4-3 double play.
The two sides combined for just four hits the rest of the way. The Blazers utilized five bullpen arms with the last four relief pitchers combining to allow no runs over the final six frames. Isaiah Gonzales-Montoya was the final man out of the pen, tossing 1.1 innings to pick-up his first career save. The junior had one strikeout, no hits, no walks, and hit one batter.
“We held them to five hits, we threw well,” said Shoop. “The runs were just because we had a walk on the front-end of a home run and a hit-by-pitch in front of the home run. Those are what kill you. But overall, good job by our pitching staff.”
The Blazers outhit the Hornets 7-5 while neither team committed an error.
Tanner Graham threw only one inning as the UAB starter but delivered a perfect 1-2-3 frame.
Sylvester Toe, Adam Lamar, Dylan Munger, and Gonzales-Montoya combined for the final six innings. Toe registered a career-best 2.1 innings while the group combined to allow only three hits and two walks. Each pitcher had one strikeout.
Ressmeyer and Ralat each finished with a pair of hits. Ressmeyer had a career-high three RBI while Ralat tied his career-best with his pair of RBI on the home run.
The Blazers return to Conference USA action this weekend for a three-game slate versus Old Dominion. The Monarchs come into the series receiving votes in the latest NCBWA top 30 and are third in C-USA while UAB is trying to fight back into postseason positioning. First game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Friday night at Young Memorial Field.
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).
