The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Old Dominion
Blazers Earn Split Versus Monarchs with Game Two Victory
5/6/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Game One | Game Two (PDF)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB baseball team battled to pick-up a split in Saturday's doubleheader against Old Dominion. The Monarchs, who are receiving votes in the latest NCBWA Top 30, won the first game 11-3 and the Blazers battled back from an early deficit to win game two 8-4. UAB is 22-25 overall and 8-15 in Conference USA while ODU is 31-14 and 15-8 in C-USA.
"I think Old Dominion is a really, really good team," said UAB head coach Brian Shoop. "It's tough to keep their line-up down. That was their best guy in the second and their head coach said that's the best anybody has hit him all year. Good for the kids to rebound. We're in such a hole that it's hard to get out of it with splits but ODU is a very good team and we hung in there pretty darn good."
Game One
An early pitcher's duel dissipated with a seven-run top of the fifth inning by the visitors. The two teams combined for 20 hits over the last five innings after totaling five through the first four frames.
UAB starter Thomas Lowery ran into rare difficulties early in the game but worked through allowing the first two baserunners on. Lowery struck out the first batter with a pair on and then forced two fly outs to avoid allowing any runs.
The Monarchs scored seven runs on six hits in the top of the fifth inning. Jared Young tripled down the right field line to score Kyle Battle who singled to get on-base. Young was scored on a double from Zach Rutherford for the first two runs. ODU continued to hit around in the inning with a two-run home run by Turner Bishop to conclude the scoring in the frame. The Blazers trailed 7-0 at that point.
UAB plated one run in the bottom portion of the fifth. Thomas Johns and Price Visintainer had back-to-back singles which led to an RBI double by Colton Schultz to score Johns. The Blazers loaded the bases after Brewer Hicklen was hit by a pitch to extend his on-base streak to 32 games but no more runs were scored by the home team in the frame.
The Green & Gold kept it rolling in the sixth inning. Three hits, a hit by pitch and a wild pitch led to two runs. The leadoff man Carter Pharis was hit by the second pitch he saw and was moved to third on a double from Antonio Ralat. Johns grounded out to score Pharis and then Ralat came home on a wild pitch. UAB cut the deficit to 7-3.
ODU responded with a big top of the seventh inning. Three hits and an error ultimately led to four runs as the Monarchs reached double-digits and led 11-3.
Old Dominion outhit UAB 15-10 while the Blazers committed the lone error of the game.
Lowery was charged with his first loss in C-USA play. He is now 6-2 this season. The senior did reach a historic milestone on the day as his four strikeouts pushed him to 200 for his career, becoming the fifth play in UAB history to reach that mark.
Sam Sinnen started and earned the win for Old Dominion. His record stands at 3-3 after throwing six innings, giving up seven hits, three runs, one walk, hit two batters and had two strikeouts.
Game Two
UAB fell behind early in Saturday's finale but refused to go away with two losses today.
The Monarchs scored both of their opening runs with two outs on the board in the first inning. Back-to-back singles were followed by a Nick Walker triple as ODU led 2-0 early.
The Blazers took its first lead of the series in the bottom of the second. Brett Blackwood led off with a double and was joined on-base by Johns who walked. Luke Eigsti then stepped to the plate and laced a double to right center field to score Blackwood and advance Johns to third. Both Eigsti and Johns scored off an RBI single by Schultz to make it 3-2.
The Monarchs would tie it up with a sacrifice fly the next frame but UAB immediately recaptured the lead with two runs on three hits and an error in the bottom of the third. All the runs came with two outs as three straight singles led to the first run. A bad throw on a pickoff attempt on Visintainer at first base allowed Ralat to score from third and the Blazers led 5-3.
Two more runs were added by UAB in the fifth. It was a big inning for the Blazers as they totaled four hits, with Pharis and Blackwood starting with singles. Zack Davis then came on to pinch-run for Blackwood and it led to a double steal by him and Pharis. The UAB third baseman then came home when Ralat grounded out and Davis would score on an RBI single by Johns and the lead stood at 7-3.
ODU threatened in the sixth by loading the bases up. Garrett Whitlock came in for starter Carson Jones after Jones breached the century mark and Whitlock forced a lineout by the Monarchs leadoff man Battle to end the frame without damage.
UAB would follow by scoring an insurance run in the bottom half of the frame. Hicklen was drilled by the first pitch he saw and proceeded to steal second and third base. The sophomore's top-notch base running was rewarded on a single by Pharis to score Hicklen and push the lead to 8-3.
Hicklen would soon make another notable play. With one runner already on, a ball was hit to deep left center field but Hicklen would make a superb diving effort to secure the first out of the frame.
Whitlock would finish off a strong outing in relief with a one-two-three inning to close things out. The sophomore right hander threw the final 3.1 innings to earn his second save of the year. Whitlock allowed two hits, one unearned run, one walk, and struck out two.
The Blazers outhit Old Dominion 12-8 and each team was charged with an error.
Jones picked up the win with a career-high 5.2 innings pitched and 106 pitches credited to his name. The junior conceded six hits, three runs, two walks, and had four strikeouts.
Adam Bainbridge was credited with the loss. He started for ODU and lost for just the second team this season to fall to 7-2. He threw five innings while allowing 11 hits, seven runs, six earned, two walks, and striking out five.
Blackwood had a career-high three hits in three at-bats, one of those hits being his first double of the year. It was the sophomore's second career multi-hit game as he got his ninth start of the season.
Schultz had a great day at the plate. The freshman pushed his hitting streak to eight straight games as he finished 3-for-9 at the dish with three RBI, two coming in the victory.
Hicklen was stellar in the field and with the bat. Hicklen was 2-for-6, scored once, walked once, and was hit by three pitches. In the second game, he had three stolen bases to push his season total to 15 and his career total to 37. Hicklen is one stolen base shy of tying Phil Bell for 10th in school history.
Pharis' two-hit effort in game two was his 22nd such two-hit game in his career. He finished 2-for-5 in the second game with one run and RBI after scoring once in the first game.
Visintainer joined Schultz with having three hits across the two games. The junior infielder was 3-for-7 with an RBI and one walk.
Eigsti picked up two hits in the start he received in the day finale. The sophomore right fielder was 2-for-4 with a double, run, and RBI.
UAB now looks for a much-needed series win in Sunday's finale. Neither team has announced its starting pitcher for tomorrow's 1 p.m. rubber match at Young Memorial Field.
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