Blazers Drop Heartbreaker in Series Finale

Sunday, May 13

Houston, Texas

1:00 P.M.

UAB

20-28, 12-15

Rice

23-27-2, 11-14-2

UAB

RICE

Blazers Drop Heartbreaker in Series Finale

5/13/2018 5:31:00 PM | Baseball

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HOUSTON – The Blazers managed bases loaded with no outs but were unable to manufacture a run as the UAB baseball team fell 6-3 in the series finale at Rice on Sunday afternoon at Reckling Park.

With one final weekend of Conference USA play, the Blazers sit in eighth place and will vie for a spot in the conference tournament set for May 23-27 at MGM Park in Biloxi, Mississippi.

"I thought our guys played great," head coach Brian Shoop said. "They played hard, they competed hard. Other than the Southern Miss series, every other one has been a dog fight. We have right in the middle of it with the vast majority of the games being able to go either way and this was just another one of them.

We left 12 guys on base. We had 12 hits so we put a ton of pressure on the Rice pitching staff. There's such a fine line of winning and losing. Carter (Pharis) hits two balls pretty good – one with the bases loaded, one with runners on first and second – and they were right at people. The Rice guy that had the go-ahead hit was his first hit of the season so there's just a fine line between being on top and not quite. I thought our guys played great. I thought they competed great. Once again, we went down by three going into the ninth. Three is a tough number to come back from, and we got the bases loaded with nobody out."

For the third time in the series, UAB (20-28, 12-15) struck first, this time in the first inning when Colton Schultz laced a double off the wall in right field followed by a Carter Pharis double that scored Schultz. A groundout then moved Pharis to third before a wild pitch got away from the Owl catcher, scoring Pharis and giving the Blazers a 2-0 lead.

Rice (23-27-2, 11-15,-2) tied the game at two in the bottom of the second as it plated a pair of runs on three hits as both runs scored with two outs.

The Blazers regained the lead in the top of the sixth inning as Thomas Johns led off the inning by knocking his second hit of the game with a leadoff double off the wall in right. A sacrifice bunt moved him to third before Antonio Ralat grounded into a double play that scored Johns and gave UAB a 3-2 lead.

The Owls took the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning as they scored two runs on three hits off of three UAB pitchers used in the inning to make the game 4-3.

Rice added some insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning as it scored two runs on three hits to take a 6-3 lead.

UAB threatened in the top of the ninth as it got bases loaded with no outs after Collins led off the inning with a single followed by a Schultz walk and Pharis being struck by a pitch, but the Blazers were unable to push a run across the board and ended the threat and the game.

Tyler Gates (4-3) took the loss for the Blazers as the starter went 5.1 innings and allowed four runs on five hits. Dane Acker (4-1) earned the win for the Owls as the reliever allowed one run on seven hits with a walk and a strikeout.

A plethora of Blazers tallied multiple hits in the finale as Schultz led the group going 2-for-2 with a run scored and a career-high three hits. The sophomore also pitched in the defensive effort, making several critical catches in left field.

The Blazers will play their final mid-week game of the year on Tuesday night at Jacksonville State. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. between the Blazers and the Gamecocks. The final series of the season is slated for May 17-19 at Young Memorial Field at Young Memorial Field.

"People can fault me for not getting the team over the top, but they can't fault the guys for not fighting to the end of every game," Shoop said. "I'm proud of these guys, they're hurting, they're sad, they're disappointed but I thought they played great. I still think that we will play great next weekend and we'll find a way to get into the conference tournament."

For more information on the UAB baseball team follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_Baseball) or on Instagram (UAB_Baseball).