UAB Falls to No. 9 Mississippi State, 3-2

Wednesday, February 20

Starkville, Miss.

4 p.m.

UAB

3-1

Mississippi State

4-0

UAB

Mississippi State

UAB Falls to No. 9 Mississippi State, 3-2

2/20/2019 7:43:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Despite stretching a combined no-hitter into the top of the seventh inning, the UAB baseball team fell, 3-2, at No. 9 Mississippi State on Wednesday night.

UAB (3-1, 0-0 C-USA) starting pitcher Graham Ashcraft pitched 5.2 no-hit innings in his first start as a Blazer, allowing just four baserunners. Ashcraft walked only two batters and struck out seven of the 21 batters that he faced.

"We walked two, made two errors on the infield," head coach Brian Shoop said. "We gave them all three runs to give them the game. Graham was great. He was fantastic. Later in the year, we can extend him and we win, probably on that alone. It is hard to create in practice. It is the pressure of two guys on in the seventh inning against the No. 9 team in the country in a $74,000,000 stadium on the road. We didn't handle it tonight. The good part is that the way you learn to handle it is that you are in it. You hope that you grow by being in that setting and being a little more comfortable next time."

Tyler Tolbert and Colton Schultz led the Blazers with a game high two hits each. For Tolbert it was his 17th career multi-hit game and first of the season, while Schultz has recorded a pair of hits in two contests this season.

Neither team scored until the top half of the fifth inning when the Blazers plated the game's first two runs. J Paul Fullerton reached base on a single up the middle and was advanced to second on a base hit to center field by Tolbert. Jess Davis extended his hitting streak to three games with an infield single to load the bases before Schultz cashed in, notching two RBI on a base knock, putting the blazers up, 2-0.

Mississippi State (4-0, 0-0 SEC) answered in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single by Dustin Skelton, scoring Justin Foscue and cutting the UAB advantage to 2-1. The Bulldogs took their first lead of the game on a single by Jake Magnum to go up, 3-2.

UAB returns home on Friday, Feb. 22 when it welcomes Holy Cross to Regions Field to begin a three-game series. First pitch is set for 4 p.m., while Saturday and Sunday's first pitches are slated for 1 p.m. and 12 p.m., respectively.

Fans can receive admission into home baseball, softball and women's basketball game for the entire 2019 season for just $65 by purchasing a Gold Card. Contact the UAB Ticket Office, (205) 975-UAB1, for more details.

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