The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Friday, March 22
Regions Field
6:30 P.M.
UAB
10-13, 0-4
6
vs
9
Florida Atlantic
15-7, 4-0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Florida Atlantic
0
0
0
0
1
4
2
2
0
9
11
2
UAB
0
2
0
1
0
0
2
0
1
6
16
1
Offense Thrives in Game One Loss
3/22/2019 10:54:00 PM | Baseball
BIRMINGHAM – A season-high 16 hits was not enough for the UAB baseball team as the Blazers fell 9-6 to Florida Atlantic on Friday night at Regions Field.
UAB now dropped six consecutive contests and 10 of its previous 11 games.
"Well some losses hurt more than others and that one really hurts" head coach Brian Shoop said. "Our kids were so ready to play tonight, we had an incredible practice yesterday and gosh we battled the whole night."
Carter Pharis led UAB at the plate with a career-high four hits, including a pair of doubles, two RBIs and a run scored. The senior extended his hitting streak to seven games and has now reached base safely in 11 consecutive games.
Keegan Morrow fell a home run short of the cycle, tallying a career high three hits, knocking his first career extra base hits. Zack Davis also registered three hits, matching his career high for the second time this season. Davis also accounted for three runs.
The UAB pitching staff continued to struggle, allowing nine runs on 11 hits with six walks issued and two hit batters.
"We walked six, hit two and you give so many extra runners and this a good team that we are playing, it is a team that has now won nine in a row," Shoop said.
UAB (10-13, 0-4 C-USA) got on the board in the bottom of the second inning, stringing together consecutive hits as Pharis followed Davis' single with double down the left field line, scoring Davis to put the Blazers ahead 1-0. Two batters later, Morrow knocked his double into right center field, scoring Pharis to give UAB a 2-0 lead.
The Blazers added to their lead in the bottom of the fourth inning as Ian Ladner hit a two-out single into left field and then moved to third on Morrow's single and proceeded to score on a throwing error by the Owls' catcher to push the lead to 3-0.
Florida Atlantic got its first run of the game in the top of the fifth inning with a leadoff shot into the right field bullpen to make it a 3-1 contest.
The Owls took a lead they would not relinquish in the top of the sixth inning, scoring four runs on a UAB error to go ahead 5-3.
"The inning that killed us was the four-run inning," Shoop said. "They scored four runs without a hit. We walked three, hit one and dropped a fly ball and that is tough to overcome. Our Achilles is the big inning and it was again tonight."
Florida Atlantic added to its lead in the top of the seventh inning as it launched its second home run of the night with a two run blast into right field to lead 7-3.
With two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, J Paul Fullerton singled into right field and was driven home on a double off the bat of Davis to make it a three-run game. Pharis then proceeded to drive his third base hit of the night with a single back up the middle, scoring Davis, making the contest 7-5.
For the fourth consecutive inning the Owls continued scoring, pushing two more runs across the plate in the eighth inning off of four hits, pushing their lead to 9-5.
The Blazers made a final push in the top of the ninth inning as Davis led off the frame with his third hit of the night and then came around to score as Morrow knocked a fielder's choice to the shortstop to give the game its final 9-6 score.
"Our guys kept hanging in there and fighting," Shoop said. "We got the bases loaded in the eighth and then scored in the ninth. We got two more hits again in the ninth."
The two teams are set to play game two of the series in a Saturday matinee. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. from Regions Field.
"I know our kids will come out and fight again tomorrow," Shoop said. "We will give Tanner Rusk a chance to come in and shut them down. We are going to have to limit what the opponents are getting to have a legitimate opportunity and I think Tanner will give us a great start tomorrow."
For more information on the UAB baseball team, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_Baseball) or on Instagram (UAB_Baseball).
UAB now dropped six consecutive contests and 10 of its previous 11 games.
"Well some losses hurt more than others and that one really hurts" head coach Brian Shoop said. "Our kids were so ready to play tonight, we had an incredible practice yesterday and gosh we battled the whole night."
Carter Pharis led UAB at the plate with a career-high four hits, including a pair of doubles, two RBIs and a run scored. The senior extended his hitting streak to seven games and has now reached base safely in 11 consecutive games.
Keegan Morrow fell a home run short of the cycle, tallying a career high three hits, knocking his first career extra base hits. Zack Davis also registered three hits, matching his career high for the second time this season. Davis also accounted for three runs.
The UAB pitching staff continued to struggle, allowing nine runs on 11 hits with six walks issued and two hit batters.
"We walked six, hit two and you give so many extra runners and this a good team that we are playing, it is a team that has now won nine in a row," Shoop said.
UAB (10-13, 0-4 C-USA) got on the board in the bottom of the second inning, stringing together consecutive hits as Pharis followed Davis' single with double down the left field line, scoring Davis to put the Blazers ahead 1-0. Two batters later, Morrow knocked his double into right center field, scoring Pharis to give UAB a 2-0 lead.
The Blazers added to their lead in the bottom of the fourth inning as Ian Ladner hit a two-out single into left field and then moved to third on Morrow's single and proceeded to score on a throwing error by the Owls' catcher to push the lead to 3-0.
Florida Atlantic got its first run of the game in the top of the fifth inning with a leadoff shot into the right field bullpen to make it a 3-1 contest.
The Owls took a lead they would not relinquish in the top of the sixth inning, scoring four runs on a UAB error to go ahead 5-3.
"The inning that killed us was the four-run inning," Shoop said. "They scored four runs without a hit. We walked three, hit one and dropped a fly ball and that is tough to overcome. Our Achilles is the big inning and it was again tonight."
Florida Atlantic added to its lead in the top of the seventh inning as it launched its second home run of the night with a two run blast into right field to lead 7-3.
With two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, J Paul Fullerton singled into right field and was driven home on a double off the bat of Davis to make it a three-run game. Pharis then proceeded to drive his third base hit of the night with a single back up the middle, scoring Davis, making the contest 7-5.
For the fourth consecutive inning the Owls continued scoring, pushing two more runs across the plate in the eighth inning off of four hits, pushing their lead to 9-5.
The Blazers made a final push in the top of the ninth inning as Davis led off the frame with his third hit of the night and then came around to score as Morrow knocked a fielder's choice to the shortstop to give the game its final 9-6 score.
"Our guys kept hanging in there and fighting," Shoop said. "We got the bases loaded in the eighth and then scored in the ninth. We got two more hits again in the ninth."
The two teams are set to play game two of the series in a Saturday matinee. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. from Regions Field.
"I know our kids will come out and fight again tomorrow," Shoop said. "We will give Tanner Rusk a chance to come in and shut them down. We are going to have to limit what the opponents are getting to have a legitimate opportunity and I think Tanner will give us a great start tomorrow."
For more information on the UAB baseball team, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_Baseball) or on Instagram (UAB_Baseball).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Sanderson (5-0)
L: Calvert, Matthew (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Lambert 1 ; Summerall 1 ; Pages 1 ; Hartigan 1
HR: DeSantolo 1 ; Hartigan 1
RBI: Rivera 1 ; Urbaez 1 ; DeSantolo 2 ; Hartigan 1 ; Alvarez 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rivera 1 ; Summerall 1 ; Pages 1 ; DeSantolo 2 ; Hartigan 3 ; Alvarez 1
HBP: Lambert 1 ; Summerall 1
Batting:
2B: Davis, Zack 2 ; Pharis, Carter 2 ; Morrow, Keegan 1
3B: Morrow, Keegan 1
RBI: Davis, Zack 1 ; Pharis, Carter 2 ; Morrow, Keegan 2
SH: Morrow, Keegan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Fullerton, J Paul 1 ; Davis, Zack 3 ; Pharis, Carter 1 ; Ladner, Ian 1
SB: Morrow, Keegan 1
CS: Morrow, Keegan 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
1
H
4
RBI
2
AB
5
R
3
H
3
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
3
RBI
2
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
INF/LHP
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
1B/3B
/ Baseball
RHP
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