UAB Blanks Cross-Town Rival Samford, 9-0

Tuesday, March 26

Regions Field

6:30 P.M.

UAB

12-14

Samford

17-7

Samford

UAB

UAB Blanks Cross-Town Rival Samford, 9-0

3/26/2019 10:22:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score

BIRMINGHAM - The UAB baseball team blanked cross town rival Samford, 9-0, on Tuesday night at Regions Field. UAB improved to 57-30 all-time against the Bulldogs, taking a 29-14 lead in home games against Samford.

UAB (12-4) recorded its first shutout since blanking WKU on April 21, 2018.

"It was a good night," head coach Brian Shoop said. "It was a great win for our guys. As I said through the whole streak we have a good team, and we really do. I just hope this wasn't a costly win. We have two guys going to get x-rays in (J Paul) Fullerton and (Ian) Ladner. I am just praying that that wasn't a really costly win because we need those guys. They are both big factors in our offense so we will hope for the best on that report."

Jess Davis and Tyler Tolbert retained their positions as two of the nation's top-10 base thieves. J. Davis, who leads the country in stolen bases, stole his 27th base of the season with a swipe in the first inning while Tolbert stole his 23rd bag of the campaign in the bottom of the second inning.

Zack Davis led the Blazers with four RBI on the night, while Ian Ladner and Colton Schultz each finished the game with two hits each.

Starting pitcher Austin Bohannon hurled four scoreless innings in his first start of the season, allowing just three hits while striking out five Bulldogs and walking no batters.

Sophomore Riley Davis picked up the win for UAB after coming on in relief of Bohannon. R. Davis pitched a three-up, three-down fifth inning, striking out two and improving his record to 3-1.

"Tonight was super encouraging for our pitching staff," Shoop said. "It was what we thought and hoped we have. Eight guys threw tonight so it was a staff outing as a staff only two walks on the night, only two hit by pitches, no errors by our defense and that makes it hard on the opponents to score.

"We did a really good of pounding the strike zone. Bohannon gave us a great four innings and a great start. Then seven others of our kids competed. It was really good to see Ty Harris, he showed glimpses of what he was last year before he got hurt and that was really encouraging."

UAB opened scoring right away in the bottom of the first inning, tallying two runs as J. Davis stole second before reaching third and crossing home on an error. Z. Davis drove in the second run of the opening frame with an RBI groundout, plating J Paul Fullerton from third to give the Blazers a 2-0 lead.

The Green and Gold struck again in the fourth inning as Ladner kicked off the inning with a triple to right center field before scoring on a sacrifice fly from Tolbert, pushing UAB's lead to 3-0.

The Blazers tacked on once again in the sixth. After a hit by pitch and a walk put Ladner and Blake Johnson on base, a single by J. Davis brought both runners home and gave UAB a 5-0 lead with two men out.

Z. Davis slid into third with UAB's second triple of the day with two outs and the bases loaded in the eighth inning, driving home Keegan Morrow, Johnson and J. Davis and putting the Blazers up 8-0. The Green and Gold added another run the same inning as Schultz singled to right and drove in Z. Davis to make the score 9-0.

The Blazers return to the diamond on Friday as they head to Ruston, Louisiana to begin a three-game series at Louisiana Tech.

Fans can receive access to every home baseball game for $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).