Tolbert Sends Seniors Out on Top in Season Finale

Saturday, May 18

Hattiesburg, Miss.

1 p.m.

UAB

27-29, 12-18

Southern Miss

34-19, 20-10

UAB

Southern Miss

Tolbert Sends Seniors Out on Top in Season Finale

5/18/2019 5:56:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – A career day from junior Tyler Tolbert sent the UAB baseball team's 12 seniors out on top in a 13-10 season finale victory at Southern Miss on Saturday afternoon in Hattiesburg.

UAB closes the 2019 campaign with a 27-29 record and 12-18 mark in Conference USA play, marking its most wins in a season since 2015. Additionally, the Blazers ended the season rattling off four consecutive C-USA series victories, the first time to win four straight league series since 2014.

"The end of the year is always emotional," head coach Brian Shoop said. "There is a lot of love in this dugout and it's real and it's special. On the field we were pretty good down the stretch, won the last four series and I guarantee Florida Atlantic loves us as they needed us to get a win down here.

"We were hurt and we fought. I don't know if we could have played another game because we didn't have a catcher left. We had four to start the year, J Paul (Fullerton) went out with a hand injury, Christian (Waltman) with a labrum tear, Jim (Jeffries) couldn't catch because his thumb was so badly sprained and Nathan (Anthes) could barely finish the game and they fought until the very end.

"This team loves UAB, they love each other, they love our program. You work your guts out to win, but I don't know what can compare to the things said to each other. It's pretty special."

Tolbert's day at the plate included him setting career bests in hits with five, while matching career highs in RBIs (4) and runs (3). One of his five hits was a double as he also swiped a pair of bases.

Blake Johnson made the most of his final career contest, matching his career best in hits with three. He also added a RBI, a run scored a stolen base.

Antonio Ralat, Ian Ladner and Zack Davis rounded out the Blazers with multiple hits, all recording two. For Ralat it was his third multi-hit contest of his senior season, while he scored a season high two runs and drove home a Blazer.

Tanner Graham (5-4) earned the victory in his last career outing, going 6.0 innings and allowed four runs on six hits with six strikeouts. Ryan Wesson pitched 2.1 innings in relief in his final contest as a Blazer, allowing a pair of runs on two hits and also collected two strikeouts. Matthew Calvert came on to pitch the final out in his last game wearing the Green and Gold and ended his career with a strikeout.

Southern Miss (34-19, 20-10 C-USA) got on the board in the bottom of the first inning, scoring two runs on a pair of hits to take an early 2-0 lead.

The Blazers responded an inning later in the second as Ladner laced a double down the left field line to open the frame. Ralat scored Ladner two batters later with a home run, his first of the season, to tie the game at two.

UAB took a lead it would not relinquish in the top of the third inning as Tolbert led off with a double to left center field. A wild pitch moved him to third before a ground out to third base allowing Tolbert to score from third and give the Blazers a 3-2 lead.

The Green and Gold added to their lead in the fourth inning after Ralat reached base on a fielding error to put the leadoff hitter on base for the third straight time. A Justin Wiley double advanced Ralat to third, allowing Tolbert to drive a two-RBI single through the right side and push UAB's lead to 5-2.

The Golden Eagles pulled to within two in the bottom of the fifth inning, scoring a pair of runs on two hits to cut the game to 5-4.

Wiley reached base to lead off the sixth inning for the Green and Gold. A stolen base and a throwing error on the play allowed the shortstop to stand 90-feet away with Tolbert at the plate who remained hot with a RBI single down the left field line to make it 6-4 UAB.

The Blazers busted the game open in the seventh inning as Johnson led off the frame with a single into center field. The next two batters got out, but Wiley reached on a walk to put two on with two out for Tolbert who singled home Johnson. J. Davis was hit by a pitch to load the bases for his brother Z. Davis who's first hit of the game was a big one, allowing Tolbert and Wiley to score. Two batters later Ladner singled to right field, scoring the Davis brothers and made it a 12-4 contest.

UAB continued to add to its lead in the ninth inning as Tolbert's fifth hit of game put him on to lead off the frame. A hit and run single put him 90-feet away, allowing Pharis to hit a sacrifice fly in his final at-bat, scoring Tolbert for UAB's 13th and final run.

Southern Miss made a final push in the ninth with a two-run home run, but it was not enough as UAB struck out the final two Golden Eagles hitters to secure the 13-10 victory.

The Blazers will say good bye to 12 seniors, including Graham and Pharis who made their most in their time on the Southside. Graham finishes his career with the fourth most starts in program history (44). Pharis rewrote the record book, finishing tied for second in career doubles (57), sixth in at-bats (801) and total bases (354), seventh in RBIs (137), tied for seventh in walks (103), eighth in hits (239) and 10th in stolen bases (36).

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