UAB Falls 6-5 to Mississippi State in 10 Innings

Tuesday, April 12

Starkville, Miss.

5 P.M.

UAB

21-11

Mississippi State

19-15

UAB

Mississippi State

Photo by: Griffin Levy (UAB Creative Services)

UAB Falls 6-5 to Mississippi State in 10 Innings

4/12/2022 9:06:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

STARKVILLE, Miss. – After not trailing for the first nine innings on Tuesday, the UAB baseball team dropped a heartbreaker to defending national champion Mississippi State 6-5 at Dudy Noble Field. MSU's Kamren James lifted a game-winning sacrifice fly to right field in the bottom of the 10^th, bringing home Lane Forsythe from third for the final run of the game.

UAB (21-11) carried a 5-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth before Mississippi State's Hunter Hines tied Tuesday's game with a two-run home run to send the matchup to extra innings.

The Blazers broke a 3-3 deadlock in the top of the ninth when the first four UAB batters of the inning reached, opening the frame with a four-pitch walk from Caleb Floyd. Logan Braunschweig then doubled down the left-field line to put runners at second and third with nobody out for Matthew Golda, who delivered a double down the right-field line to put UAB in front 5-3.

UAB then brought on closer Collin Taylor in the ninth to nail down his ninth save. Taylor recorded a flyout from Logan Tanner to put one down in the inning after Luke Hancock led off the inning with a single. Hines would then tie Tuesday's game one at-bat later, hitting his two-run homer to left field.

The Blazers struck first in Tuesday's game when Christian Hall extended his reached-base streak to 24 consecutive games and his hitting streak to 12 straight contests with a two-out RBI single in the first inning. UAB then doubled its lead when Braunschweig singled through the left side, scoring Hall from second to make it 2-0.

Leo Harris provided UAB with a strong start in the midweek matchup, tossing 3.1 innings of two-run baseball with two strikeouts and no walks. Harris allowed just one run in the first, striking out MSU's Slate Alford to strand runners on first and third before posting back-to-back scoreless frames in the second and third.

The Blazers extended their lead back to two runs in the third inning when Josh Sears blasted a leadoff home run, hammering a 1-1 pitch over the wall in left field. Sears' team-leading ninth home run of the year came on Mississippi State's Parker Stinnett's third pitch of the night.

While Mississippi State (19-15) would trim UAB's lead to 3-2 in the fourth, the Blazers avoided further damage when Thomas Ballard struck out Logan Hancock with the bases loaded to end the inning. Ballard relieved Brady Greene during his battle against Hancock, striking out the Mississippi State catcher with his first pitch of the night on a 1-2 count.

Ballard would then sit down the Diamond Dawgs in order in the fifth, recording a pair of strikeouts to take a 3-2 lead into the sixth. Mississippi State would tie the game at 3-3 in the sixth with a two-out RBI double from James.

UAB sent nine pitchers to the mound in the one-run setback to the Diamond Dawgs. Relievers JC Sewell and Jonah Smith combined for two scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth, keeping the game tied at 3-3 before UAB took its 5-3 lead in the ninth.

The Blazers will again be challenged against a defending champion on Thursday when UAB hosts reigning Conference USA Tournament champion Old Dominion (23-8, 6-6 C-USA) at Young Memorial Field. First pitch for Thursday's game against the Monarchs is set for 6 p.m. and will stream live on CUSA.tv.

For more information on the UAB baseball team, be sure to follow @UAB_Baseball on Twitter and Instagram.