The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
2024 UAB Baseball Season Preview
2/12/2024 2:21:00 PM | Baseball
BIRMINGHAM- UAB begins its 2024 baseball season in only four days, with some familiar faces and a bundle of newcomers. Coach Dunn and his staff added 16 players to this year's roster, including nine first year players and seven transfer students. Coach Dunn returns for his 3rd season as the Blazers head coach, bringing back two staff members in BJ Green and Brandon Moore. The new additions to the coaching staff include Brad Moss, Parker Curry, and Joseph Kiel who bring a wide variety of baseball knowledge.
2024 marks the first year in the American Athletic Conference and five new conference opponents in East Carolina, Memphis, South Florida, Tulane, and Wichita State. Three of those five teams made the NCAA baseball tournament last year, achieving a 4-6 tournament record. Outside of conference play, the Blazers will play three SEC opponents in Alabama, Auburn, and Mississippi State. Regions Field will be the host site of two games, the first against Alabama on February 27th and the second against Auburn on April 2nd. The season begins with a three game series at Young Memorial Field on February 16th against Kennesaw State.
Pitchers
Four returning pitchers recorded over 24 innings last year for the blazers, with Blayze Berry recording 81.2 innings. Berry finished with a 4.52 ERA with 63 strikeouts and a 2-3 record.
Leo Harris recorded the team's second best ERA at 3.74 in 33.2 innings pitched. Harris comes back to the Blazers as a graduate student with four years of playing experience at UAB. The 6'3 graduate student made most of his appearances last year as a reliever.
Two other pitchers with significant playing time were John Luke Marlin and Braxton Shelton. Marlin pitched 24 innings in 18 appearances, recording a 4.12 ERA and 22 strikeouts. Shelton made 14 appearances in 34 innings pitched, recording 27 strikeouts.
Four pitchers were added to the roster in 2024, two of them being transfer students. Both transfers, Matthew Bullard and Brock Hill, come to UAB from the community college route. Bullard recorded 56 strikeouts in just 14 appearances and a 9-1 record. Hill recorded 50 strikeouts in just 12 appearances and a 3-5 record. Brooks House and Collin Patterson enter their first seasons at UAB after outstanding high school careers. Eight other pitchers will be available in the bullpen: Isaac Warrick, Ty Hutto, Carson Knight, Tyler Haines, Christian Clack, Colin Daniel, Thomas Ballard, and Nick Wright.
Catchers
Nick Hollifield returns for year two behind the plate, with a perfect fielding % on 96 putouts and seven assists. Hollifield made 13 starts in 23 games played, recording eight hits and seven RBIs. Hollifield was named to the Conference-USA all freshman team in 2023.
Jake Smallwood comes to UAB as a graduate student from the University of Montevallo. He played four seasons at UM recording 32 hits and 17 RBIs in his last year with the falcons. In his Junior season he received 1st team all-conference honors with a .385 batting average with eight home runs and a .631 slugging %.
Infield
5 of the 16 newcomers will find their spot in the infield with one of those coming in as a transfer. Tyler Harrington transfers in from Southwest Tennessee Community College where he was outstanding as a batter. Harrington hit the ball well with a .437 batting average, 87 hits, and 72 RBIs.
Alex Cheeseman, Alan Choo, Christian Stratis, and Nick Martinez all come in as freshmen looking to make an impact in year one. Cheeseman (Commerce, Mich.) was rated as the #5 shortstop in Michigan and number #20 overall prospect by Perfect Game. Alan Choo, son of MLB legend Shin-Soo-Choo, comes to UAB as the #2 ranked 1st baseman in Texas. Christian Stratis was rated as the #2 3rd basemen in South Carolina with an overall rating of 17. Nick Martinez comes to UAB as the #1 3rd basemen in the state of New York and the #36 3rd basemen in the country.
Returning for the Blazers is a bundle of experience and talent in the infield. Gavin Lewis Jr. comes back to UAB with a .267 batting average and a .430 slugging %. At the shortstop position the Jr. out of New Orleans, La. will look to continue his success in 2024. Ben Abernathy played all around the infield, mostly stepping in at third baseman with 40 appearances. Abernathy totaled 26 hits and 11 RBIs in the 2023 season. David Harris also played a few different positions in the infield mostly stepping in at third of first. Harris hit the ball 13 times and brought in five runs. Isaiah Mack, Chase Ingram, Mayes White and Austin Young will look to add to their 2023 season totals this year.
Outfield
In the outfield the Blazers added Reed Latimer, Joe Watkins, Jax Yoxtheimer, and Andrew Hunt to the roster. Latimer transfers in from the University of Montevallo where he hit .358 with 67 RBIs in 2023. Watkins comes to UAB from Lawson State Community College where he hit .382 with 29 RBIs.
Tyler Waugh played in the outfield and behind the plate last year. The Jr. from Hoover, Ala. hit .265 with 44 hits and 17 RBIs. Darryl Buggs, another player that has the ability to shine in 2024, had 109 at bats with 24 hits. Logan Braunschweig will hope to continue his team leading batting average of .333. He was also able to lead the team with 57 hits and a .428 on base %. Other available players in the outfield for the Blazers will be: Brayton Brown, Peyton Puckett, Braxton Brooks.
Opening Weekend
Friday, February 16th vs Kennesaw State. First pitch is at 2:00 pm.
POWER UP
UAB Athletics is excited to officially compete in the American Athletic Conference and needs Blazer Nation to Power Up by becoming a 2024 Blazer Boosters member. Join Blazer Boosters today as UAB student-athletes complete for championships, graduate with honors, and make a difference in our community.
FOLLOW THE BLAZERS
For more information on the UAB baseball team, follow @UAB_baseball on Twitter and Instagram.
Players Mentioned
