UAB Falls on Friday Night at East Carolina

Friday, March 20

Greenville, NC

5 p.m.

UAB

13-9

East Carolina

14-8-1

UAB

East Carolina

UAB Falls on Friday Night at East Carolina

3/20/2026 8:22:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

GREENVILLE, N.C. – UAB (13-9) fell in a pitchers' duel on Friday night as the Blazers dropped game one of the series with East Carolina (14-8-1), 3-2. The two pitching staffs combined for 16 strikeouts and only four walks were drawn between the two teams.

Both sides were scoreless until the top of the third when the Blazers got some offense going. The inning started on a leadoff double by Baylor Roberts. After a fly ball moved Roberts to third, Landon Beaver hit a sac fly to bring Roberts home to give UAB a 1-0 lead.

The Pirates answered in the bottom half of the third after a leadoff base hit of their own. Davin Whitaker was credited with a leadoff single and Grady Lenahan doubled to put runners on second and third. Braden Burress scored Whitaker on a groundout to short to tie the game at one.

ECU would take the lead with a single tally in the bottom of the fourth. Jack Herring led off the inning with a single and would advance to third on back-to-back wild pitches. Herring would score after a Colby Wallace single on a 3-0 count to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead.

East Carolina added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh. Walker Barron dropped a single into right field to bring around Carlos Jacome to add to the Pirate advantage.

UAB starting pitcher Mason Steele held his own through six-plus innings of work on Friday night as he turned in his third straight start of at least six innings pitched. Steele's final line was 6.0+ innings pitched, three runs (all earned), four strikeouts, and no walks on 88 pitches.

The Blazers would try to mount a rally in the top of the ninth as the Blazers got three of their first four hitters on in the inning. With the bases loaded, Kevin Hall Jr. would score on a wild pitch to cut the lead to 3-2, but the comeback would fall short as the Pirates took game one on Friday night.

NOTES
- The UAB pitching staff allowed just one walk for the third time this season. The staff allowed three runs or fewer for the seventh time this season, but UAB fell to 6-1 in those games.
- UAB also fell to 10-1 when scoring first.
- Landon Beaver recorded his sixth multi-hit game of the season. Beaver now has eight hits in his last six games.
- Baylor Roberts also picked up two hits in the game which marked his fourth multi-hit game of the season.
- Both Roberts and Brady Waugh extended their respective on-base streaks on Friday night. Waugh now has a 15-game on-base streak while Roberts extended his to 12.
- Alex Dupuy tied Kevin Hall Jr. with his sixth stolen base of the season.

The Blazers and Pirates will square off in the middle game of the series on Saturday afternoon. First pitch from Clark-LeClair Stadium is slated for 4 p.m. ET/3 p.m. CT on ESPN+.

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