The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Hawaii-Hilo
UAB Surges Past Hawaii-Hilo, 11-3
3/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 9, 2008
HILO, Hawaii - The UAB baseball team had everything going Sunday afternoon at Hawaii-Hilo as the Blazers earned an 11-3 victory to win the three-game series with the Vulcans, 2-1 at Wong Stadium. Center fielder Cody McMurry was 3-for-5 with three RBI in a game that the Blazers used seven pitchers to combine for just two earned runs and six hits allowed.
UAB improves to 6-7 with the win, while Hawaii-Hilo falls to 5-6.
Right-hander James Oliver (1-1), who was UAB's eighth starting pitcher in 13 games this season, earned the win for the Blazers in his first start with the team. Oliver threw 3.0 innings and allowed just one earned run on two hits, while striking out two.
Kekoa Lee (1-1) got the loss for UH-Hilo after throwing 5.0 innings in which he gave up six runs on seven hits.
McMurry's 3-for-5 day at the plate included a pair of singles and a double. First baseman Ryan Keedy continued his dominance by going 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored to extend his current hit streak to seven games, matching a career-long.
Right fielder Brint Hardy was 2-for-4 with a home run and two runs scored.
Leading the Vulcans offensively were left fielder Ronel Trias and first baseman Alvis Satele. Trias was 2-for-2 with two runs scored and two walks, while Satele capped off his impressive series by going 2-for-4 with two RBI.
UH-Hilo took a 1-0 lead in the game in the first when Trias scored on an RBI-single to center field by Satele.
Hardy's home run down the left field line in the third inning later tied the game, 1-1. The homer was the first for Hardy as a Blazer and second of his career after going long once as a freshman at Birmingham-Southern.
UAB went on to build a 4-1 lead in the fourth when McMurry stepped to the plate with two on and lined a single to right field that scored Keedy and designated hitter Austin Taylor. McMurry later scored the third run of the inning following a wild pitch and a passed ball.
Still leading 4-1 entering the sixth, the Blazers got two more runs home as a run-scoring single to right field by third baseman Luke Stewart scored Keedy and then a fielder's choice ground ball by McMurry scored Taylor to extend the lead to 6-1.
After the Vulcans scored one run in the bottom of the sixth to cut the UAB lead to 6-2, the Blazers answered with a run in the top of the seventh before putting the game out of reach in the eighth by plating three runs to take a 10-2 lead to cruise to the 11-3 triumph.
UAB will now travel to Honolulu for a two-game series against Hawaii that begins Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. HT at Les Murakami Stadium.
