The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Samford
Midweek Mayhem: UAB Beats Samford, 16-8
4/23/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 23, 2008
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - UAB and Samford combined to use 17 pitchers to get through a slugfest at Joe Lee Griffin Field Wednesday night as the Blazers downed the Bulldogs, 16-8. UAB third baseman Luke Stewart finished the game 4-for-5 with five RBI, a home run and a triple to leave him just a double shy of hitting for the cycle.
UAB improves to 18-22 with the win, while Samford is now 24-15 and saw its nation-leading 16-game home winning streak snapped.
Robert Brewster (1-0) earned the win on the mound for the Blazers after throwing 2.0 innings of relief in which he did not allow a run. Brewster was one of 10 Blazer arms to take the hill Wednesday night.
Mark Lewallyn (2-1) got the loss for Samford after giving up four runs in 1.2 innings of relief.
"Five games a week is very stressful on every pitching staff and tonight was one of those nights," said UAB head coach Brian Shoop. "Luke's been swinging the bat much better lately which has really helped us offensively to have another guy that is a real threat and I think teams look at him right now as a threat."
Stewart wasn't the only Blazer swinging a hot bat against the Bulldogs as first baseman Ryan Keedy and shortstop Jonathan Merritt each finished with three hits in the game. Keedy recorded his 20th double of the season which ranks fifth all-time at UAB in single-season doubles and leads Conference USA.
Left fielder Phil Bell was 2-for-3 with a double, triple and three walks.
Samford shortstop Michael Marseco led Samford by going 3-for-5 to extend his career-long hitting streak to 24 games. First baseman Tripp Swann was 1-for-2 with three RBI and a home run.
UAB got out to a 3-0 lead after Merritt scored in the first on a ground out by second baseman Nick Crawford and then Crawford came back around in the third and hit a double to get in position to score on Bell's triple. Bell then scored on a ground ball by Stewart, which resulted in a fielding error at second base.
In the bottom of the fourth, Samford came storming back and scored seven runs on seven hits. Swann hit his three-run home run to center field to get the scoring started. Later, three straight RBI-singles up the middle by the top of the Bulldog order opened up a 7-3 Samford lead before Jeff Younger came on in relief and got a strikeout to end the big inning.
UAB cut the deficit to 7-5 in the fifth when Stewart tripled to score Keedy and then scored on a ground out to short by right fielder Brint Hardy.
Samford got one run in the bottom half of the fifth to take an 8-5 lead when Brewster walked in a run before getting Samford third baseman Bill Whitehead to ground into a 1-4-6-3 double play with the bases loaded to get out of the inning with minimal damage.
A four-run sixth inning by UAB put the Blazers back in front, 9-8, a lead it wouldn't surrender. Stewart provided the big hit of the inning with a towering three-run home run over the right field wall.
UAB went on to blow the game open in the eighth by getting its seven-run inning. Catcher Allen Aubin hit a three-run home run in the inning, while Crawford, Keedy and Stewart each had RBI singles to help open up the 16-8 lead.
The Blazers will resume Conference USA play this weekend when they host Marshall for a three-game series at Young Memorial Field. Game one of the series is schedule for Friday night at 7:00 p.m.
