The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Kennesaw State
Kennesaw State Knocks Off Baseball, 8-3
4/24/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 24, 2012
Wednesday's GameTracker | Watch Here | Wednesday's Live Chat Box Score
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- Patrick Palmeiro and Ivan De Jesus each collected a pair of hits, but Kennesaw State used a six-run top of the seventh to defeat the Blazers, 8-3, on Tuesday night at Young Memorial Field.
“We pitched good enough to win. It looks like a lopsided score, but if we make a defensive play in the seventh it’s a different ball game, so it wasn’t the game that it looked like,” head coach Brian Shoop said. “I told the guys that (the offense) is going to break open for us again and hopefully it is tomorrow.”
UAB (23-19) returns to the diamond on Wednesday to host cross-town rival Samford at 6:30 p.m. CT.
It was the Blazers that would strike first on the scoreboard, when Keith DePew came around to score on a RBI single from De Jesus in the last of the third.
KSU (27-17) answered a half inning later on a Will Howard sac fly to even up the score.
The Owls took their first lead of the game in the sixth on a Ronnie Freeman solo homer, which would not be relinquished. Freeman finished a perfect 5-for-5 at the plate with two RBI and three runs scored.
The seventh inning proved to be the different in the game for the Blazers as KSU batted around, scoring six times, highlighted by a three-run homer from Andy Chriscaden.
Tyler Mims sparked the UAB offensive late with a two-run pinch-hit triple to dead center field, but that was all the Blazers could muster the rest out of the night at the dish.
KSU hurler Kevin McCoy did a solid job of keeping the Blazer lineup in check, working the first six innings, giving up one earned run off four hits with three walks and seven strikeouts to improve to 1-3 on the season.
Michael Busby (2-3) was saddled with the loss, giving up four earned runs over 6.2 innings.
