The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Samford
Blazers Dropped by Bulldogs 5-1
3/28/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Final Stats (PDF)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The UAB baseball team lost its Tuesday night affair against local rival Samford 5-1. The Blazers record falls to 14-11 and the Bulldogs jump to 16-9.
“I’m focused on us having three pitchers go down tonight,” said head coach Brian Shoop as the team had to use eight pitchers on the evening. “You win games, you lose games, but we’re done to throwing position players. It’s almost unfathomable.”
The game was quiet through the first two and a half frames but the Blazers found success with two away in the bottom half of the third. Jared Nixon drilled a double to left center field, which brought Brewer Hicklen to the plate. Hicklen delivered a hard to play ball towards the Samford second baseman who was unable to field scoop the bouncing ball as it trickled into the outfield to score Nixon.
The Bulldogs evened things out in the next half inning with an RBI single pinch-hitter Sam Teague after putting two on base. Hicklen was able to throw out the other runner advancing to third on the play and end the inning.
Samford took the lead for good in the fifth inning. The Bulldogs were able to load the bases after scoring their first run of the inning and notched another run with an RBI single through the left side. The Blazers were able to turn a 5-2-3 double play to stop any further runs as the Green & Gold trailed 3-1.
Samford scored two more runs in the final inning to bring it to the final of 5-1. The Bulldogs outhit UAB 12-7 while neither team committed an error.
Hicklen extended his hitting streak to 14 straight games and has topped his career-high on-base streak. The sophomore finished the day 2-for-4 at the plate with the one run.
Carter Pharis notched yet another multi-hit game, marking his 10th time doing so in the last 13 contests. He finished 2-for-4.
Nixon scored the only Blazers run and batted 2-for-4 on the night. It was the sixth time in the sophomore’s career he had two-or-more hits in a game.
Isaiah Gonzales-Montoya earned the loss. He was the first UAB pitcher reliever into the game for starter Adam Lamar. Gonzales-Montoya is now even at 1-1 this season.
Samford starter Cody Shelton improved to 2-0 after throwing five innings and allowing four hits, one run, and one walk. He struck out four batters.
UAB jumps back into Conference USA play this weekend when it travels to FIU. The Blazers and Panthers will begin their three-game set on Friday, March 31 at 6 p.m. CST.
For more information on the UAB baseball team, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_Baseball). For more on all Blazer sports teams follow the official social media accounts of UAB Athletics on Twitter (@UAB_Athletics), on Facebook (Facebook.com/UAB.Blazers), on Instagram (@uab_athletics) or on Snapchat (@uabathletics).
