Blazers Drop Final Game Against Rice

Sunday, April 27

Birmingham, Ala.

1 p.m.

UAB

22-22, 0

Rice

12-33, 0

Rice

UAB

Andrew Hunt

Photo by: Brenley Sanders

Blazers Drop Final Game Against Rice

4/27/2025 6:22:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

BIRMINGHAM - UAB Baseball (22-22, 7-11) fell in the final game of the 3-game series to Rice (12-33, 6-12) by a score of 12-10 on Sunday afternoon. Despite dropping game three, the Blazers still won their first conference series of the season. The Owls outhit the Green and Gold 17-12.

Rice got out of the gates early on Sunday as the Owls put up a three spot in the top half of the 1st. Dreyton Rank hit a sac fly to right to score Colin Robson to put the Owls on the board. The next batter was Hiram Bocachica and he singled to score Blaine Brown. Then, Paul Smith's first of four hits on the day was a double down the left field line to score Landon West to cap off the 3-run 1st inning for Rice.

The Owls scored three more runs in the top of the 2nd. 9-hole hitter Max Johnson sent one out to left field for a solo home run. Two batters later, Brown hit a 2-run home run to give Rice a 6-0 lead.

The Blazers' big inning came in the bottom half of the 3rd. With two strikes and two on, Nick Hollifield dumped a single into left center to score Tyler Waugh and Wesley Helms. The next batter was Landon Beaver who sent a sac fly to left to score Todd Clay and cut the deficit to 6-3. Later, Andrew Hunt found a hole in the left side of the infield to score Hollifield and Alex Cheeseman and cut the Rice lead to 6-5 going into the middle innings.

The Owls got busy again in the top of the 4th. Blaine Brown sent a towering home run over the right field fence to add to the Rice advantage. Rank reached on an infield single and advanced on a throwing error which allowed Michael Zito to score. Paul Smith also reached on an infield single with two strikes to give Rice a 9-5 lead.

In the top of the 6th, Rice got busy again. UAB induced a groundout, but Rice scored on a throwing error and put the Owls up 10-5.

Rice got another run in the top of the 7th on an RBI groundout by Brown to add to the Owls' lead.

The Green and Gold would not go down without a fight. After back-to-back solo home runs in the bottom of the 7th by Camden Hayslip and Nick Hollifield, UAB cut the Rice lead to 11-7.

In the bottom of the 8th, Andrew Hunt blasted his first career home run that easily cleared the left center field fence which cut the deficit to 11-8. Later in the inning, Hayslip sent a two-out, two-run triple into the right field corner to cut the Rice lead to one.

Rice added a much needed insurance run in the top of the 9th. As the Blazers turned their 41st double play of the season, Johnson crossed the plate to give Rice a 12-10 lead.

The Blazers would threaten in the bottom of the 9th as they had the winning run on first base, but Marco Fuentes slammed the door to give the Owls a 12-10 victory and spoiled a possible UAB sweep.

NOTES

Tyler Waugh notched his fifth multi-hit game of the season. He also extended his on-base streak to 14 games.
Camden Hayslip recorded his seventh multi-hit game of the year. Hayslip hit his team-leading ninth home run in the bottom of the 7th.
Nick Hollifield earned his 13th multi-hit game and was part of a quartet of Blazers who scored two runs on Sunday (Waugh, Helms, and Hayslip).
Andrew Hunt recorded his first career multi-hit game. He also drove in a career-high three RBI.
Chase Ingram tied his career-high with 6.0 innings as he came into the game in a rare relief outing.

The Blazers cap off their 4-game homestand on Tuesday as Alabama State comes to Young Memorial Field. First pitch will be at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.

For more information on UAB Baseball, follow @UAB_Baseball on Instagram and X.

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