The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
21-10, 6-2
Florida Atlantic
15-16, 2-6
UAB Completes Comeback at Florida Atlantic for Eighth Straight Win
4/3/2026 11:10:00 PM | Baseball
BOCA RATON, FLA. – In a back-and-forth game, UAB Baseball came out on top on Friday night as the Blazers (21-10, 6-2) took game two and the series over Florida Atlantic (15-16, 2-6) by a score of 11-8. The win marks the Green and Gold's first road conference series win since May 16-18, 2024 (at South Florida).
The Blazers once again scored early with two runs in the top of the first. Kevin Hall Jr. led off the game with a 4-pitch walk and then stole second. Landon Beaver followed up with a double to left to put the Blazers on the board. Beaver would later score on a balk to put UAB up, 2-0 through one inning.
Florida Atlantic pushed across a run in the bottom of the second. Ian Collier doubled and would come around to score on an RBI single by Jonathan Lopez to cut the UAB lead to 2-1.
The Owls would take their first lead of the series in the bottom of the fourth, scoring three runs on three hits. FAU would lead 4-2 after four innings of play.
Another run scored in the bottom of the fifth for Florida Atlantic. Brett Patten homered for the second time this season to give FAU a 5-2 lead through five innings.
The bats finally came back alive for the Blazers in a 7-run sixth inning as 11 hitters came to the plate. The first eight hitters of the inning reached safely which pushed across five runs in that span. Over the final three hitters, UAB tacked on two more runs which gave the Green and Gold a 9-5 lead through five and a half innings.
A couple of Blazer miscues in the bottom half of the inning plated another run for the Owls. A hit by pitch, fielder's choice, and throwing error scored Marshall Lipsey as UAB took a 9-6 lead into the final third of the game.
Florida Atlantic would draw closer with two more runs in the bottom of the eighth. Ian Collier blasted his fourth home run of the season for a 2-run shot to close the UAB lead to 9-8 heading into the ninth inning.
Brady Waugh drew a 2-out walk in the top of the ninth and would be pinch-run for by Alex Cheeseman. Andrew Hunt stepped in and smashed the second pitch he saw over the right center field wall for two big insurance runs heading into the bottom of the ninth.
The Owls would threaten in their final frame, but Chase Ingram struck out two of the final three batters he faced as the Blazers held on for the 11-8 victory.
NOTES
- UAB has won eight straight games which stands as the fourth-longest active streak in D1 Baseball.
- The Blazers have also won six consecutive conference games. That streak is tied for the sixth longest in the country.
- Andrew Hunt hit the Green and Gold's 50th home run of the season. UAB is four home runs away from tying the BBCOR era school record for most home runs in a season.
- The team is also two home runs away from breaking into the top 10 for home runs in a single season.
- Hunt also led the team with three hits tonight resulting in his eighth multi-hit game of the season and his second 3-hit game. His three hits ties his career-high.
- Landon Beaver also recorded his eighth multi-hit game of 2026 with two knocks on the night.
- Brady Waugh picked up two hits for the second time in three games. Waugh now has nine multi-hit games this season.
- Wesley Helms vaulted into the team lead with his 11th multi-hit game after gathering two hits of his own.
- Max Price registered two hits, good for his second multi-hit game this season.
- Chase Ingram picked up three strikeouts across 1.1 innings pitched which aided his third scoreless outing and first save of the year.
- The Blazer pitching staff struck out 10 FAU hitters on Friday night. The Blazers have struck out 10+ hitters in back-to-back games for the first time since April 23 and 26, 2024 when the Green and Gold punched out 12 batters against Jacksonville State and Charlotte, respectively.
UAB and Florida Atlantic square off in the series finale on Saturday afternoon. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. ET/12 p.m. CT on ESPN+.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Helmers, Christian (1-1)
L: Kilby, Zach (1-1)
S: Ingram, Chase (1)
Batting:
2B: Hunt, Andrew 1 ; Beaver, Landon 1
HR: Hunt, Andrew 1
RBI: Hall Jr., Kevin 1 ; Steele, Mason 1 ; Helms, Wesley 1 ; Hunt, Andrew 4 ; Waugh, Brady 1 ; Price, Max 1 ; Beaver, Landon 1
SH: Steele, Mason 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hall Jr., Kevin 1 ; Steele, Mason 1 ; Cheeseman, Alex 1 ; Helms, Wesley 1 ; Dupuy, Alex 1 ; Hunt, Andrew 2 ; Waugh, Brady 1 ; Price, Max 1 ; Beaver, Landon 2
SB: Hall Jr., Kevin 1 ; Helms, Wesley 1 ; Beaver, Landon 2
HBP: Dupuy, Alex 1
Batting:
2B: Patten, Brett 1 ; Collier, Ian 1 ; Small, Eli 1
HR: Patten, Brett 1 ; Collier, Ian 1
RBI: Patten, Brett 1 ; Perazza, Michael 1 ; Romano, Nick 1 ; Collier, Ian 2 ; Lopez, Jonathan 2
SH: Martinez, John 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Patten, Brett 2 ; Collier, Ian 2 ; Lopez, Jonathan 1 ; Lipsey, Marshall 2 ; Small, Eli 1
SB: Patten, Brett 1
HBP: Lipsey, Marshall 1
