Rice University
34-14, 15-7
UAB
29-23, 10-11
Owls Fall Thursday At UAB 7-5
5/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 14, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- UAB's Digger Towe came off the bench in the bottom of the eighth inning to knock a two-out, three-run home run to lift the Blazers to a 7-5 come-from-behind victory over the visiting Rice baseball team in the opening game of a three-game Conference USA series Thursday night at Young Memorial Field in Birmingham, Ala.
Paired with East Carolina's 9-4 win over Memphis Thursday in a C-USA series in Greenville, NC, the Owls and ECU Pirates are tied for first in the conference standings with two league games left to play in the regular season.
The Owls came out swinging put runs on the scoreboard in each of the first three innings. Brock Holt beat-out a ground ball for base hit near the right field line to start the game and Jimmy Comerota followed with a hard bunt that found a hole through a charging right side of the UAB infield. Comerota bunted the ball, but it rolled into right field and Holt opportunistically sprinted for third base. Holt scored on a sacrifice fly by Diego Seastrunk. Freshman Anthony Rendon then knocked a double to the wall in right-center that allowed Comerota to score from first base for a quick 2-0 advantage.
UAB got one of the runs back in the bottom of the inning. Jonathan Merritt singled up the middle with one away and advanced to scoring position on a balk. Merritt stole third on the next pitch and scored on a ground out to make it 2-1.
In the top of the second, Rice sophomore Michael Fuda blasted a pitch over the home run line in straight-away centerfield. Fuda's homer was his third of the season to keep the margin at two runs, 3-1.
The Blue & Gray scored again in the third. Seastrunk doubled with one away and Rendon stroked a base hit into left field. Seastrunk was retired on a throw to home plate, but the Owls were still threatening with Rendon moving up to second base on the play. Rick Hague lined a hard base hit through the left side that allowed Rendon to score and a 4-1 cuishon.
The Blazers retaliated with a longball in its half of the inning that made the score 4-2. Senior designated hitter Austin Taylor slugged a pitch over the right field wall for his third homer this season.
UAB cut the lead to within a run, 4-3, in the fourth. Rice starting pitcher Taylor Wall struck out the first two batters of the inning, but he gave up a single to Andrew Manning and proceeded to walk each of the next three batters. The free passes forced Manning around the bases for an easy run and a 4-3 game. Wall worked himself out of trouble with strikeout, his third of the inning and sixth of the game.
The Owls got back on the board in the top of the sixth. With two away Chad Mozingo slugged a solo home run near the right field pole. The round-tripper was Mozingo's sixth of the year to make the score 5-3.
The Blazers continued to battle scored a run in the sixth. Manning and Allen Aubin hit back-to-back doubles to start the frame that cut it back down to a single run, 5-4. UAB was down to its final four outs of the game when Aubin singled with two out in the eighth and Luke Stewart walked. Towe replaced Taylor as the designated hitter and hit what proved to be the game-winning home run to right field for their first lead of the game at 7-5.
Rice, now 34-14 overall and 15-7 in C-USA action, has come back to win both games of a C-USA series after dropping the opener in each of the past two weekends. UAB is 29-23 on the season and 10-11 against the league. The second game of the three-game weekend series is set for Friday at 7 pm. Junior right-hander Ryan Berry (5-0, 1.81) is scheduled to start on the mound for the Owls.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Blake Huddleston (5-0)
L: Rogers, Jordan (7-3)
S: Nick Graffeo (6)
Batting:
2B: Seastrunk, Diego 1 ; Rendon, Anthony 1
HR: Mozingo, Chad 1 ; Fuda, Michael 1
RBI: Seastrunk, Diego 1 ; Rendon, Anthony 1 ; Hague, Rick 1 ; Mozingo, Chad 1 ; Fuda, Michael 1
SF: Seastrunk, Diego 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Holt, Brock 1 ; Comerota, Jimmy 1 ; Rendon, Anthony 1 ; Mozingo, Chad 1 ; Fuda, Michael 1
SB: Rendon, Anthony 1 ; Hague, Rick 1
CS: Sultzbaugh, Steven 1
PO: Sultzbaugh, Steven 1
Batting:
2B: Andrew Manning 1 ; Allen Aubin 1
HR: Austin Taylor 1 ; Digger Towe 1
RBI: Brint Hardy 1 ; Allen Aubin 1 ; Austin Taylor 2 ; Digger Towe 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Jonathan Merritt 1 ; Andrew Manning 2 ; Allen Aubin 1 ; Luke Stewart 1 ; Austin Taylor 1 ; Digger Towe 1
SB: Jonathan Merritt 2 ; Allen Aubin 1
CS: Jamal Austin 1
PO: Jonathan Merritt 1
