Next Up: Pivotal C- USA Series for Baseball
Apr 28, 2011 | Baseball
April 28, 2011
4/28/2011 - 5/1/2011
UAB Blazers at Tulane Green Wave
First Pitch: 6:30 p.m. (Fri.), 2:00 (Sat.), 1:00 (Sun.)
Stadium: Greer Field at Turchin Stadium
Series: Tulane Leads Series 36-13
Looking at the Green Wave
Tulane won their midweek game for the second straight week and will look to win a series for the first time since taking two of three games at UCF on April 8-10. Tulane enters the weekend with a 24-17 overall mark and is 4-8 in Conference USA play entering their fifth weekend of conference play. The Olive and Blue won a 9-1 decision over Jackson State on Wednesday as Wade Konvicka tossed nine innings and allowed just one run on five hits to save the bullpen for the Green Wave.
Entering the weekend, Tulane will have its healthiest pitching staff in nearly two months, with 11 pitchers available entering play on Friday night. Conrad Flynn will make his 39th career start on Friday night versus the Blazers and look to grab his first Conference USA victory of the season. Drew Zizinia will get the ball on Saturday, looking to build on three straight outing with at least five innings. Alex Byo will make his fourth start after returning from soreness in his shoulder and has allowed 13 runs - seven coming last weekend against Utah - in 30 innings of work with 28 strikeouts and just six walks.
The offense has shown flashes of building on their .260 batting average during the midweek over the past month, but has faltered on the weekends. In their last two midweek games Tulane has scored 22 runs, while over their past two weekends the Green Wave has mustered just 18 runs in six contests. In their four C-USA wins the offense has posted 39 runs (9.7 rpg), but in their eight losses have tallied just 15 runs (1.8 rpg).
Jeremy Schaffer leads the team with a .369 batting average, 32 runs scored, 58 hits, 19 doubles, five home runs and 30 RBI's in 41 starts this season. The junior also holds the highest on-base percentage (.444) and ranks third on the team with 18 walks. Blake Crohan and Frank Florio have been the two hottest hitters on the squad over the last ten games, with each driving in seven RBI's. Florio is hitting at a .346 clip with six walks, while Crohan is batting .333 with 14 hits, four doubles and three walks.
Looking at the Blazers
UAB enters the weekend as winner of four of their last five games, including a series victory over Rice in Birmingham last weekend. They have posted three victories over Top-25 teams this season, beating #21 Alabama and winning twice versus #19 Rice, and are 23-17 overall with an 8-7 mark in Conference USA play. The Blazers won two of three games at Marshall, versus East Carolina and at Houston to start the C-USA slate, but were swept by Memphis before winning two of three against the Owls last weekend.
At the plate, UAB is led by their speedy centerfielder Jamal Austin's .362 batting average and 19 stolen bases. Austin leads the team with 59 hits and is tied with Nick Crawford with 29 runs scored. Crawford is second on the team in batting average (.293), but leads the squad in on-base percentage (.425), largely due to his 30 walks this season. Patrick Palmeiro, the son of former major league Rafael Palmeiro, paces the squad in home runs (5) and is second in RBI's (28) entering the weekend, while John Frost is hitting just .218 at the plate, but leads the team with 32 RBI's. As a team, the Blazers are hitting .267 as a team, averaging 8.9 hits and 4.9 runs per-game in 41 contests.
On the mound, UAB owns a team earned run average of 3.54 and limits their opponents to just a .240 batting average through 41 games. The Blazers have allowed 10-plus runs only once this season and are led by senior right-hander Ryan Wooley and junior righty Dillon Napoleon. Wooley will get the start on Friday night and enters with a 6-3 record and a 2.54 ERA in 74.1 innings of work thus far in 2011. He has fanned 59 and walked just 17, while holding opposing batters to a .209 batting average. Napoleon limits opponents to a .225 batting average to go along with a 2.58 ERA in 73.1 innings of work.
Inside the Series
The first meeting between these two programs came in the first year of Conference USA and since their 1996 endeavor they have played 49 times. Tulane leads the all-time series 36-13, but the Blazers won two of three games last season in Birmingham. The two teams have played every season since their first meeting in 1996 and Tulane has won 12 of the 15 regular season series'.
The Olive and Blue won the first 14 meetings in the series, carrying the streak from April 19, 1996 through April 15, 2000, while UAB has posted a pair of three-game winning streaks in the series. In New Orleans, Tulane has posted an 18-3 overall mark versus UAB. The two teams have each won two games at neutral sites and the Green Wave are 16-8 at UAB's Young Memorial Field.
