UAB series preview

[usmstud]

Southern Miss (26-8, 11-1 C-USA) at UAB (14-21, 4-8 C-USA) April 15-17 • Young Memorial Field • Birmingham, Ala.

Friday, April 15, 6:30 pm RH Cord Cockrell, Sr., (6-0, 2.77 ERA) vs. RH Tanner Graham, Fr., (1-4, 4.98 ERA)

Saturday, April 16, 2 pm RH Nick Johnson, Sr., (2-0, 3.21 ERA) vs. LH Ryan Ruggles, So. (4-2, 2.31 ERA)

Sunday, April 17, 1 pm LH Kirk McCarty, So., (2-0, 4.10 ERA) vs. TBA

Southern Miss Notes: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/smis/sports/m-basebl/auto_pdf/2015-16/release/release.pdf

Southern Miss stats: http://www.southernmiss.com/sports/m-basebl/stats/2015-2016/teamcume.html

UAB stats: http://www.uabsports.com/sports/m-basebl/stats/2015-2016/teamcume.html

 

[usmstud]

The one thing that really stands out when looking at UAB is how poorly they hit the ball as a team. The Blazers .225 batting average places them 286th out of 300 D1 schools. They don't hit for power either with only 9 home runs, 38 doubles and 6 triples so far this season. Because of their offensive struggles, UAB's record in games where they allow more than two runs is 3-17.

 

[EagleAidaholic]

I wanna sweep and run rule them on Sunday.

 

[Petal Eagle]

Middle Tennessee rolled into town last week hitting .236 as a team and had a good weekend at the plate.

 

[usmstud]

Middle Tennessee rolled into town last week hitting .236 as a team and had a good weekend at the plate.

MTSU was hitting a little better than .236. They raised their average from .244 to .254 last weekend, but most of that was from the 19 hits on Sunday. First two games they were about a hit per game above there average, but they just got on a roll Sunday and seemed like they new what pitches we were throwing.

Biggest difference between the two teams is UAB has the superior pitching staff. UAB is third in the conference behind FAU and Rice with a 3.56 team era.
We should have an advantage on Friday night with Cockrell against the freshman Graham. Graham is 0-2 with a 6.33 era in four CUSA starts.
Their ace, Ryan Ruggles, will be a big challenge on Saturday. In four conference games he's allowed 11 hits and 5 runs in 26.2 innings.
They've been starting another lefty, Adam Lamar, on Sunday but he pitched in relief on Tuesday so they may go another direction. Lamar has a 1.63 era and has only allowed 23 hits in 38.2 innings.

 

[usmstud]

We're making some bad hitting teams look good these past two conference games.

 

[usmstud]

Hate to say tomorrow is a must win at this point in the season, but getting swept would really kill our momentum. Things get much tougher with Rice and FAU the next two weekends.

Really need McCarty to go deep into the game. Another early exit and we're in big trouble.