UAB baseball falls to Memphis in American tournament opener

UAB baseball faced a tough start to the American Conference tournament on Thursday in Bradenton, Fla., as five defensive errors led to a 7-3 loss against No. 5 seed Memphis. The setback drops the Blazers (31-25) into the loser's bracket, setting up a high-stakes elimination matchup.

Tournament Outlook

The Blazers look to keep their season alive in an elimination game scheduled for Friday at 3:30 pm CT. They will face the loser of the contest between No. 2 seed East Carolina and No. 3 seed Rice.

A Difficult Outing

Despite grabbing an early 2-0 lead in the first inning behind a two-run single from Brady Waugh, the momentum quickly shifted due to defensive lapses. A catcher’s interference call against Austin Pierzynski allowed a Memphis runner to advance, ultimately leading to the Tigers cutting the deficit to 2-1. Memphis then surged ahead following back-to-back homers from Marcus Smith and Freddie Rodriquez, building a 4-2 lead. The Blazers struggled to stabilize, committing four additional errors throughout the game, including two in the seventh inning that surrendered three critical runs.

Offensive Struggles

Offense was hard to come by for UAB, which managed only three runs on seven hits despite scoring 39 runs over their previous three contests. The team's top hitters, all batting over .300 this season, combined for a quiet 3-for-17 performance at the plate.

Coach Dunn’s Assessment

“We just played bad baseball,” said UAB coach Casey Dunn. “You hate to say it, but we lost tonight because they played a better game than we played.” Dunn attributed the performance to the team's youth, noting that the roster includes only five seniors.

“I thought we played like an inexperienced group; that’s a little disappointing,” Dunn added. “We’ve been a resilient team, and now it’s the epitome of backs against the wall now. So we’ve got to fight back.”