Digger Towe
UAB had to battle rain all weekend, playing its series against Harvard in two different states, but in the end the Blazers had a four-game sweep of the Crimson and a six-game winning streak. The two clubs played a single game on Friday and a doubleheader on Saturday in Pensacola, Fla., while Sunday’s series finale was played in Vestavia, Ala., a suburb of Birmingham. When it was over, the UAB bats had a big weekend, out-scoring Harvard, 53-14 and posting at least 11 runs in all four outings.
Southern Miss had some big bats on Saturday against Louisiana Tech, winning 24-3 and falling just one run shy of tying the school record for runs in a game. The Golden Eagles opened the series with a 5-4 win on Friday night, but dropped Sunday’s finale to finish 2-1 against the Bulldogs.
Rice won a pair of games against No. 23 San Diego. The Owls won the first two games of the series on Thursday and Friday before being shut out on Sunday. Five of Rice’s 10 wins this season have come against nationally-ranked opponents.
UCF posted a 3-1 record on the weekend, going 2-1 against Hartford and 1-0 vs. Northern Iowa in Orlando, highlighted by a wild 16-12 win on Sunday. Memphis won the first two games of its series with Indiana State, including a 20-1 win on Saturday, before falling in Sunday’s series finale. Marshall also grabbed a 2-1 series win, taking the first two contests against Youngstown State before falling by one run in the final game.
Conference USA continued its season-long struggles against teams from California. Tulane earned its first win over a ranked team this season with a 10-6 decision at No. 10 UC Irvine on Saturday as Matt Petiton turned in another strong pitching performance. However, the Green Wave dropped the other two games of the series against the Anteaters, including a heart-breaker in the bottom-of-the-ninth on Sunday. UCLA won the first two games of its series at East Carolina before the Pirates rebounded to take the third game on Saturday. Houston dropped all three of its games at Pacific.
