BIRMINGHAM – The UAB Department of Athletics has promoted former assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator Perry Roth to interim head coach for the 2020-21 baseball season. Roth steps into the position following 14 years as an assistant on the Southside alongside recently retired Brian Shoop.
“I am thankful and humbled to be the head baseball coach at the University of Alabama at Birmingham,” said Roth. “I am so appreciative to Director of Athletics Mark Ingram for trusting me with this opportunity to lead at this time.”
Roth joined the Blazers in 2007 with Shoop after serving as an assistant under the legendary coach at Birmingham Southern.
“It has been a privilege and an honor to work alongside Brian Shoop all these years,” Roth said. “He has been and will continue to be a mentor for me, just as he will continue to be for so many people. I value his friendship and our relationship, and I am grateful he trusted me to partner with him in his career. I owe so much to him.”
Upon joining the UAB ranks, Roth facilitated immediate success at the plate and behind it as he guided catcher Danny Sawyer to All-America honors and lifted the team batting average from .267 to .296 in his first year.
The Blazers saw further success through Roth’s guidance in 2009 as he also helped catcher Digger Towe earn All-America honors and led the team to records in runs scored (461) and doubles (129).
In 2012, Roth was integral in a historic run that led to the program’s only Conference USA Baseball Championship as the team hit .333 throughout the Conference USA Tournament on its way to claiming the conference crown.
Under Roth’s tutelage at the plate in 2014, UAB won 35 games to tally the most wins for the program since 1993. Roth also helped fuel the Blazers to the Conference USA Championship game a year later in 2015.
Along with guiding the Blazers to collegiate achievements, Roth has also propelled multiple former players to professional success such as Adam Lau, Brewer Hicklen and Tyler Tolbert.
Lau, a 37th round draft selection by the Boston Red Sox in 2015 and current member of the AAA affiliate Pawtucket Red Sox, is a pitcher that shined for the Blazers as a two-way player. He was selected to the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award watch list and the All-Conference USA Second Team while donning the Green and Gold.
Hicklen, a seventh round draft selection by the Kansas City Royals in 2017 and current member of the A (Advanced) affiliate Wilmington Blue Rocks, also earned an All-Conference USA Second Team selection as a Blazer and is still sixth in career triples in UAB history.
Tolbert, a 13th round selection by the Kansas City Royals in last year’s 2019 MLB draft and current member of the Rookie Advanced affiliate Idaho Falls Chukars, sits tied for third in career steals in the Blazer record books with 76 and improved drastically at the plate each season under Roth going from a .151 average at the plate as a freshman to batting .283 as a junior and being drafted.
“We will work hard to create an environment that reflects the mission of the UAB Department of Athletics while trying our best to honor much of the foundation created by Brian Shoop and the past players and teams of UAB Baseball,” added Roth. “I am excited to lead a group of men who are invested in becoming better on and off the field, and in the classroom, as evidence by their 24th straight semester with a team GPA of 3.0.”
With Roth’s track record of bolstering team success, developing players and working alongside two legends in their own right in Shoop and Ron Polk, the newly proclaimed interim head coach is well prepared to man the reins of the UAB baseball program.
