BIRMINGHAM, AL—The UAB (29-23/14-14) Blazers rallied from a 3-0 deficit to defeat Old Dominion(26-26/12-16), 7-4 Thursday night in a C-USA series opener at the Young Memorial Field. ODU freshman Zach Rutherford led the Monarchs with three hits, while sophomore Nick Walker knocked in two runs. ODU left nine runners on base tonight.
With ODU leading, 3-0 the Blazers tied the contest in the fourth with three runs keyed by a two-run triple by Tyler Mims.
The Monarchs re-took the lead at 4-3 when Taylor Ostrich scored from third on a wild pitch. UAB tied the game in the bottom of the fifth on a run scoring double by Adam Smith and then in the seventh inning, C-USA’s homerun leader and National Player of the Week Esteban Tresgallo belted a two-run homer for a 7-4 lead, his 10th of the season. Adam Lau led UAB with two hits.
Josh Eldridge doubled home Rutherford in the first inning for the Monarchs first run. Nick Walker tripled home Mike Perez and Jason McMurray in the second inning for the 3-0 Monarch lead. ODU had the bases loaded in the fourth inning but failed to score.
Righthander James Naile picked up his ninth (9-3) win of the season with relief help from Thomas Lowery.
Because of threatening weather in the Birmingham area this weekend, Friday’s game which was originally scheduled for 7:30 has been moved up for a 3 p.m. (ET) start. Depending on weather, a doubleheader may be played. Listen to the contest live with Ted Alexander on ODU’s website on Monarch Media.
ODU 120 010 000=4-9-2
UAB 000 311 20x=7-9-3
ODU: S.Sinnen, Busbice(6), Rienerth(8) and Perez
UAB:Naile, Lowery(7) and Tresgallo
WP:Naile (9-3) LP: Busbice (3-2) Save: Lowery (2)