Jax State baseball suffers setback against UAB
Jacksonville State’s baseball team carried the momentum from its three-game weekend sweep of Western Kentucky into Tuesday’s mid-week contest against UAB. Steve Bieser’s squad scored six runs against the Blazers in the top of the first inning, but the Gamecocks’ pitching and defense didn’t travel to Young Memorial Field in Birmingham. UAB took advantage of 11 walks and three errors to score a 16-11 win over Jax State that Bieser called “one of the uglier games that I've seen in my lifetime.
” Jax State starting pitcher James Wilson took the ball after Ace Williamson staked the Gamecocks to a 6-0 lead with a three-run homer. The junior right-hander couldn’t find the strike zone, hitting the first UAB batter he faced before walking three straight. Things didn’t get much better for the Jax State pitching staff after that.
UAB put up crooked numbers with three runs in the first inning, four in the third and four more in the fifth. “I thought we got off to a good start. You score six runs in the first inning, you should never lose a ballgame," Bieser said.
"Very frustrated at how we came out on the mound after scoring six. We just didn't have a lot of life on the mound, and it looked like we forgot how to throw a strike. " Jaxon Pate led the Gamecocks at the plate, going 3-for-5 with a double, one run and one RBI.
The redshirt freshman from Calhoun, Ga. , extended his hitting streak to 12 games. He leads all Conference USA hitters with a .