UAB notes
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April 12, 2007

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - After dropping a pair of midweek contests to Murray State, the University of Memphis baseball team will jump back into Conference USA play where it looks to make it three straight weekend series wins. The Tigers will make their second trip to Birmingham, Ala., this time to take on UAB in a three-game league set.

At 19-14 on the year, the 20th win has eluded Memphis after the Tigers ran off five straight wins over No. 29 Southern Miss and No. 21 Tulane. Since then, the U of M has been bested in three straight games. Despite the three-game losing skid, the Tigers are just a game behind its 2006 pace at this point in the year, as they chase the program's first NCAA Regional bid since 1994.

Memphis rides the strength of Michael Murray team-best .347 batting average. Murray has hit safely in a career-high 19 straight games. He is just four games shy Mark Little's program-record 23-game hit streak which he posted in 1994. Murray, who has started in all 33 games, leads the team in hits and is tied with K.K. Chalmers with nine doubles. Bill Moss checks in with a .342 average and nine homers, while fellow senior Joey Lieberman has five round-trippers and leads the team with 32 RBI. Chalmers is the league's leader in stolen bases with 19 inn 22 attempts. The junior hits .312 and has started in all 33 games and has played in 146 consecutive contests--just three games shy of the all-time record of 149 set by Mike Dlugach from 1970-73.

UAB has swung the bats well this year, posting a team average of .300. The Blazers average 6.5 runs per contest. J.R. Bond leads a pack of five Blazers hitting over .330. Bond hits .376 and paced the UAB offense with 73 total bases, 47 hits and 11 doubles. He is tied with Ryne Lovdahl and Steven Turner with three homers. Lovdahl hits at a .367 clip and has driven in a team-best 32 runs. Brint Hardy is a perfect 11-for-11 in stolen bases.

On the hill, Mitch Kloskowski leads the staff with a 4-2 record, a 3.67 ERA, 49 innings pitched and 27 strikeouts. He holds opponents to a .230 clip at the plate in eight starts. Memphis Harding Academy product Shay Crawford is 3-2 with eight starts. He has logged a 4.36 ERA and 18 strikeouts.

UAB leads the all-time series 35-26. The two schools split four games last year. UAB took two of three at Memphis in the regular season series, but the Tigers bounced back and eliminated the Blazers with a seven-inning 13-2 win in the Conference USA Tournament. Since 1996, UAB has won eight C-USA sets, including all five leagues series played in Birmingham.