J.R. Bond is batting .381 with three homers and 29 RBI this season.

April 5, 2007

Game Notes

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB Blazers travel to Houston, Texas to take on the Houston Cougars this weekend in a battle of Conference USA first place teams. The Blazers and Cougars both stand atop the C-USA standings with 3-0 records after each swept UCF in their first league series. The two teams will play Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.

All three games can be followed live on Gametracker at UABsports.com.

The Blazers, winners of three of their last four, are looking to get back on track after losing, 2-1, against Alabama on Wednesday night. Senior outfielder J.R. Bond leads the club with his .381 batting average this season while ranking second in RBI (29).

UAB has four hitters ranking in the top-10 in Conference USA in batting average. Aside from Bond, junior first baseman Ryan Keedy (.366), senior third baseman Ryne Lovdahl (362) and junior outfielder Phil Bell (.342) are all amongst the league's elite.

Lovdahl leads the Blazers in RBI with 30, while tying with Bond and senior outfielder Steven Turner with a club-best three home runs. Sophomore outfielder Brint Hardy leads the team with 10 stolen bases.

The Blazers are expected to send sophomore right-hander Mitch Kloskowski (3-2, 3.14 ERA) to the mound on Friday, freshman lefty Shay Crawford (3-1, 4.13 ERA) and junior right-hander Ben Styes (2-3, 4.67 ERA) on Sunday.

Last season, UAB lost two of the three games against the then 13th-ranked Cougars at Young Memorial Field. Houston has won two of the three games in each of the last two seasons.

Houston is 15-16 (3-0 C-USA) on the year having won five of its last six games. On Tuesday, the Cougars lost at Baylor, 12-6.

Jimmy Cesario leads the club with his .346 batting average, while Josh Stirneman is second at .339. Stirneman also has five home runs and 25 RBI to rank second on the team in both categories.

The Cougars are expected to send right-hander Aaron Brown (4-1, 3.86 ERA) to the hill on Friday and left-hander Wes Musick (4-3, 3.11 ERA) on Saturday. Righty John Touchton (2-2, 6.97 ERA) will get the nod on Sunday.