Returning Players Lead Hot Start For Casey Dunn’s Blazer Baseball team
Photo by Ken Shepherd
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - February 25, 2025
Keeping the roster intact, at least for the most part, played a key role in a fast start to the season for the UAB baseball team. The Blazers are coming off a sweep over previously unbeaten South Alabama and have a 6-1 record after the first two weekends of the season.
“I tell people, even starting before the fall, they asked how we were going to do, and I was like, we're going to be better because our guys stayed,” UAB head coach Casey Dunn to David Crane during his appearance on Blazer Sportsline on Monday night. “You know, we didn't lose a single guy last year that we didn't want to lose. The guys that could have left and, you know, gone up or whatever you want to say, they all stayed. We probably had four or five guys that could have made that jump, but instead they stayed. We had five kids playing in the SEC last year, not one of them was drafted, not one of them had a very good year. I think these guys saw, like, ‘Alright, man, we got a chance to do something here, this is a pretty good spot.’ My hope is that we put together that kind of year, and we see some guys get opportunities at the end of the year, because at the end of the day, you may not have a team full of big leaguers, but we've got some guys that deserve an opportunity. Hopefully they’re going to have that kind of year to put themselves in that position.”
The Blazers began the season with a 6-3 loss to Maryland in a game where the Terrapins scored all of their runs in the fourth inning. The Blazers won the next two games in the Swig & Swine Classic in Charleston, S.C. before the final game of the tournament was canceled because of inclement weather. UAB came home and beat Alabama A&M before sweeping South Alabama.
“I'll tell you what, man, we've really swung the bats well, we've competed well, we've got quality starting pitching,” Dunn said on Blazer Sportsline. “You know, this weekend, I think all three of our guys went six innings for us, which I'd be surprised if there was any other team in the country that got three six-inning starts.”
Colin Daniel, the preseason AAC Pitcher of the Year, is 2-0 with a .346 ERA. Chase Ingram got his first win this past Friday when he allowed two hits in six innings of work during an 8-0 win over South Alabama. Cole Cheatham is 1-1 with a 4.82 ERA and Brendan Conner has two saves and a 1.50 ERA.
Dunn said that the pool of position players is so deep that he has trouble deciding which nine to throw in the batting order. It starts with veteran center field Logan Braunschweig, who leads the team in batting average (.458), hits (11), slugging percentage (.708), walks (8) and on-base percentage (.606) and tied for the team lead with 8 RBI. However, that just the start of a team that is hitting .303 and averaging 9.5 runs per game. Second baseman Alex Cheeseman (.375), third baseman Todd Clay (.368, 8 RBI) and catcher Nick Hollifield (.333) also are off to good starts.
UAB has also played well defensively. The Blazers have just one error in seven games and that was committed by pitcher Cole Cheatham in the opener against Maryland.
“Last year we took a step forward, just in terms of the atmosphere and the culture within the group,” Dunn said on Blazer Sportsline. “Just the fact we had more guys that like baseball and like being at the field. I think if you come out there this year, you'll see guys enjoy it, man. They like being at the ball field. You know, if all you do is show up when you have to, you're not going to be very good at anything. And it's a sign that you probably really don't enjoy it that much either. But we've got guys that enjoy it. They have fun with each other. They enjoy playing the game. They enjoy competing. And obviously when you're winning, you know, everything's a lot of fun.”
UAB has its first test against a ranked team on Wednesday as the Blazers travel to play No. 21 Troy. The Trojans are 7-1 with a win over No. 15 Mississippi State. The lone loss was a 7-6 setback at nationally ranked Auburn. The Blazers also play host to North Alabama (3-4) at Young Memorial Field this weekend with games on Friday (2 p.m.), Saturday (1 p.m.) and Sunday (noon). UNA dropped a 7-5 decision at No. 1 ranked Tennessee on Tuesday.