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UAB Plays Top-Seeded Rice In Entergy C-USA Championship First Round
May 17, 2008
2008 Entergy Conference USA Championship Bracket BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB baseball team has earned the eighth seed at the 2008 Entergy Conference USA Championship in New Orleans, La. and will take on top-seeded Rice in the first round on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium. UAB was swept by Rice in Houston earlier this season, but pushed the Owls to 10 innings in the final game of the series. UAB 24-32 (7-17 C-USA) will be looking for its first-ever win against Rice. This is will be UAB's fifth consecutive appearance in the championship. After winning the regular season Conference USA championship in for the third consecutive season, top-seeded Rice enters the tournament with a record of 42-11 (21-3 C-USA) having won 17 of its final 18 league contests. The Owls have captured 13 consecutive regular season conference championships, dating back to the final year of the Southwest Conference. Rice features another strong pitching staff this season and is led by sophomore RHP Ryan Berry (7-3, 2.87 ERA, 76 K's) and senior RHP Chris Kelley (5-1, 3.32 ERA, 57 Ks) in the starting rotation, while closer Cole St.Clair (8-2, 2.98 ERA, 5 saves) is rounding back into form in the bullpen after opening the season as a starter. Senior first baseman Ryan Keedy is UAB's top hitter, pacing the club in batting average (.429) and setting a school-record for doubles with 27. The championship will get underway at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday when No. 5 seed East Carolina (39-17, 13-11) takes on No. 4 seed Houston (34-21, 14-10). The Pirates and Cougars met during the opening weekend of conference play, with UH taking two-of-three in Greenville. Southern Miss earned the No. 2 seed and opens its tourney play against No. 7 seed UCF at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, while Marshall (26-28-1, 10-13-1) earned the No. 6 seed and will face No. 3 seed and tournament host Tulane (36-18-1, 13-9-1) in the final game of the first day at 7:30 p.m. The championship game of the tournament on Sunday, May 25 will be televised on a same-day tape delay basis by CBS College Sports. The title game will air on CBS C at 8:30 p.m. The tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship
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