UAB Baseball Found Its Ace in an Unexpected Place

By Steve Irvine

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - April 10, 2026

Mason Steele thought he was coming to UAB to play centerfield. UAB head coach Casey Dunn also thought that might be the best plan for his team.

Sometimes it’s fortunate that the plan worked out in a different.

Steele has not only solidified himself as the team’s Friday night starter but also has established himself as one of the best starting pitchers in the American Conference. Check out the conference stat leaders and you see Steele in the top 10 in earned run average (.360), opposing batting average (.216), innings pitched (40), strikeouts (39), batters struck out looking (10), wins (4), hits allowed (32), runs allowed (18), earned runs allowed (16) and home runs allowed (1).

To be fair, that type of performance is not a complete surprise. Dunn knew that the 6-foot-3, 195-pound Steele has a Friday night arm and pitching ability. But he also knew that Steele is probably the team’s best defensive outfielder and an outstanding hitter. Obviously, he made the decision that Steele would be on the mound and transfer Kevin Hall Jr. has proven to be one of the best outfielders in the conference and a threat as the team’s leadoff hitter.

“We weren't sure how much the offense he was going to have to be a part of,” Dunn said. “I think the combination of him being really good on Fridays, and us needing that, and then Kevin having a really good year made things a lot easier.”

Steele has started a handful games in the outfield but most of his production came on the mound. That’s quite different than his time at Headland High School in Alabama, where he established himself as one of the best position players in the state. He was selected as the ASWA Class 5A Hitter of the Year after his senior season. He threw just 10 innings during high school.

“I’ve always had a good arm and decent (velocity),” Steele said.

Shelton State head coach Bobby Sprowl recognized that when Steele arrived in Tuscaloosa and Steele’s career as a pitcher was born. Perhaps it is better described as his career as a two-way player was born because Steele also played a key role in the outfield and at the plate. As a freshman, Steele was the NJCAA Two-Way Player of the Year after hitting .338 with 51 hits, 42 runs, 15 extra base hits and 10 stolen bases and compiling a 7-1 pitching record with a 3.60 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 45 innings pitched. Last season, he had 45 hits, 49 runs, 41 walks, 11 stolen bases and seven home runs at the plate and was 6-1 with a 2.66 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 61 innings on the mound.

“I was all for it,” Steele said when asked about his reaction when he was told he would pitch. “I mean I like pitching. You’re in control of the game and the game's on. You just got to keep coming out there and competing. The hardest part is definitely throwing multiple pitches for strikes, having a bunch of bullets. I think ultimately just going out there and competing and giving it your all.”

Steele said he picked up confidence while playing in the fall. He threw five innings, allowing four hits and two earned runs in five innings against nationally ranked Florida in the regular season opening series. He left that game with a 5-3 lead and the Blazers eventually won 9-7 in 10 innings. Steele has been really sharp over the past five outings. In the past two starts, during American Conference series sweeps over Tulane and FAU, he has thrown a combined 13 innings while allowing four hits, two runs, one of them earned, with 12 strikeouts and six walks.

“I'm definitely pleased with where he's at,” Dunn said. “The biggest thing for him is what is happening right now is what we expected, what pro scouts expected, that when he focused more on the pitching piece he was going to get better. You know, really his first year in junior college he was much more of a hitter than a pitcher. And then last year he was probably 50-50. So this is the first time in his life that the priority has been what he does on the mound. And he's made progress. The first couple weekends, he was fine. You know, it wasn't bad. But, you know, since we've got into conference play and he's got more comfortable, he's thrown the best over the last three weeks that he has all year.”

Steele is back on the mound Friday at 5 p.m. in the first game of critical American Conference series against Wichita State at Young Memorial Field. The Shockers are tied for the conference lead in hits (355) and second in the league in team batting average (.313). UAB (22-11 overall, 7-2 American Conference) enters the weekend in first place in The American while Wichita State (21-13, 5-4) is tied for fourth.

The formula for success this weekend begins with Steele on the mound.

“We talked before conference play got started, just about how we felt as a staff we had to be successful,” Dunn said. “As we told our pitchers, we have to have one guy that needs to extend things for us and that's Mason. We need him to eat up innings on a Friday because the next two games, we're going to have to piece it together. You know, we don't have another guy that's going to go out there and give us six. And our guys have embraced that.”

In the three weeks of conference play, it’s been Steele getting a quality start and Brendan Conner coming on to finish the game.

“That's been huge because now you got everybody else ready for Saturday and Sunday,” said Dunn, whose team won nine of the past 10 games and are coming off back-to-back series sweeps. “And Brendan's been able to do a good job of bouncing back to finish games on Sunday for us too. So kind of those two guys eating up the bulk of a Friday has been really big for us.”