The Crimson Tide and Cougars will meet for the 13th time
Feb. 19, 2015
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Crimson Tide will take to the road for the first time during the 2015 season as Alabama heads to Texas for a three-game set with the third-ranked Houston Cougars.
The weekend inside Cougar Stadium will kick off on Friday, Feb. 20. First pitch for Friday and Saturday's games is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT, while Sunday is set for a Noon start time on getaway day.
FOLLOW THE TIDE
Fans can watch/follow this weekend's games via the below outlets:
Gametracker: RollTide.com
Listen: 99.1 FM/CTSN
Lee Tracey
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB
Watch ($): Live Video
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
FRIDAY: UA - Taylor Guilbeau (Sr., LHP) vs. UH - Andrew Lantrip (So., RHP)
SATURDAY: UA - Will Carter (Jr., RHP) vs. UH - Jake Lemoine (Jr., RHP)
SUNDAY: UA - Geoffrey Bramblett (So., RHP) vs. UH - TBA
LEADING OFF
• Alabama and Houston will meet for the 13th time with the teams splitting the meetings evenly, 6-6.
• The Crimson Tide will send out senior LHP Taylor Guilbeau on Friday night, junior RHP Will Carter on Saturday evening and sophomore RHP Geoffrey Bramblett on Sunday afternoon.
• Houston will start sophomore RHP Andrew Lantrip on Friday, junior RHP Jake Lemoine on Saturday and is currently TBA for Sunday's finale.
• Alabama sits at 2,499 wins in program history after last weekend's three-game sweep of Maryland Eastern Shore. UA is tied with Mississippi State for the second-most wins all-time by an SEC team, with Texas A&M owning the record at 2,524 victories in its history.
• UA is ranked 20th in D1Baseball.com's latest poll, the highest ranking Alabama is receiving early on. Alabama is also ranked in two other polls, including 23rd by the NCBWA and 30th by CBN.
• The Cougars are ranked in the top 10 in all major national polls, topping out at No. 3 by Baseball America.
• Houston enters this weekend with a 4-0 record after sweeping the University of Minnesota last weekend and finishing off Texas Southern on Wednesday evening. The Cougars rode the long ball to four victories, including four home runs across the set with the Golden Gophers.
• Alabama enters this year after finishing 37-24 (15-14 SEC) during the 2014 season.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
• The Crimson Tide opened the 2015 season with a three-game sweep of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. UA accumulated three straight shutouts in a season-opening series for the first time in program history. The three shutouts in a series last occured when UA blanked Mississippi Valley State from March 7-9, 2014.
• Twelve of UA's 40 hits were for extra bases, including 10 doubles and two triples. The Tide finished the weekend batting .360 as a team and accumulating 37 total runs, the most since Alabama scored 38 against the University of Illinois-Chicago on Feb. 26-27, 2010.
• Alabama claimed the 6-0 victory on opening night of the 2015 season. Senior LHP Taylor Guilbeau tossed 6.0 IP in the second opening day start of his career. UA's offense provided 11 hits, including five for extra bases, while every positional starter reached base at least once.
• On Saturday, the Crimson Tide earned the 11-0 shutout win thanks to a standout performance from junior college transfer Will Carter. The tall righty contributed 7.0 IP, striking out six and allowing just two hits.
• The Alabama offense put together a 19-0 performance in Sunday's finale thanks to 15 hits, including five-RBI performances from Kyle Overstreet and Casey Hughston.
• Hughston and Overstreet were the first pair of UA players to each record five RBI in the same game since Clay Jones and Brett Booth accomplished the task against UIC on Feb. 27, 2010.
• Hughston put some numbers up this weekend, batting .846 and recording team highs in hits (11), doubles (3) and runs (6). Hughston also added a triple and stole two bases across the three games.
• Overstreet contributed offensively as well, finishing with a team-high 10 RBI for the weekend.
• Alabama's starters limited UMES to just six total hits while striking out 19 batters across 19.0 IP.
• The Crimson Tide bullpen did well to maintain the shutouts each night, tossing a combined 8.0 IP while striking out 12 batters and allowing only five hits during that time.
• Alabama returns 23 letterwinners from last season's team that reached the NCAA Tallahassee Regional. The 2015 Tide also features five positional returners, and three pitchers who made five or more starts last season.
• UA's returning pitchers owned a 3.89 ERA (111 ER/257.0 IP) in 2014 and had a 16-11 record.
• This season's returners batted .263 (344-1,310) a season ago.
SCOUTING HOUSTON
• Houston welcomes the Tide to Cougar Stadium after finishing off the University of Minnesota in three consecutive games last weekend. The three wins improved the Cougars to 14-1 under head coach Todd Whitting during opening weekend games.
• The Cougars earned a 9-1 victory in the opener, limiting the Golden Gophers to one run on six hits. Houston countered with nine runs and 10 hits, three of which were home runs.
• In game two of the series, UH earned a 5-0 win to clinch the series against Minnesota. The two pitchers for the Cougars combined for a shutout, striking out nine total batters.
• Game three proved a test for the Cougars, falling behind early but evening up the score at 4-4 in the bottom of the ninth. Houston proceeded to load the bases on two HBP and a walk, and then bring across the winning run on an infield grounder.
• The Houston pitching staff is highlighted by Jake Lemoine. The junior enters 2015 on the Golden Spikes Award Watch List and with multiple preseason All-America honors, including second team recognition from D1Baseball.com, Baseball America and Perfect Game USA. The righty finished 2014 with a 6-8 record through 17 starts, but owned a lowly 2.87 ERA (34 ER/106.2 IP) and struck out 87 in the process. For his career, Lemoine is 14-12 with a 3.03 ERA (61 ER/181.1 IP).
• Offensively, Houston is led by junior Kyle Survance, who ended last season batting .308 (78-253) with 11 doubles, two triples, two home runs, 32 RBI and 53 runs scored. The leadoff man also finished 31-of-38 in stolen bases, making him the first Cougar to record 31-plus stolen bases since Michael Bourn recorded 32 in 2002. Survance's 31 stolen bases and 53 runs were both team highs.
• The Cougars claimed a league-high six spots in the AAC Preseason All-Conference poll, including Connor Hollis, Aaron Garza, Survance, Jared Robinson, Andrew Lantrip and Lemoine.
• UH returns six offensive starters and four starting pitchers from a 2014 team that fell one game short of the College World Series.
• Houston was selected to claim the American Athletic Conference's title in the league's preseason poll, as voted on by the league coaches.
SERIES HISTORY
• Alabama and Houston will meet for the 13th time in series history on Friday evening. The two teams first met in 1976 and most recently clashed in 2003.
• The two teams split the initial meeting, with Houston claiming the season-opening 10-4 victory on Feb. 27, 1976. In the second game of that doubleheader, the Crimson Tide came back for a 6-4 victory over the Cougars.
• On April 5, 1989, the two squads met in Mobile, Ala., for the Diamond Club Classic. Houston claimed the 8-4 victory in that year's meeting.
• In 2003, UA and UH met three times. The first test between the two teams came on Feb. 15 in the Minute Maid Park College Classic as the Cougars came out on top, 7-2. The next matchup came on May 30 in the NCAA College Station Regional when the Tide earned an opening-round victory, 9-3. The Cougars countered a day later by handing Alabama a 16-8 loss to end UA's season.
CRIMSON TIDE CHASING 2,500
• Alabama entered the 2015 season with 2,496 wins in program history. UA's next victory will be number 2,500 all-time following last weekend's three-game sweep of UMES.
• The Crimson Tide are one of only two Southeastern Conference teams to reach 2,500 wins. Texas A&M leads the SEC for all-time wins with 2,524.
• Mississippi State is the next-closest SEC team to reaching the 2,500-win mark. The Bulldogs currently rank tied with Alabama at 2,499 all-time wins.
• Following MSU, the team ranked fourth in wins is South Carolina with 2,458 all-time victories.
NEXT WEEK
Alabama returns home for a midweek doubleheader with Savannah State on Tuesday, Feb. 24. First pitch of game one is set for 2 p.m. CT with the second game set to start 30 minutes after. Following Tuesday's twinbill, the Crimson Tide will welcome Louisiana-Lafayette to the Hoover Met for a three-game, weekend series with the Ragin' Cajuns.
-UA-
RTR,
Diamond Tide :biga:
Feb. 19, 2015
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Crimson Tide will take to the road for the first time during the 2015 season as Alabama heads to Texas for a three-game set with the third-ranked Houston Cougars.
The weekend inside Cougar Stadium will kick off on Friday, Feb. 20. First pitch for Friday and Saturday's games is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT, while Sunday is set for a Noon start time on getaway day.
FOLLOW THE TIDE
Fans can watch/follow this weekend's games via the below outlets:
Gametracker: RollTide.com
Listen: 99.1 FM/CTSN
Lee Tracey
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB
Watch ($): Live Video
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
FRIDAY: UA - Taylor Guilbeau (Sr., LHP) vs. UH - Andrew Lantrip (So., RHP)
SATURDAY: UA - Will Carter (Jr., RHP) vs. UH - Jake Lemoine (Jr., RHP)
SUNDAY: UA - Geoffrey Bramblett (So., RHP) vs. UH - TBA
LEADING OFF
• Alabama and Houston will meet for the 13th time with the teams splitting the meetings evenly, 6-6.
• The Crimson Tide will send out senior LHP Taylor Guilbeau on Friday night, junior RHP Will Carter on Saturday evening and sophomore RHP Geoffrey Bramblett on Sunday afternoon.
• Houston will start sophomore RHP Andrew Lantrip on Friday, junior RHP Jake Lemoine on Saturday and is currently TBA for Sunday's finale.
• Alabama sits at 2,499 wins in program history after last weekend's three-game sweep of Maryland Eastern Shore. UA is tied with Mississippi State for the second-most wins all-time by an SEC team, with Texas A&M owning the record at 2,524 victories in its history.
• UA is ranked 20th in D1Baseball.com's latest poll, the highest ranking Alabama is receiving early on. Alabama is also ranked in two other polls, including 23rd by the NCBWA and 30th by CBN.
• The Cougars are ranked in the top 10 in all major national polls, topping out at No. 3 by Baseball America.
• Houston enters this weekend with a 4-0 record after sweeping the University of Minnesota last weekend and finishing off Texas Southern on Wednesday evening. The Cougars rode the long ball to four victories, including four home runs across the set with the Golden Gophers.
• Alabama enters this year after finishing 37-24 (15-14 SEC) during the 2014 season.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
• The Crimson Tide opened the 2015 season with a three-game sweep of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. UA accumulated three straight shutouts in a season-opening series for the first time in program history. The three shutouts in a series last occured when UA blanked Mississippi Valley State from March 7-9, 2014.
• Twelve of UA's 40 hits were for extra bases, including 10 doubles and two triples. The Tide finished the weekend batting .360 as a team and accumulating 37 total runs, the most since Alabama scored 38 against the University of Illinois-Chicago on Feb. 26-27, 2010.
• Alabama claimed the 6-0 victory on opening night of the 2015 season. Senior LHP Taylor Guilbeau tossed 6.0 IP in the second opening day start of his career. UA's offense provided 11 hits, including five for extra bases, while every positional starter reached base at least once.
• On Saturday, the Crimson Tide earned the 11-0 shutout win thanks to a standout performance from junior college transfer Will Carter. The tall righty contributed 7.0 IP, striking out six and allowing just two hits.
• The Alabama offense put together a 19-0 performance in Sunday's finale thanks to 15 hits, including five-RBI performances from Kyle Overstreet and Casey Hughston.
• Hughston and Overstreet were the first pair of UA players to each record five RBI in the same game since Clay Jones and Brett Booth accomplished the task against UIC on Feb. 27, 2010.
• Hughston put some numbers up this weekend, batting .846 and recording team highs in hits (11), doubles (3) and runs (6). Hughston also added a triple and stole two bases across the three games.
• Overstreet contributed offensively as well, finishing with a team-high 10 RBI for the weekend.
• Alabama's starters limited UMES to just six total hits while striking out 19 batters across 19.0 IP.
• The Crimson Tide bullpen did well to maintain the shutouts each night, tossing a combined 8.0 IP while striking out 12 batters and allowing only five hits during that time.
• Alabama returns 23 letterwinners from last season's team that reached the NCAA Tallahassee Regional. The 2015 Tide also features five positional returners, and three pitchers who made five or more starts last season.
• UA's returning pitchers owned a 3.89 ERA (111 ER/257.0 IP) in 2014 and had a 16-11 record.
• This season's returners batted .263 (344-1,310) a season ago.
SCOUTING HOUSTON
• Houston welcomes the Tide to Cougar Stadium after finishing off the University of Minnesota in three consecutive games last weekend. The three wins improved the Cougars to 14-1 under head coach Todd Whitting during opening weekend games.
• The Cougars earned a 9-1 victory in the opener, limiting the Golden Gophers to one run on six hits. Houston countered with nine runs and 10 hits, three of which were home runs.
• In game two of the series, UH earned a 5-0 win to clinch the series against Minnesota. The two pitchers for the Cougars combined for a shutout, striking out nine total batters.
• Game three proved a test for the Cougars, falling behind early but evening up the score at 4-4 in the bottom of the ninth. Houston proceeded to load the bases on two HBP and a walk, and then bring across the winning run on an infield grounder.
• The Houston pitching staff is highlighted by Jake Lemoine. The junior enters 2015 on the Golden Spikes Award Watch List and with multiple preseason All-America honors, including second team recognition from D1Baseball.com, Baseball America and Perfect Game USA. The righty finished 2014 with a 6-8 record through 17 starts, but owned a lowly 2.87 ERA (34 ER/106.2 IP) and struck out 87 in the process. For his career, Lemoine is 14-12 with a 3.03 ERA (61 ER/181.1 IP).
• Offensively, Houston is led by junior Kyle Survance, who ended last season batting .308 (78-253) with 11 doubles, two triples, two home runs, 32 RBI and 53 runs scored. The leadoff man also finished 31-of-38 in stolen bases, making him the first Cougar to record 31-plus stolen bases since Michael Bourn recorded 32 in 2002. Survance's 31 stolen bases and 53 runs were both team highs.
• The Cougars claimed a league-high six spots in the AAC Preseason All-Conference poll, including Connor Hollis, Aaron Garza, Survance, Jared Robinson, Andrew Lantrip and Lemoine.
• UH returns six offensive starters and four starting pitchers from a 2014 team that fell one game short of the College World Series.
• Houston was selected to claim the American Athletic Conference's title in the league's preseason poll, as voted on by the league coaches.
SERIES HISTORY
• Alabama and Houston will meet for the 13th time in series history on Friday evening. The two teams first met in 1976 and most recently clashed in 2003.
• The two teams split the initial meeting, with Houston claiming the season-opening 10-4 victory on Feb. 27, 1976. In the second game of that doubleheader, the Crimson Tide came back for a 6-4 victory over the Cougars.
• On April 5, 1989, the two squads met in Mobile, Ala., for the Diamond Club Classic. Houston claimed the 8-4 victory in that year's meeting.
• In 2003, UA and UH met three times. The first test between the two teams came on Feb. 15 in the Minute Maid Park College Classic as the Cougars came out on top, 7-2. The next matchup came on May 30 in the NCAA College Station Regional when the Tide earned an opening-round victory, 9-3. The Cougars countered a day later by handing Alabama a 16-8 loss to end UA's season.
CRIMSON TIDE CHASING 2,500
• Alabama entered the 2015 season with 2,496 wins in program history. UA's next victory will be number 2,500 all-time following last weekend's three-game sweep of UMES.
• The Crimson Tide are one of only two Southeastern Conference teams to reach 2,500 wins. Texas A&M leads the SEC for all-time wins with 2,524.
• Mississippi State is the next-closest SEC team to reaching the 2,500-win mark. The Bulldogs currently rank tied with Alabama at 2,499 all-time wins.
• Following MSU, the team ranked fourth in wins is South Carolina with 2,458 all-time victories.
NEXT WEEK
Alabama returns home for a midweek doubleheader with Savannah State on Tuesday, Feb. 24. First pitch of game one is set for 2 p.m. CT with the second game set to start 30 minutes after. Following Tuesday's twinbill, the Crimson Tide will welcome Louisiana-Lafayette to the Hoover Met for a three-game, weekend series with the Ragin' Cajuns.
-UA-
RTR,
Diamond Tide :biga:
