The Crimson Tide and Tigers will meet for the seventh time in the CCC
March 2, 2015
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Crimson Tide returns to action on Tuesday in the annual Capital City Classic with in-state rival Auburn. The two teams will meet for the seventh consecutive year in Montgomery for the non-conference matchup.
First pitch of Tuesday's game is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. inside Riverwalk Stadium, home to the Double-A Montgomery Biscuits.
FOLLOW THE TIDE
Fans can watch/follow this weekend's games via the below outlets:
Gametracker: RollTide.com
Listen: 99.1 FM
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP
UA - Jake Hubbard (Jr., RHP) vs. AU - Keegan Thompson (So., RHP)
LEADING OFF
• Alabama and Auburn will meet for the seventh time in the Capital City Classic and the 277th time overall in the history of the two programs. Auburn owns the all-time record in the CCC at 5-1, but Alabama claims the all-time record at 152-124.
• Auburn heads to Montgomery coming off a 3-1 week that included wins over Georgia Tech, Jacksonville State and Oklahoma State. The Tigers finished the weekend with a 10-9 loss on Sunday to Jacksonville State.
• The Crimson Tide will start junior right-handed pitcher Jake Hubbard in Tuesday's contest. The righty went a career-long 6.0 innings while striking out a career-high six batters. This evening's start is just his third start ever.
• The Tigers will counter with sophomore Keegan Thompson. The righty was named a 2014 Freshman All-American by three separate outlets, and owns a 2-1 record with a 3.31 ERA (6 ER/16.1 IP) across three starts this season.
• The Capital City Classic over the past seven years marked the first time the two schools met in a regular-season, non-conference game since they met in a seven-year series at Paterson Field from 1990-96. Auburn and Alabama met annually throughout the state during the 1980s and 1990s.
• The gates for the MAX Capital City Classic open at 5:30 p.m. CT, and the contest will feature postgame fireworks.
• Alabama claimed its 2,500th victory by a score of 8-3 at third-ranked Houston on Sunday, Feb. 22. The Crimson Tide sits at third in the SEC behind Mississippi State at No. 2, and Texas A&M, who owns the conference record with 2,524 victories in its history. Alabama is one of only 14 baseball programs to have claimed 2,500-plus wins in NCAA history.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
• The Crimson Tide return to Montgomery after going 1-2 on the weekend and 3-2 overall last week. The five-day stretch started with a doubleheader on Tuesday against Savannah State, where Alabama claimed two victories on the evening. Over the weekend, UA claimed the 6-4 victory in Friday's contest, but then fell in the final two games of the weekend set with Louisiana-Lafayette.
• Alabama got ahead early in Friday's contest, 4-0, but a four-run seventh inning for the Ragin' Cajuns evened the score. Then, in the bottom of the eighth, a J.C. Wilhite bloop-single followed by an errant throw from the ULL pitcher score two runs and put Alabama ahead 6-4, the eventual final.
• Game two saw the teams remain near even all evening, but Louisiana-Lafayette would pull ahead for the 6-5 victory. The Tide had a chance to tie it in the ninth, but came up just short.
• The final game of the weekend finished at 14-2 in favor of ULL. The Crimson Tide allowed a season-high 14 hits and 14 runs, while collecting four hits. Three of the Tide's four hits in the contest were for extra bases.
• Alabama leads the nation and SEC in doubles (32), including nine from Casey Hughston.
• Hughston highlights the UA offense. The sophomore leads the SEC in batting average (.556), hits (25), doubles, total bases (44) and slugging percentage (.978), while ranking second in on-base percentage (.580) and RBI (18).
• Alabama is also receiving a strong offensive effort from Mikey White. The junior shortstop is tied for second in the conference in runs scored (15), while leading the Alabama team in that category. He also ranks second on the 2015 squad in average (.357), hits (15) and doubles.
• UA kicked off the season with a record-setting weekend against the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
• Twelve of the Crimson Tide'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.
• 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 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 did it against UIC on Feb. 27, 2010.
• Alabama's starters limited UMES to just six total hits while striking out 19 batters across 19.0 IP for the weekend.
• 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 AUBURN
• Auburn comes to Montgomery after going 3-1 a week ago. The Tigers earned the 7-1, midweek victory over Georgia Tech, and then claimed wins in each of their first two games of the weekend, but fell in the Sunday finale to Jacksonville State.
• The Tigers earned a Friday victory over Jacksonville State, 6-4. They would follow that up with a 9-2 win over Oklahoma State on Saturday. In the final game of the weekend, Auburn fell to Jacksonville State, 10-9, as the Gamecocks got revenge for their Friday loss.
• AU has five of its primary starters batting .285 or higher, including three who are batting above .315 for the year.
• Offensively, Auburn is led by outfielder Anfernee Grier who is batting a team-leading .489 (23-47), while also leading the Tigers in doubles (8) and runs scored (15). The sophomore ranks second in the SEC in average (.489), hits (23) and doubles (8), is tied with UA's White for second in runs scored (15), and is third in total bases (33). For his efforts this past weekend, Grier was named SEC Co-Player of the Week.
• The team's primary run producer is Jordan Ebert. The junior has collected a team-high 11 RBI and three home runs in his 12 starts this season.
• The pitching staff owns a 3.20 ERA (37 ER/104.0 IP) with 111 strikeouts and a .228 average against. Junior Justin Camp leads the Auburn bullpen in appearances with six, while also recording a team-leading three saves. The righty has limited hitters to a .185 average while striking out 13 across 7.0 innings of work.
• Auburn returns 17 letterwinners from a season ago, including five positional players and one starting pitcher. The Tigers welcome 23 newcomers to the 2015 roster.
CAPITAL CITY CLASSIC SERIES HISTORY
• Alabama and Auburn will meet again in the Capital City Classic, the seventh time in the history of the event.
• Auburn owns the all-time CCC record, going 5-1 across the first six contests. Below is a recap of all six games:
+ 2014: Alabama 4, Auburn 3 -- The Tide scored the game-winning run in the top of the ninth on a bunt from Ben Moore that led to an errant throw to first. Alabama's Thomas Burrows was named MVP for his 3.0 scoreless innings pitched.
+ 2013: Auburn 6, Alabama 3 -- Alabama committed three errors, leading to four unearned runs for Auburn.
+ 2012: Auburn 8, Alabama 3 -- Auburn put the game out of reach with three runs in the eighth inning to move ahead by five for the eventual 8-3 final.
+ 2011: Auburn 2, Alabama 1 -- The Tigers and Tide were knotted up at 1-1 until a two-out double in the second inning gave Auburn the final lead.
+ 2010: Auburn 8, Alabama 6 -- The score stayed at 5-4 from the fourth inning until the seventh, when an RBI single to center widened the gap for AU.
+ 2009: Auburn 8, Alabama 7 -- Auburn scored two runs in the ninth inning to erase a one-run deficit en route to an 8-7 win over Alabama.
COMING UP
The Crimson Tide will continue its barnstorming, as the team heads to Mobile for a three-game weekend set with Lipscomb inside Hank Aaron Stadium, home of the Double-A Mobile BayBears.
-UA-
RTR,
Diamond Tide :biga:
March 2, 2015
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Crimson Tide returns to action on Tuesday in the annual Capital City Classic with in-state rival Auburn. The two teams will meet for the seventh consecutive year in Montgomery for the non-conference matchup.
First pitch of Tuesday's game is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. inside Riverwalk Stadium, home to the Double-A Montgomery Biscuits.
FOLLOW THE TIDE
Fans can watch/follow this weekend's games via the below outlets:
Gametracker: RollTide.com
Listen: 99.1 FM
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP
UA - Jake Hubbard (Jr., RHP) vs. AU - Keegan Thompson (So., RHP)
LEADING OFF
• Alabama and Auburn will meet for the seventh time in the Capital City Classic and the 277th time overall in the history of the two programs. Auburn owns the all-time record in the CCC at 5-1, but Alabama claims the all-time record at 152-124.
• Auburn heads to Montgomery coming off a 3-1 week that included wins over Georgia Tech, Jacksonville State and Oklahoma State. The Tigers finished the weekend with a 10-9 loss on Sunday to Jacksonville State.
• The Crimson Tide will start junior right-handed pitcher Jake Hubbard in Tuesday's contest. The righty went a career-long 6.0 innings while striking out a career-high six batters. This evening's start is just his third start ever.
• The Tigers will counter with sophomore Keegan Thompson. The righty was named a 2014 Freshman All-American by three separate outlets, and owns a 2-1 record with a 3.31 ERA (6 ER/16.1 IP) across three starts this season.
• The Capital City Classic over the past seven years marked the first time the two schools met in a regular-season, non-conference game since they met in a seven-year series at Paterson Field from 1990-96. Auburn and Alabama met annually throughout the state during the 1980s and 1990s.
• The gates for the MAX Capital City Classic open at 5:30 p.m. CT, and the contest will feature postgame fireworks.
• Alabama claimed its 2,500th victory by a score of 8-3 at third-ranked Houston on Sunday, Feb. 22. The Crimson Tide sits at third in the SEC behind Mississippi State at No. 2, and Texas A&M, who owns the conference record with 2,524 victories in its history. Alabama is one of only 14 baseball programs to have claimed 2,500-plus wins in NCAA history.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
• The Crimson Tide return to Montgomery after going 1-2 on the weekend and 3-2 overall last week. The five-day stretch started with a doubleheader on Tuesday against Savannah State, where Alabama claimed two victories on the evening. Over the weekend, UA claimed the 6-4 victory in Friday's contest, but then fell in the final two games of the weekend set with Louisiana-Lafayette.
• Alabama got ahead early in Friday's contest, 4-0, but a four-run seventh inning for the Ragin' Cajuns evened the score. Then, in the bottom of the eighth, a J.C. Wilhite bloop-single followed by an errant throw from the ULL pitcher score two runs and put Alabama ahead 6-4, the eventual final.
• Game two saw the teams remain near even all evening, but Louisiana-Lafayette would pull ahead for the 6-5 victory. The Tide had a chance to tie it in the ninth, but came up just short.
• The final game of the weekend finished at 14-2 in favor of ULL. The Crimson Tide allowed a season-high 14 hits and 14 runs, while collecting four hits. Three of the Tide's four hits in the contest were for extra bases.
• Alabama leads the nation and SEC in doubles (32), including nine from Casey Hughston.
• Hughston highlights the UA offense. The sophomore leads the SEC in batting average (.556), hits (25), doubles, total bases (44) and slugging percentage (.978), while ranking second in on-base percentage (.580) and RBI (18).
• Alabama is also receiving a strong offensive effort from Mikey White. The junior shortstop is tied for second in the conference in runs scored (15), while leading the Alabama team in that category. He also ranks second on the 2015 squad in average (.357), hits (15) and doubles.
• UA kicked off the season with a record-setting weekend against the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
• Twelve of the Crimson Tide'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.
• 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 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 did it against UIC on Feb. 27, 2010.
• Alabama's starters limited UMES to just six total hits while striking out 19 batters across 19.0 IP for the weekend.
• 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 AUBURN
• Auburn comes to Montgomery after going 3-1 a week ago. The Tigers earned the 7-1, midweek victory over Georgia Tech, and then claimed wins in each of their first two games of the weekend, but fell in the Sunday finale to Jacksonville State.
• The Tigers earned a Friday victory over Jacksonville State, 6-4. They would follow that up with a 9-2 win over Oklahoma State on Saturday. In the final game of the weekend, Auburn fell to Jacksonville State, 10-9, as the Gamecocks got revenge for their Friday loss.
• AU has five of its primary starters batting .285 or higher, including three who are batting above .315 for the year.
• Offensively, Auburn is led by outfielder Anfernee Grier who is batting a team-leading .489 (23-47), while also leading the Tigers in doubles (8) and runs scored (15). The sophomore ranks second in the SEC in average (.489), hits (23) and doubles (8), is tied with UA's White for second in runs scored (15), and is third in total bases (33). For his efforts this past weekend, Grier was named SEC Co-Player of the Week.
• The team's primary run producer is Jordan Ebert. The junior has collected a team-high 11 RBI and three home runs in his 12 starts this season.
• The pitching staff owns a 3.20 ERA (37 ER/104.0 IP) with 111 strikeouts and a .228 average against. Junior Justin Camp leads the Auburn bullpen in appearances with six, while also recording a team-leading three saves. The righty has limited hitters to a .185 average while striking out 13 across 7.0 innings of work.
• Auburn returns 17 letterwinners from a season ago, including five positional players and one starting pitcher. The Tigers welcome 23 newcomers to the 2015 roster.
CAPITAL CITY CLASSIC SERIES HISTORY
• Alabama and Auburn will meet again in the Capital City Classic, the seventh time in the history of the event.
• Auburn owns the all-time CCC record, going 5-1 across the first six contests. Below is a recap of all six games:
+ 2014: Alabama 4, Auburn 3 -- The Tide scored the game-winning run in the top of the ninth on a bunt from Ben Moore that led to an errant throw to first. Alabama's Thomas Burrows was named MVP for his 3.0 scoreless innings pitched.
+ 2013: Auburn 6, Alabama 3 -- Alabama committed three errors, leading to four unearned runs for Auburn.
+ 2012: Auburn 8, Alabama 3 -- Auburn put the game out of reach with three runs in the eighth inning to move ahead by five for the eventual 8-3 final.
+ 2011: Auburn 2, Alabama 1 -- The Tigers and Tide were knotted up at 1-1 until a two-out double in the second inning gave Auburn the final lead.
+ 2010: Auburn 8, Alabama 6 -- The score stayed at 5-4 from the fourth inning until the seventh, when an RBI single to center widened the gap for AU.
+ 2009: Auburn 8, Alabama 7 -- Auburn scored two runs in the ninth inning to erase a one-run deficit en route to an 8-7 win over Alabama.
COMING UP
The Crimson Tide will continue its barnstorming, as the team heads to Mobile for a three-game weekend set with Lipscomb inside Hank Aaron Stadium, home of the Double-A Mobile BayBears.
-UA-
RTR,
Diamond Tide :biga:
