The Crimson Tide and Aggies will meet for the ninth, 10th and 11th times in program history
March 19, 2015
TUSCALOOSA, AL -Alabama remains at home inside the Hoover Met for a three-game, weekend series with fifth-ranked Texas A&M. The Crimson Tide and Aggies are set for a 7 p.m. first pitch on Friday. Saturday's game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. start, while Sunday's finale will begin at 1 p.m. All times are CT with all three contests airing on SECN+.
FOLLOW THE TIDE
Fans can watch/follow this weekend's games via the below outlets:
Gametracker: RollTide.com
Listen: 99.1 FM (Tuscaloosa) / TuneIn App (mobile devices)
Web: SEC Network+
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
FRIDAY: UA - Taylor Guilbeau (Sr., LHP) vs. TAMU - Grayson Long (Jr., RHP)
SATURDAY: UA - Will Carter (Jr., RHP) vs. TAMU - Matt Kent (Jr., LHP)
SUNDAY: UA - Geoffrey Bramblett (So., RHP) vs. TAMU - Turner Larkins (Fr., RHP)
LEADING OFF
• Alabama and Texas A&M have met eight times in program history, with the Crimson Tide owning the all-time advantage, 5-3. Most recently, Alabama took two of three from the Aggies last season in College Station.
• TAMU comes to Hoover riding a 22-game winning streak this season, the second-longest streak in program history. The stretch is just four games short of tying the all-time record of 26 straight wins in 1989.
• Alabama will throw senior left-hander Taylor Guilbeau for Friday's opener. The Tide will then toss junior righty Will Carter on Saturday, and wrap up the series with sophomore right-hander Geoffrey Bramblett on Sunday.
• Texas A&M will begin the series with junior righty Grayson Long on Friday, and he will be followed by junior southpaw Matt Kent on Saturday. The Aggies will close out the weekend series with freshman righty Turner Larkins on Sunday.
• This weekend is military appreciation weekend, with all military members receiving free admission with a promotional code. Friday is also dollar hot dog night, with all dogs just $1. The series opener will also feature fireworks. On Saturday, the band "Doctors and Lawyers" will host a pregame show. Sunday's contest will be kid's fun day. The final game will feature Built By Bama wristbands to the first 100 kids (12 and under), along with postgame autographs and kids can run the bases.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
• The Crimson Tide comes into this weekend's series with Texas A&M after an 8-6 win over Samford on Tuesday.
• Prior to the midweek contest, Alabama took two of three games from 13th-ranked Mississippi State in Starkville.
• In Tuesday's contest, Alabama got out to an early 6-0 lead, but the Bulldogs rallied to narrow the gap to 6-4 in the in the sixth inning. Both teams would add two more before the end of the evening, but Tide closer Thomas Burrows shut the door on Samford in the top of the ninth to earn his fourth save of the season.
• Alabama and Mississippi State were forced to play a doubleheader last Saturday after Friday's game was rained out. In the first contest inside Dudy Noble, Alabama put together an eight-run eighth inning to claim the 10-5 win. Four singles, a home run and two HBP -all with two outs- aided the huge inning and eventual victory.
• In game two, the Crimson Tide was unable to string together consecutive hits against the State starter, who would go on to pitch a complete game for the Bulldogs. Alabama's lone run of the day came on Casey Hughston's solo home run in the sixth inning.
• The Crimson Tide would claim the rubber match of the series, once again exploding in the eighth inning, this time for four runs. Alabama evened up the game at 4-4 in the seventh and then ballooned its lead in the eighth thanks to a bases-loaded rally that ended with a Mikey White single to add the fourth and final run of the inning.
• After this week's late rallies, the Crimson Tide has now scored 47 of its 119 total runs, or 40 percent, from the seventh inning on. In contrast, Alabama has limited opponents to just 30 total runs in those final three frames.
• UA is tied for third in the SEC in doubles (42), including 10 from Casey Hughston and eight from Mikey White.
• Hughston highlights the UA offense. The sophomore leads the SEC in batting average (.473) and doubles, while ranking second in hits (35), RBI (24), total bases (61) and slugging percentage (.824). The junior also leads the team in average, doubles, home runs, RBI, on-base (.518) and slugging percentage.
• Alabama is also receiving a strong offensive effort from White. The junior shortstop is tied for the conference and national lead in triples (5), while ranking third in the SEC in runs (23) and leading UA in that category. Over his last 14 games, White is batting .460 with 13 XBH, 19 RBI, 18 runs scored, seven walks (two HBP) and two SB.
• 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.
SCOUTING TEXAS A&M
• Texas A&M comes to Hoover riding a 22-game winning streak. The stretch is the second longest in program history, just four short of tying the program record set by the 1989 team. In the midweek contest, TAMU took down Prairie View 11-2. Prior to the contest with the Panthers, the Aggies swept Auburn last weekend.
• On Tuesday, Texas A&M built an early 5-0 advantage and never let the Panthers back in the game.
• TAMU received a six-RBI effort from Hunter Melton in the opener with AU to claim the 6-2 win in game one.
• Saturday's win was the 1,000th victory all-time at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park. The Aggies fell behind 2-0 early, but scored 10 runs before Auburn created a late rally to add two more before eventually falling, 10-4.
• The Aggies claimed the series sweep over Auburn with a 6-1 win on Sunday. A four-run sixth inning provided TAMU a comfortable lead on their way to the team's 22nd victory of the season.
• Texas A&M is batting .309 as a team and has seven starters batting above .300. The Aggies sport a balanced offensive attack, with eight of the starters contributing double-digit RBI totals.
• Sophomore Nick Banks leads TAMU in hits and average, batting .425 (34-80) on the season. The preseason All-SEC honoree also leads the team in stolen bases (4) and total bases (45), while contributing 16 RBI and 19 runs to the Aggie total. Junior Logan Taylor leads the team in home runs with five and has also collected four doubles and a triple to account for his 44 total bases. Senior Blake Allemand and sophomore Ryne Birk are tied for the team lead in runs with 21 apiece, while Allemand also leads the team in walks with 15.
• The pitching staff owns a conference-leading 1.66 ERA (37 ER/200.0 IP) and is limiting opposing hitters to a .220 average. The Aggies have collected 205 strikeouts compared to just 50 walks. Sophomore Ryan Hendrix leads the team in saves with four, while sophomore Mark Ecker is right behind him with three. Junior left-hander Ty Schlottmann leads the team and conference in appearances with 13 and owns a 0.66 ERA (1 ER/13.2 IP).
• Texas A&M welcomes back 22 lettermen, including six positional starters, from last season's 36-26 team that made the Houston Regional. TAMU also welcomes 13 newcomers to the 2015 squad.
• The Aggies were selected to finish third in the SEC West, as voted on by the league's coaches.
SERIES HISTORY
• Alabama and Texas A&M will meet for the ninth, 10th and 11th times in program history. The two teams have met for a series just twice since the Aggies joined the Southeastern Conference.
• The latest series between the two SEC foes came last season, with Alabama claiming two of three games from TAMU. The Tide claimed the series opener by a score of 5-1, before falling 13-8 on Saturday. In the rubber match, UA took the series with a 6-4, Sunday victory.
• Alabama won both games of the first conference series with TAMU, claiming back-to-back 3-2 victories over the Aggies on April 26 and 27 of 2013.
• The first meeting between the two teams came in 1995, when they met at the Continental Aggie Classic in College Station on March 10. In that game, Texas A&M came away with the 5-4 victory over the Tide in Jim Wells' first season at the helm for UA.
TOUGH STRETCH AHEAD FOR THE TIDE
• Alabama will have no easy road, facing off with numerous teams in Baseball America's weekly top-25 poll.
• The Crimson Tide are scheduled to face four of the top five teams in this week's poll, including top-ranked LSU, No. 2 Florida, No. 4 Vanderbilt and fifth-ranked Texas A&M this weekend.
• UA finished its series at then-No. 3 Houston from Feb. 20-22, going 1-2 against the Cougars. Most recently, the Tide claimed two of three from No. 15 Mississippi State in Starkville to kick off SEC play with a winning record.
• With last weekend's three-game series against State, Alabama began one of the toughest stretches in all of college baseball. This upcoming weekend, Alabama will welcome No. 5 TAMU to Hoover, then travel to Florida and finally wrap up the four-weekend stretch with a home series against LSU.
COMING UP
Next up for Alabama is a Tuesday game in Mobile to take on South Alabama. The Crimson Tide and Jaguars will face off for the 105th time, with Alabama owning a 56-48 advantage in the series. Most recently, the two teams met twice in 2012, with the Tide winning 4-3 at home and then 9-5 at USA.
-UA-
RTR,
Diamond Tide :biga:
March 19, 2015
TUSCALOOSA, AL -Alabama remains at home inside the Hoover Met for a three-game, weekend series with fifth-ranked Texas A&M. The Crimson Tide and Aggies are set for a 7 p.m. first pitch on Friday. Saturday's game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. start, while Sunday's finale will begin at 1 p.m. All times are CT with all three contests airing on SECN+.
FOLLOW THE TIDE
Fans can watch/follow this weekend's games via the below outlets:
Gametracker: RollTide.com
Listen: 99.1 FM (Tuscaloosa) / TuneIn App (mobile devices)
Web: SEC Network+
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
FRIDAY: UA - Taylor Guilbeau (Sr., LHP) vs. TAMU - Grayson Long (Jr., RHP)
SATURDAY: UA - Will Carter (Jr., RHP) vs. TAMU - Matt Kent (Jr., LHP)
SUNDAY: UA - Geoffrey Bramblett (So., RHP) vs. TAMU - Turner Larkins (Fr., RHP)
LEADING OFF
• Alabama and Texas A&M have met eight times in program history, with the Crimson Tide owning the all-time advantage, 5-3. Most recently, Alabama took two of three from the Aggies last season in College Station.
• TAMU comes to Hoover riding a 22-game winning streak this season, the second-longest streak in program history. The stretch is just four games short of tying the all-time record of 26 straight wins in 1989.
• Alabama will throw senior left-hander Taylor Guilbeau for Friday's opener. The Tide will then toss junior righty Will Carter on Saturday, and wrap up the series with sophomore right-hander Geoffrey Bramblett on Sunday.
• Texas A&M will begin the series with junior righty Grayson Long on Friday, and he will be followed by junior southpaw Matt Kent on Saturday. The Aggies will close out the weekend series with freshman righty Turner Larkins on Sunday.
• This weekend is military appreciation weekend, with all military members receiving free admission with a promotional code. Friday is also dollar hot dog night, with all dogs just $1. The series opener will also feature fireworks. On Saturday, the band "Doctors and Lawyers" will host a pregame show. Sunday's contest will be kid's fun day. The final game will feature Built By Bama wristbands to the first 100 kids (12 and under), along with postgame autographs and kids can run the bases.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
• The Crimson Tide comes into this weekend's series with Texas A&M after an 8-6 win over Samford on Tuesday.
• Prior to the midweek contest, Alabama took two of three games from 13th-ranked Mississippi State in Starkville.
• In Tuesday's contest, Alabama got out to an early 6-0 lead, but the Bulldogs rallied to narrow the gap to 6-4 in the in the sixth inning. Both teams would add two more before the end of the evening, but Tide closer Thomas Burrows shut the door on Samford in the top of the ninth to earn his fourth save of the season.
• Alabama and Mississippi State were forced to play a doubleheader last Saturday after Friday's game was rained out. In the first contest inside Dudy Noble, Alabama put together an eight-run eighth inning to claim the 10-5 win. Four singles, a home run and two HBP -all with two outs- aided the huge inning and eventual victory.
• In game two, the Crimson Tide was unable to string together consecutive hits against the State starter, who would go on to pitch a complete game for the Bulldogs. Alabama's lone run of the day came on Casey Hughston's solo home run in the sixth inning.
• The Crimson Tide would claim the rubber match of the series, once again exploding in the eighth inning, this time for four runs. Alabama evened up the game at 4-4 in the seventh and then ballooned its lead in the eighth thanks to a bases-loaded rally that ended with a Mikey White single to add the fourth and final run of the inning.
• After this week's late rallies, the Crimson Tide has now scored 47 of its 119 total runs, or 40 percent, from the seventh inning on. In contrast, Alabama has limited opponents to just 30 total runs in those final three frames.
• UA is tied for third in the SEC in doubles (42), including 10 from Casey Hughston and eight from Mikey White.
• Hughston highlights the UA offense. The sophomore leads the SEC in batting average (.473) and doubles, while ranking second in hits (35), RBI (24), total bases (61) and slugging percentage (.824). The junior also leads the team in average, doubles, home runs, RBI, on-base (.518) and slugging percentage.
• Alabama is also receiving a strong offensive effort from White. The junior shortstop is tied for the conference and national lead in triples (5), while ranking third in the SEC in runs (23) and leading UA in that category. Over his last 14 games, White is batting .460 with 13 XBH, 19 RBI, 18 runs scored, seven walks (two HBP) and two SB.
• 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.
SCOUTING TEXAS A&M
• Texas A&M comes to Hoover riding a 22-game winning streak. The stretch is the second longest in program history, just four short of tying the program record set by the 1989 team. In the midweek contest, TAMU took down Prairie View 11-2. Prior to the contest with the Panthers, the Aggies swept Auburn last weekend.
• On Tuesday, Texas A&M built an early 5-0 advantage and never let the Panthers back in the game.
• TAMU received a six-RBI effort from Hunter Melton in the opener with AU to claim the 6-2 win in game one.
• Saturday's win was the 1,000th victory all-time at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park. The Aggies fell behind 2-0 early, but scored 10 runs before Auburn created a late rally to add two more before eventually falling, 10-4.
• The Aggies claimed the series sweep over Auburn with a 6-1 win on Sunday. A four-run sixth inning provided TAMU a comfortable lead on their way to the team's 22nd victory of the season.
• Texas A&M is batting .309 as a team and has seven starters batting above .300. The Aggies sport a balanced offensive attack, with eight of the starters contributing double-digit RBI totals.
• Sophomore Nick Banks leads TAMU in hits and average, batting .425 (34-80) on the season. The preseason All-SEC honoree also leads the team in stolen bases (4) and total bases (45), while contributing 16 RBI and 19 runs to the Aggie total. Junior Logan Taylor leads the team in home runs with five and has also collected four doubles and a triple to account for his 44 total bases. Senior Blake Allemand and sophomore Ryne Birk are tied for the team lead in runs with 21 apiece, while Allemand also leads the team in walks with 15.
• The pitching staff owns a conference-leading 1.66 ERA (37 ER/200.0 IP) and is limiting opposing hitters to a .220 average. The Aggies have collected 205 strikeouts compared to just 50 walks. Sophomore Ryan Hendrix leads the team in saves with four, while sophomore Mark Ecker is right behind him with three. Junior left-hander Ty Schlottmann leads the team and conference in appearances with 13 and owns a 0.66 ERA (1 ER/13.2 IP).
• Texas A&M welcomes back 22 lettermen, including six positional starters, from last season's 36-26 team that made the Houston Regional. TAMU also welcomes 13 newcomers to the 2015 squad.
• The Aggies were selected to finish third in the SEC West, as voted on by the league's coaches.
SERIES HISTORY
• Alabama and Texas A&M will meet for the ninth, 10th and 11th times in program history. The two teams have met for a series just twice since the Aggies joined the Southeastern Conference.
• The latest series between the two SEC foes came last season, with Alabama claiming two of three games from TAMU. The Tide claimed the series opener by a score of 5-1, before falling 13-8 on Saturday. In the rubber match, UA took the series with a 6-4, Sunday victory.
• Alabama won both games of the first conference series with TAMU, claiming back-to-back 3-2 victories over the Aggies on April 26 and 27 of 2013.
• The first meeting between the two teams came in 1995, when they met at the Continental Aggie Classic in College Station on March 10. In that game, Texas A&M came away with the 5-4 victory over the Tide in Jim Wells' first season at the helm for UA.
TOUGH STRETCH AHEAD FOR THE TIDE
• Alabama will have no easy road, facing off with numerous teams in Baseball America's weekly top-25 poll.
• The Crimson Tide are scheduled to face four of the top five teams in this week's poll, including top-ranked LSU, No. 2 Florida, No. 4 Vanderbilt and fifth-ranked Texas A&M this weekend.
• UA finished its series at then-No. 3 Houston from Feb. 20-22, going 1-2 against the Cougars. Most recently, the Tide claimed two of three from No. 15 Mississippi State in Starkville to kick off SEC play with a winning record.
• With last weekend's three-game series against State, Alabama began one of the toughest stretches in all of college baseball. This upcoming weekend, Alabama will welcome No. 5 TAMU to Hoover, then travel to Florida and finally wrap up the four-weekend stretch with a home series against LSU.
COMING UP
Next up for Alabama is a Tuesday game in Mobile to take on South Alabama. The Crimson Tide and Jaguars will face off for the 105th time, with Alabama owning a 56-48 advantage in the series. Most recently, the two teams met twice in 2012, with the Tide winning 4-3 at home and then 9-5 at USA.
-UA-
RTR,
Diamond Tide :biga:
