The Crimson Tide and Blazers will meet for the 66th time in series history
March 30, 2015
TUSCALOOSA, AL - Alabama will take part in its fifth consecutive road contest this Tuesday, when the Crimson Tide heads to Birmingham to take on UAB. The two teams will face off inside Regions Field, home to the Birmingham Barons, the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox.
The Tide and Blazers are scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. CT first pitch.
FOLLOW THE TIDE
Fans can watch/follow the Tuesday midweek game via the outlets below:
Gametracker: RollTide.com
Listen: 99.1 FM (Tuscaloosa) / CTSN / TuneIn App
Web: SECN+
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP
UA -- Jake Walters (Fr., RHP) vs. UAB -- Dylan Munger (R-So., LHP)
LEADING OFF
· Alabama and UAB will meet for the 66th time in the history of an in-state series that dates back to 1974. The Crimson Tide owns the all-time series, 44-21, but split with the Blazers last season going 1-1 in 2014.
· UAB is coming off a week that saw the Blazers claim five victories, including a doubleheader sweep of Ole Miss on Tuesday and a three-game series sweep of Western Kentucky this past weekend. Overall, UAB is on a six-game winning streak coming into Tuesday's contest.
· Alabama will once again call on freshman Jake Walters to make his third Tuesday start of the season. Overall, Walters is 2-1 across seven appearances (two starts), owning a 1.23 ERA (2 ER/14.2 IP) with 17 strikeouts compared to eight total walks. He is limiting opposing batters to a .212 average (11-52).
· In his last start on March 24 at South Alabama, Walters went 5.0 innings, allowing just two runs (both unearned) on three hits while walking and striking out three apiece. The Tide would go on to use four more pitchers in the game and would eventually fall, 3-0. The Jaguars were able to shut out the Crimson Tide for the first time this season.
· UAB will toss redshirt sophomore Dylan Munger. The left-hander has made one start on the season, but has tossed just 1.1 total innings so far. He was redshirted during his sophomore campaign after having season-ending surgery in 2014.
· The Tide is 1-0 all-time at Regions Field, claiming the 5-2 victory at UAB on April 16 of last season.
· Alabama has taken part in four games inside Double-A, minor-league parks this season and is 2-2 overall in those contests. The first matchup came in the Capital City Classic on March 3 inside Riverwalk Stadium, home to the Montgomery Biscuits. In that game, Alabama would fall 5-3 to Auburn. The Tide then played a weekend series in Mobile at Hank Aaron Stadium, the home of the Mobile BayBears, and took two of three from Lipscomb.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
· The Crimson Tide come into Tuesday's game with UAB after taking one of three games from fourth-ranked Florida in Gainesville. Prior to the three-game series with the Gators, Alabama fell to South Alabama in a Tuesday midweek contest in Mobile, 3-0.
· Alabama was forced to play a doubleheader on Friday after rain postponed Thursday's series opener. In the first game of the doubleheader, the Tide rallied for 10 runs over the final four frames to claim the 12-9, extra-innings win. The two teams were knotted up at 9-9 at the end of regulation and were forced to go into extras. In the top of the 10th, UA collected three runs and Ray Castillo shut down the Gators for his third win of the season.
· The second game of Friday's twinbill saw the Gators jump out to an early 5-0 lead by the end of the first inning. Alabama would bounce back with one run in the top of the second, but could score no more. Florida would go on to add three more runs by evening's end to take the 8-1 victory.
· In Saturday's rubber match, Florida struck first, putting up one run in the bottom of the fourth. The two teams would then trade scoring innings through the top of the sixth to set the Tide ahead 4-3. In the bottom of the seventh, UF would even it up with one run and would then add three in the bottom of the eighth to take the 7-4 win in the series finale.
· On Tuesday, Alabama fell behind 1-0 to USA in the third inning and would never come back against the Jaguars, falling by a final of 3-0. The Tide had a rally going in the sixth inning with loaded bases and none down, but were unable to capitalize on the situation.
· UA is led offensively by Casey Hughston and Mikey White, both team leaders in nearly all statistical categories.
· Hughston is tied for third in the conference in doubles (10) and slugging percentage (.660), tied for fourth in total bases (64), ranks fifth in batting average (.392) and is tied for fifth in RBI (27). The junior is also the UA's leader in doubles (10), homers (4), RBI and on-base (.461) and slugging percentage.
· Alabama is also receiving a strong offensive effort from White. The junior shortstop is tied for the league lead in triples (5), while ranking fifth in slugging percentage (.642), tied for fifth in doubles (9), ranking seventh in runs scored (27) and set at eighth in average (.379).
· 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 UAB
· UAB welcomes Alabama to Regions Field after claiming a 7-1 victory on Sunday over Western Kentucky to complete the series sweep. Prior to their three-game set with the Hilltoppers, the Blazers took down Ole Miss in a Tuesday doubleheader. UAB enters the midweek contest vs. the Tide riding a six game winning streak.
· UAB claimed a win on Friday by a score of 2-1 to open a three-game series against Western Kentucky. Each team scored one run in the seventh inning to break a scoreless tie. The Blazers plated the game-winning run on a bases-loaded walk in the top of the ninth inning and then shut the door in the bottom half of the inning.
· The second game of the WKU series saw the Blazers jump out to an early 6-0 lead through five innings. UAB held off a late Hilltopper rally to claim the game by a one-run margin in the 6-5 final.
· On Sunday, UAB trailed 1-0 after five innings. In the six inning, the Blazers took the lead for good as they scored three runs to take control of the game and would go on to take the 7-1 win for the series sweep.
· UAB took both games of the midweek doubleheader with Ole Miss on Tuesday, winning game one by a score of 6-1 and game two by a score of 3-1. The Blazers are now 2-1 against the SEC this season, suffering the lone loss to Auburn on March 17 by a score of 6-4.
· The Blazers are batting .257 as a team and do not have any players above the .300 mark. Six players with double-digit RBI totals spot the roster, while six players have also collected double-digit run numbers.
· UAB's offense is spread out across a trio of seniors. Outfielder Chase Davis leads the Blazers in hits (32) and average with a .296 mark. Fellow outfielder Jeff Schalk leads the Blazers in RBI (18) and is tied for the team lead in walks (13). Infielder Tyler Mims has contributed a team-leading 18 runs while he also ranks first in doubles (6).
· The pitching staff owns a 2.85 ERA (70 ER/221.0 IP) to rank second in Conference USA. The Blazers have two players with double-digit appearances coming out of the bullpen. Sophomore left-hander Thomas Lowery owns a 5-1 record across 11 appearances to lead the Blazers in wins and tie for the team lead in appearances. He has limited hitters to a .231 average against while maintaining a 2.84 ERA (6 ER/19.0 IP). Junior Adam Lau has also made 11 appearances out of the UAB pen, owning a 1.12 ERA (2 ER/16.0 IP) and limiting the opposition to a .189 average against.
· The Blazers are fielding a league-leading .975, committing 25 errors across 305 attempts.
· UAB welcomes back 17 lettermen, including six positional starters and eight pitchers, from last season's team that finished 35-21 and finished second in Conference USA. The Blazers welcome in eight newcomers including six freshmen and two juniors.
· Senior pitcher Alex Luna was the lone UAB player to be named to the All-Conference USA preseason team.
· The Blazers were selected to finish seventh in the Conference USA preseason poll.
SERIES HISTORY
· Alabama and UAB will meet for the 66th time in program history across the 41-year series. The Crimson Tide owns the all-time series, 44-21.
· Most recently, the two teams faced off twice last season. UAB took the first game of the series, taking down the Tide 2-1 on April 9 in Tuscaloosa. Alabama would counter a week later in the second game, winning 5-2 inside Regions Field on April 16.
· The first meetings between the two teams came on April 10, 1974, with Alabama taking two games from UAB in a doubleheader. The Tide won the first contest in a 4-0 shutout, and then finished up the day with a 4-3 win.
· Alabama is 1-0 all-time against the Blazers inside Regions Field. The lone meeting was last season's 5-2 win on April 16.
COMING UP
Following Tuesday's game, Alabama will return home to the Hoover Met and welcome the fourth-ranked LSU Tigers. The two teams will face off for the 364th time on Thursday evening, with the Bayou Bengals owning the all-time series, 201-155-3. The two teams split last season, 1-1. Alabama fell in game one of the doubleheader with the Tigers, 2-0, but then bounced back for the game two win, 5-1.
-UA-
RTR,
Diamond Tide :biga:
March 30, 2015
TUSCALOOSA, AL - Alabama will take part in its fifth consecutive road contest this Tuesday, when the Crimson Tide heads to Birmingham to take on UAB. The two teams will face off inside Regions Field, home to the Birmingham Barons, the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox.
The Tide and Blazers are scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. CT first pitch.
FOLLOW THE TIDE
Fans can watch/follow the Tuesday midweek game via the outlets below:
Gametracker: RollTide.com
Listen: 99.1 FM (Tuscaloosa) / CTSN / TuneIn App
Web: SECN+
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP
UA -- Jake Walters (Fr., RHP) vs. UAB -- Dylan Munger (R-So., LHP)
LEADING OFF
· Alabama and UAB will meet for the 66th time in the history of an in-state series that dates back to 1974. The Crimson Tide owns the all-time series, 44-21, but split with the Blazers last season going 1-1 in 2014.
· UAB is coming off a week that saw the Blazers claim five victories, including a doubleheader sweep of Ole Miss on Tuesday and a three-game series sweep of Western Kentucky this past weekend. Overall, UAB is on a six-game winning streak coming into Tuesday's contest.
· Alabama will once again call on freshman Jake Walters to make his third Tuesday start of the season. Overall, Walters is 2-1 across seven appearances (two starts), owning a 1.23 ERA (2 ER/14.2 IP) with 17 strikeouts compared to eight total walks. He is limiting opposing batters to a .212 average (11-52).
· In his last start on March 24 at South Alabama, Walters went 5.0 innings, allowing just two runs (both unearned) on three hits while walking and striking out three apiece. The Tide would go on to use four more pitchers in the game and would eventually fall, 3-0. The Jaguars were able to shut out the Crimson Tide for the first time this season.
· UAB will toss redshirt sophomore Dylan Munger. The left-hander has made one start on the season, but has tossed just 1.1 total innings so far. He was redshirted during his sophomore campaign after having season-ending surgery in 2014.
· The Tide is 1-0 all-time at Regions Field, claiming the 5-2 victory at UAB on April 16 of last season.
· Alabama has taken part in four games inside Double-A, minor-league parks this season and is 2-2 overall in those contests. The first matchup came in the Capital City Classic on March 3 inside Riverwalk Stadium, home to the Montgomery Biscuits. In that game, Alabama would fall 5-3 to Auburn. The Tide then played a weekend series in Mobile at Hank Aaron Stadium, the home of the Mobile BayBears, and took two of three from Lipscomb.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
· The Crimson Tide come into Tuesday's game with UAB after taking one of three games from fourth-ranked Florida in Gainesville. Prior to the three-game series with the Gators, Alabama fell to South Alabama in a Tuesday midweek contest in Mobile, 3-0.
· Alabama was forced to play a doubleheader on Friday after rain postponed Thursday's series opener. In the first game of the doubleheader, the Tide rallied for 10 runs over the final four frames to claim the 12-9, extra-innings win. The two teams were knotted up at 9-9 at the end of regulation and were forced to go into extras. In the top of the 10th, UA collected three runs and Ray Castillo shut down the Gators for his third win of the season.
· The second game of Friday's twinbill saw the Gators jump out to an early 5-0 lead by the end of the first inning. Alabama would bounce back with one run in the top of the second, but could score no more. Florida would go on to add three more runs by evening's end to take the 8-1 victory.
· In Saturday's rubber match, Florida struck first, putting up one run in the bottom of the fourth. The two teams would then trade scoring innings through the top of the sixth to set the Tide ahead 4-3. In the bottom of the seventh, UF would even it up with one run and would then add three in the bottom of the eighth to take the 7-4 win in the series finale.
· On Tuesday, Alabama fell behind 1-0 to USA in the third inning and would never come back against the Jaguars, falling by a final of 3-0. The Tide had a rally going in the sixth inning with loaded bases and none down, but were unable to capitalize on the situation.
· UA is led offensively by Casey Hughston and Mikey White, both team leaders in nearly all statistical categories.
· Hughston is tied for third in the conference in doubles (10) and slugging percentage (.660), tied for fourth in total bases (64), ranks fifth in batting average (.392) and is tied for fifth in RBI (27). The junior is also the UA's leader in doubles (10), homers (4), RBI and on-base (.461) and slugging percentage.
· Alabama is also receiving a strong offensive effort from White. The junior shortstop is tied for the league lead in triples (5), while ranking fifth in slugging percentage (.642), tied for fifth in doubles (9), ranking seventh in runs scored (27) and set at eighth in average (.379).
· 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 UAB
· UAB welcomes Alabama to Regions Field after claiming a 7-1 victory on Sunday over Western Kentucky to complete the series sweep. Prior to their three-game set with the Hilltoppers, the Blazers took down Ole Miss in a Tuesday doubleheader. UAB enters the midweek contest vs. the Tide riding a six game winning streak.
· UAB claimed a win on Friday by a score of 2-1 to open a three-game series against Western Kentucky. Each team scored one run in the seventh inning to break a scoreless tie. The Blazers plated the game-winning run on a bases-loaded walk in the top of the ninth inning and then shut the door in the bottom half of the inning.
· The second game of the WKU series saw the Blazers jump out to an early 6-0 lead through five innings. UAB held off a late Hilltopper rally to claim the game by a one-run margin in the 6-5 final.
· On Sunday, UAB trailed 1-0 after five innings. In the six inning, the Blazers took the lead for good as they scored three runs to take control of the game and would go on to take the 7-1 win for the series sweep.
· UAB took both games of the midweek doubleheader with Ole Miss on Tuesday, winning game one by a score of 6-1 and game two by a score of 3-1. The Blazers are now 2-1 against the SEC this season, suffering the lone loss to Auburn on March 17 by a score of 6-4.
· The Blazers are batting .257 as a team and do not have any players above the .300 mark. Six players with double-digit RBI totals spot the roster, while six players have also collected double-digit run numbers.
· UAB's offense is spread out across a trio of seniors. Outfielder Chase Davis leads the Blazers in hits (32) and average with a .296 mark. Fellow outfielder Jeff Schalk leads the Blazers in RBI (18) and is tied for the team lead in walks (13). Infielder Tyler Mims has contributed a team-leading 18 runs while he also ranks first in doubles (6).
· The pitching staff owns a 2.85 ERA (70 ER/221.0 IP) to rank second in Conference USA. The Blazers have two players with double-digit appearances coming out of the bullpen. Sophomore left-hander Thomas Lowery owns a 5-1 record across 11 appearances to lead the Blazers in wins and tie for the team lead in appearances. He has limited hitters to a .231 average against while maintaining a 2.84 ERA (6 ER/19.0 IP). Junior Adam Lau has also made 11 appearances out of the UAB pen, owning a 1.12 ERA (2 ER/16.0 IP) and limiting the opposition to a .189 average against.
· The Blazers are fielding a league-leading .975, committing 25 errors across 305 attempts.
· UAB welcomes back 17 lettermen, including six positional starters and eight pitchers, from last season's team that finished 35-21 and finished second in Conference USA. The Blazers welcome in eight newcomers including six freshmen and two juniors.
· Senior pitcher Alex Luna was the lone UAB player to be named to the All-Conference USA preseason team.
· The Blazers were selected to finish seventh in the Conference USA preseason poll.
SERIES HISTORY
· Alabama and UAB will meet for the 66th time in program history across the 41-year series. The Crimson Tide owns the all-time series, 44-21.
· Most recently, the two teams faced off twice last season. UAB took the first game of the series, taking down the Tide 2-1 on April 9 in Tuscaloosa. Alabama would counter a week later in the second game, winning 5-2 inside Regions Field on April 16.
· The first meetings between the two teams came on April 10, 1974, with Alabama taking two games from UAB in a doubleheader. The Tide won the first contest in a 4-0 shutout, and then finished up the day with a 4-3 win.
· Alabama is 1-0 all-time against the Blazers inside Regions Field. The lone meeting was last season's 5-2 win on April 16.
COMING UP
Following Tuesday's game, Alabama will return home to the Hoover Met and welcome the fourth-ranked LSU Tigers. The two teams will face off for the 364th time on Thursday evening, with the Bayou Bengals owning the all-time series, 201-155-3. The two teams split last season, 1-1. Alabama fell in game one of the doubleheader with the Tigers, 2-0, but then bounced back for the game two win, 5-1.
-UA-
RTR,
Diamond Tide :biga:
