The Crimson Tide and Blazers will meet for the 67th time in series history, this time on the SEC Network
April 13, 2015
TUSCALOOSA, AL - Alabama remains at home for a Tuesday midweek game as the Crimson Tide plays host to UAB for the second game of the home-and-home between the two teams. The Tide and Blazers are scheduled for a 6 p.m. CT first pitch on the SEC Network. The contest will mark the first game on national television for both teams this season.
FOLLOW THE TIDE
Fans can watch/follow Tuesday's game via the below outlets:
Gametracker: RollTide.com
Listen: 99.1 FM (Tuscaloosa) / TuneIn app (mobile devices)
Television: SEC Network
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP
UA -- Nick Eicholtz (So., RHP) vs. UAB -- Dylan Munger (RS-So., LHP)
LEADING OFF
· Alabama and UAB will meet for the 67th time in the history of the series between the two in-state foes. The series dates back to 1974 with the Crimson Tide owning the all-time advantage, 45-21. Alabama came out victorious earlier this season when the two teams met inside Regions Field on March 31. The Tide earned a 7-2 win in the rain-delayed contest.
· UAB is coming off a weekend in which the Blazers took two of three from 12th-ranked Rice in Conference USA action. The Blazers claimed games one and two, but fell short of the sweep in the final game of the series. Prior to the weekend series, UAB claimed a 7-6 midweek win over in-state foe Jacksonville State on Wednesday.
· Alabama will send Nick Eicholtz to the mound with the sophomore making his second start of the season. Eicholtz has appeared in three games in total. Overall, the sophomore is 1-0 on the season with a 2.08 ERA, adding 10 strikeouts compared to five walks. Eicholtz last appeared on Tuesday at Samford as he threw 4.0 innings and gave up one run. In his sole start of the season on Feb. 24 versus Savannah State, Eicholtz went 3.0 innings without giving up a run and only surrendered one hit. In 2014, Eicholtz made nine starts, tallying a record of 3-2 across his 20 overall appearances.
· UAB will counter with redshirt sophomore Dylan Munger. The Muscle Shoals native has not recorded any wins or losses, but has made five appearances overall this season, including three starts. The left-hander has allowed six hits over 6.0 IP while walking six and striking out five. Opposing hitters are batting .286 against the sophomore. Munger sat out most of the 2013 season and all of the 2014 year due to injury before returning to the mound this season.
· Tuesday's game will feature a few promotions for fans wishing to head to The Met. As always, Tuesday is a "Two for One" Tuesday, where fans get two tickets for the price of one. The game is also a "Dollar Dog Night" featuring $1 hot dogs for fans. The national anthem for the in-state matchup will be sung by Alabama native and American Idol finalist Jess Meuse. The singer auditioned for the 13th season of American Idol and generated a fanbase called "The Meuse Mafia" during her time on the show. She made it all the way to final four before being cut.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
· The Crimson Tide enters the midweek game with UAB after taking two of three games from Georgia this past weekend. Prior to claiming the series against Georgia, the Tide held off Samford, 12-1, on Tuesday evening.
· Alabama took the first game of the series thanks to a walk-off single from Mikey White. The two teams went to extra innings, with each matching the other with a pair of runs in the 10th before the Tide was able to score Georgie Salem from second on the White single. UA would have not been able to advance to the 11th had it not been for an amazing leap over the catcher on a play at home by Riley Colburn to tie the game up.
· The Tide fell in Saturday's contest, 8-1, as Georgia's starter limited Alabama to one earned run on four hits with 11 punchouts across his 7.0 innings of work.
· UA would bounce back for the 5-2 win on Sunday to claim the series over UGA. Alabama was aided by a solid start from Geoffrey Bramblett, with the sophomore tossing 7.0 IP and recording a career-high tying nine Ks on the way to his team-leading fifth win of the season.
· The Tide put together a season-high tying 18 hits on the way to 12 total runs to claim the 12-1 midweek win over Samford. Alabama's duo of Jake Walters and Nick Eicholtz put together a strong pitching performance, finishing the night with 14 combined strikeouts and a season-low tying three hits allowed.
· Walters recorded nine strikeouts across 5.0 IP to tie his career high for strikeouts in a game. The sophomore also punched out nine batters in his first start against Samford on March 17 earlier this year.
· In the win over Samford, Georgie Salem collected two solo home runs. He was the first Crimson Tide batter to record two home runs in the same game since Mikey White did it last season, also at Samford, on April 30. Salem also knocked the roundtrippers in back-to-back at-bats to the mark the first time Alabama has had that happen since Austen Smith accomplished the feat last year at Tennessee on April 20.
· UA is led offensively by Casey Hughston and Mikey White, both team leaders in a combined 11 statistical categories. In recognition of their efforts this season, both were named to the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List on Thursday. The two Tide players make up the list of 60 players.
· Hughston is the team leader in average (.372), hits (51), home runs (4) and RBI (27). He has reached base safely in 31 of the Tide's 34 games so far this season.
· Alabama is also receiving a strong offensive effort from White. The junior shortstop is tied for the league lead in triples (5), while ranking third in doubles (13), seventh in slugging percentage (.643) and runs scored (34), and eighth in total bases (83). He leads the Tide with 18 multi-hit efforts this season.
· Cody Henry was named SEC Player of the Week this week for his current hot streak on offense.
· Ray Castillo highlights the Crimson Tide bullpen, making 15 relief appearances across a team-high 32.1 innings out of the pen. He leads relievers in wins with a perfect 3-0 record and has maintained a 2.23 ERA (8 ER/32.1 IP).
· The Tide has collected 18 multi-hit efforts this season and is 12-6 when recording double-digit hit totals. Eight of those 18 double-digit hitting efforts have come in SEC play, with the Tide owning a 4-4 record in those games.
· 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 is coming off a weekend in which the Blazers claimed the series win over No. 12 Rice in Conference USA action, taking two games from the Owls. Prior to the conference weekend, UAB was able to come away with a 7-6 win over Jacksonville State on Wednesday.
· The UAB pitching staff combined for a shutout of the 12th-ranked Rice Owls on Friday evening to go on to a 4-0 win. The Blazers handed Rice their first shutout of the season.
· The Blazers put up a six-spot in the second inning and then followed with an eight-run fifth inning to claim the 14-4 win and the series against the Owls. UAB knocked two homers and had three players record double-digit RBI totals in the blowout win.
· In the finale, Rice finally played true to their ranking, blowing out UAB 13-5 to take the series finale and avoid the sweep in Birmingham. Rice jumped on the Blazer starter, scoring seven runs in the first to bounce him before a whole inning was completed. The Owls then proceeded to put up one in the second and three in the third to move out to a huge lead. UAB would fight back to put up five in the final six frames, but could get not come away with the series sweep.
· UAB took down JSU on Wednesday night, scoring two runs in the sixth to take the lead and the win, 7-6.
· The Blazers do not have any hitters batting above .300, but have eight players with double-digit RBI totals and nine players - including all eight RBI guys - with double-digit run numbers on the season.
· The offensive attack for UAB is spread across the board with a trio of seniors leading the Blazers in most offensive categories. Chase Davis leads the team in hits, while Jeff Schalk leads the team in RBI (23), home runs (5) and total bases (59). The third senior to highlight the Blazer offense is Tyler Mims, with the positional player recording a team-high 21 runs.
· The pitching staff owns a 3.06 ERA (99 ER/291.0 IP) and is limiting hitters to a lowly .236 average against. The Blazer arms have recorded 243 strikeouts compared to 128 walks across the 34 games played. The bullpen has five guys who have recorded at least one save this season, but the main closer for UAB is Adam Lau with six saves. The junior righty owns a team-low 0.90 ERA (2 ER/20.0 IP) with 27 strikeouts compared to just 10 walks. The Blazer leader in appearances is sophomore left-hander Thomas Lowery with 15. Lowery sports a 3.60 ERA (10 ER/25.0 IP) with 30 strikeouts, but has limited hitters to a .230 average against him.
· UAB leads C-USA in fielding percentage with a .975 mark thus far, committing 32 errors across 1,304 chances.
· The Blazers welcome back 17 lettermen, including six positional starters and eight pitchers from last season's team that finished 35-21 and came up second in Conference USA. The Blazers welcome eight newcomers, including six freshmen and two junior transfers.
· UAB was selected to finish seventh in the Conference USA preseason poll, as voted on by league coaches.
SERIES HISTORY
· Alabama and UAB will meet for the 67th time in program history across the 41-year series. The Crimson Tide owns the all-time series, 45-21.
· Most recently, the two teams faced off earlier this year on March 31, with the Crimson Tide defeating the Blazers at Regions Field by a score of 7-2. With the win, Alabama ran its record to 2-0 against UAB at Regions Field.
· Last year, the two teams, separated by less than 60 miles met twice, with UAB taking the first game of the series, by a score of 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.
HENRY NAMED SEC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
· First year player Cody Henry was named SEC Freshman of the Week on Monday, April 13, the league offices announced. It is his first career award and the first in-season conference award for the 2015 Crimson Tide.
· He finished up the four game stretch this past week batting .714 (10-14) with two doubles and one triple to go with his four walks. He also added five RBI and four runs scored.
· Henry recorded a then-career-high tying three hits in the first game of the week at Samford, and then topped that mark in Friday's series-opener with Georgia recording four hits. The four knocks ties the season-high by the Tide hitters. In that Friday contest, he was a home run short of the cycle.
· Sunday's contest saw Henry reach base safely in all four plate appearances, finishing 2-for-2 with two walks.
· The first baseman owns a seven-game hitting streak, across which he is batting .600 (15-25) with three doubles, a triple, six RBI, four runs scored and seven walks. Across that streak, Henry has put together six multi-hit efforts.
COMING UP
Following Tuesday's nationally televised game, Alabama will head to Columbia for a three-game series with the Missouri Tigers. The two teams will face off for just the fourth, fifth and sixth times in series history with the first and only series between the two teams coming in 2013 during Missouri's first year in the Southeastern Conference. In that weekend set, Alabama took two of three from Mizzou at home. The Crimson Tide took the series opener, 9-7, before falling 7-3 in the second game. The Tide bounced back in the finale, 7-6.
-UA-
RTR,
Diamond Tide :biga:
April 13, 2015
TUSCALOOSA, AL - Alabama remains at home for a Tuesday midweek game as the Crimson Tide plays host to UAB for the second game of the home-and-home between the two teams. The Tide and Blazers are scheduled for a 6 p.m. CT first pitch on the SEC Network. The contest will mark the first game on national television for both teams this season.
FOLLOW THE TIDE
Fans can watch/follow Tuesday's game via the below outlets:
Gametracker: RollTide.com
Listen: 99.1 FM (Tuscaloosa) / TuneIn app (mobile devices)
Television: SEC Network
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP
UA -- Nick Eicholtz (So., RHP) vs. UAB -- Dylan Munger (RS-So., LHP)
LEADING OFF
· Alabama and UAB will meet for the 67th time in the history of the series between the two in-state foes. The series dates back to 1974 with the Crimson Tide owning the all-time advantage, 45-21. Alabama came out victorious earlier this season when the two teams met inside Regions Field on March 31. The Tide earned a 7-2 win in the rain-delayed contest.
· UAB is coming off a weekend in which the Blazers took two of three from 12th-ranked Rice in Conference USA action. The Blazers claimed games one and two, but fell short of the sweep in the final game of the series. Prior to the weekend series, UAB claimed a 7-6 midweek win over in-state foe Jacksonville State on Wednesday.
· Alabama will send Nick Eicholtz to the mound with the sophomore making his second start of the season. Eicholtz has appeared in three games in total. Overall, the sophomore is 1-0 on the season with a 2.08 ERA, adding 10 strikeouts compared to five walks. Eicholtz last appeared on Tuesday at Samford as he threw 4.0 innings and gave up one run. In his sole start of the season on Feb. 24 versus Savannah State, Eicholtz went 3.0 innings without giving up a run and only surrendered one hit. In 2014, Eicholtz made nine starts, tallying a record of 3-2 across his 20 overall appearances.
· UAB will counter with redshirt sophomore Dylan Munger. The Muscle Shoals native has not recorded any wins or losses, but has made five appearances overall this season, including three starts. The left-hander has allowed six hits over 6.0 IP while walking six and striking out five. Opposing hitters are batting .286 against the sophomore. Munger sat out most of the 2013 season and all of the 2014 year due to injury before returning to the mound this season.
· Tuesday's game will feature a few promotions for fans wishing to head to The Met. As always, Tuesday is a "Two for One" Tuesday, where fans get two tickets for the price of one. The game is also a "Dollar Dog Night" featuring $1 hot dogs for fans. The national anthem for the in-state matchup will be sung by Alabama native and American Idol finalist Jess Meuse. The singer auditioned for the 13th season of American Idol and generated a fanbase called "The Meuse Mafia" during her time on the show. She made it all the way to final four before being cut.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
· The Crimson Tide enters the midweek game with UAB after taking two of three games from Georgia this past weekend. Prior to claiming the series against Georgia, the Tide held off Samford, 12-1, on Tuesday evening.
· Alabama took the first game of the series thanks to a walk-off single from Mikey White. The two teams went to extra innings, with each matching the other with a pair of runs in the 10th before the Tide was able to score Georgie Salem from second on the White single. UA would have not been able to advance to the 11th had it not been for an amazing leap over the catcher on a play at home by Riley Colburn to tie the game up.
· The Tide fell in Saturday's contest, 8-1, as Georgia's starter limited Alabama to one earned run on four hits with 11 punchouts across his 7.0 innings of work.
· UA would bounce back for the 5-2 win on Sunday to claim the series over UGA. Alabama was aided by a solid start from Geoffrey Bramblett, with the sophomore tossing 7.0 IP and recording a career-high tying nine Ks on the way to his team-leading fifth win of the season.
· The Tide put together a season-high tying 18 hits on the way to 12 total runs to claim the 12-1 midweek win over Samford. Alabama's duo of Jake Walters and Nick Eicholtz put together a strong pitching performance, finishing the night with 14 combined strikeouts and a season-low tying three hits allowed.
· Walters recorded nine strikeouts across 5.0 IP to tie his career high for strikeouts in a game. The sophomore also punched out nine batters in his first start against Samford on March 17 earlier this year.
· In the win over Samford, Georgie Salem collected two solo home runs. He was the first Crimson Tide batter to record two home runs in the same game since Mikey White did it last season, also at Samford, on April 30. Salem also knocked the roundtrippers in back-to-back at-bats to the mark the first time Alabama has had that happen since Austen Smith accomplished the feat last year at Tennessee on April 20.
· UA is led offensively by Casey Hughston and Mikey White, both team leaders in a combined 11 statistical categories. In recognition of their efforts this season, both were named to the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List on Thursday. The two Tide players make up the list of 60 players.
· Hughston is the team leader in average (.372), hits (51), home runs (4) and RBI (27). He has reached base safely in 31 of the Tide's 34 games so far this season.
· Alabama is also receiving a strong offensive effort from White. The junior shortstop is tied for the league lead in triples (5), while ranking third in doubles (13), seventh in slugging percentage (.643) and runs scored (34), and eighth in total bases (83). He leads the Tide with 18 multi-hit efforts this season.
· Cody Henry was named SEC Player of the Week this week for his current hot streak on offense.
· Ray Castillo highlights the Crimson Tide bullpen, making 15 relief appearances across a team-high 32.1 innings out of the pen. He leads relievers in wins with a perfect 3-0 record and has maintained a 2.23 ERA (8 ER/32.1 IP).
· The Tide has collected 18 multi-hit efforts this season and is 12-6 when recording double-digit hit totals. Eight of those 18 double-digit hitting efforts have come in SEC play, with the Tide owning a 4-4 record in those games.
· 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 is coming off a weekend in which the Blazers claimed the series win over No. 12 Rice in Conference USA action, taking two games from the Owls. Prior to the conference weekend, UAB was able to come away with a 7-6 win over Jacksonville State on Wednesday.
· The UAB pitching staff combined for a shutout of the 12th-ranked Rice Owls on Friday evening to go on to a 4-0 win. The Blazers handed Rice their first shutout of the season.
· The Blazers put up a six-spot in the second inning and then followed with an eight-run fifth inning to claim the 14-4 win and the series against the Owls. UAB knocked two homers and had three players record double-digit RBI totals in the blowout win.
· In the finale, Rice finally played true to their ranking, blowing out UAB 13-5 to take the series finale and avoid the sweep in Birmingham. Rice jumped on the Blazer starter, scoring seven runs in the first to bounce him before a whole inning was completed. The Owls then proceeded to put up one in the second and three in the third to move out to a huge lead. UAB would fight back to put up five in the final six frames, but could get not come away with the series sweep.
· UAB took down JSU on Wednesday night, scoring two runs in the sixth to take the lead and the win, 7-6.
· The Blazers do not have any hitters batting above .300, but have eight players with double-digit RBI totals and nine players - including all eight RBI guys - with double-digit run numbers on the season.
· The offensive attack for UAB is spread across the board with a trio of seniors leading the Blazers in most offensive categories. Chase Davis leads the team in hits, while Jeff Schalk leads the team in RBI (23), home runs (5) and total bases (59). The third senior to highlight the Blazer offense is Tyler Mims, with the positional player recording a team-high 21 runs.
· The pitching staff owns a 3.06 ERA (99 ER/291.0 IP) and is limiting hitters to a lowly .236 average against. The Blazer arms have recorded 243 strikeouts compared to 128 walks across the 34 games played. The bullpen has five guys who have recorded at least one save this season, but the main closer for UAB is Adam Lau with six saves. The junior righty owns a team-low 0.90 ERA (2 ER/20.0 IP) with 27 strikeouts compared to just 10 walks. The Blazer leader in appearances is sophomore left-hander Thomas Lowery with 15. Lowery sports a 3.60 ERA (10 ER/25.0 IP) with 30 strikeouts, but has limited hitters to a .230 average against him.
· UAB leads C-USA in fielding percentage with a .975 mark thus far, committing 32 errors across 1,304 chances.
· The Blazers welcome back 17 lettermen, including six positional starters and eight pitchers from last season's team that finished 35-21 and came up second in Conference USA. The Blazers welcome eight newcomers, including six freshmen and two junior transfers.
· UAB was selected to finish seventh in the Conference USA preseason poll, as voted on by league coaches.
SERIES HISTORY
· Alabama and UAB will meet for the 67th time in program history across the 41-year series. The Crimson Tide owns the all-time series, 45-21.
· Most recently, the two teams faced off earlier this year on March 31, with the Crimson Tide defeating the Blazers at Regions Field by a score of 7-2. With the win, Alabama ran its record to 2-0 against UAB at Regions Field.
· Last year, the two teams, separated by less than 60 miles met twice, with UAB taking the first game of the series, by a score of 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.
HENRY NAMED SEC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
· First year player Cody Henry was named SEC Freshman of the Week on Monday, April 13, the league offices announced. It is his first career award and the first in-season conference award for the 2015 Crimson Tide.
· He finished up the four game stretch this past week batting .714 (10-14) with two doubles and one triple to go with his four walks. He also added five RBI and four runs scored.
· Henry recorded a then-career-high tying three hits in the first game of the week at Samford, and then topped that mark in Friday's series-opener with Georgia recording four hits. The four knocks ties the season-high by the Tide hitters. In that Friday contest, he was a home run short of the cycle.
· Sunday's contest saw Henry reach base safely in all four plate appearances, finishing 2-for-2 with two walks.
· The first baseman owns a seven-game hitting streak, across which he is batting .600 (15-25) with three doubles, a triple, six RBI, four runs scored and seven walks. Across that streak, Henry has put together six multi-hit efforts.
COMING UP
Following Tuesday's nationally televised game, Alabama will head to Columbia for a three-game series with the Missouri Tigers. The two teams will face off for just the fourth, fifth and sixth times in series history with the first and only series between the two teams coming in 2013 during Missouri's first year in the Southeastern Conference. In that weekend set, Alabama took two of three from Mizzou at home. The Crimson Tide took the series opener, 9-7, before falling 7-3 in the second game. The Tide bounced back in the finale, 7-6.
-UA-
RTR,
Diamond Tide :biga:
