The Crimson Tide and Rebels will square off for the 348th time in series history on Friday
April 23, 2015
TUSCALOOSA, AL - Alabama hits the road once again for its second straight SEC weekend series, this time heading to Oxford for a trio of games with Ole Miss. The Crimson Tide and Rebels are set for a 6:30 p.m. CT start on Friday evening with the contest airing on SECN+. Saturday and Sunday's games will be televised on national TV, with Saturday's game airing at 7 p.m. CT on the SEC Network and the series finale showing live on ESPN with a Noon CT start.
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)
Watch: SEC Network (Saturday) & ESPN (Sunday)
Web: SECN+ (Friday)
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP
FRIDAY: UA -- Taylor Guilbeau (Sr., LHP) vs. UM -- Christian Trent (R-Jr., LHP)
SATURDAY: UA -- Jake Walters (Fr., RHP) vs. UM -- Brady Bramlett (R-So., RHP)
SUNDAY: UA -- Geoffrey Bramblett (So., RHP) vs. UM -- Will Stokes (Fr., RHP)
LEADING OFF
· Alabama and Ole Miss will meet on Friday for the 348th time in the history of a series that dates back to 1895. The UA-UM rivalry is the second-longest standing series between Alabama and another current SEC member. In that first pair of games between the two schools, Alabama claimed 10-5 and 12-8 wins over Ole Miss in Meridian, Miss. Most recently, the Crimson Tide swept then-No. 9 Ole Miss last season in Tuscaloosa from March 28-30.
· Ole Miss is coming off a week in which the Rebels claimed an 18-4 blowout win over Central Arkansas before falling, 10-5, to Memphis on Wednesday evening. This past weekend, the Rebels fell in two of three games at Auburn. UM came away with a 7-2 victory in game one of Saturday's doubleheader to even the series at 1-1, but Auburn claimed the series win with a 14-0 shutout victory in the second game of the day.
· Alabama will continue with the same rotation as last weekend. The Crimson Tide will send senior southpaw Taylor Guilbeau to the mound in Friday's series opener and then call on freshman righty Jake Walters to make his second career SEC start in Saturday's game. The Tide will wrap up the series with sophomore right-hander and team wins leader, Geoffrey Bramblett on Sunday.
· Ole Miss will send junior left-hander Christian Trent to the mound for Friday's series opener. The Rebels will then follow up with sophomore righty Brady Bramlett on Saturday, and finish off the weekend with freshman right-hander Will Stokes on Sunday.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
· The Crimson Tide heads to Oxford after claiming a pair of victories in Tuesday's doubleheader with Mississippi Valley State. Prior to midweek double-dip, Alabama claimed one victory this past weekend at No. 14 Missouri.
· In game one of Tuesday's doubleheader, Nick Eicholtz' career-high 7.0 innings of work helped propel the Crimson Tide to a 3-1 win over Mississippi Valley State. The sophomore earned his third win of the season and was followed up by Ray Castillo, who earned his fourth save of the year in his team-leading 17 appearance.
· The second game of the twinbill saw the Tide claim a 16-5 blowout victory. Alabama got out to an early 10-run lead through the first two innings and would collect 14 hits by day's end. The offense was highlighted by Georgie Salem's 4-for-4 night with the junior recording a pair of triples to go with his three RBI and three runs scored.
· In the first game of the weekend at #14 Missouri, Alabama starter Taylor Guilbeau tossed a complete game, allowing only four runs, but was outdueled by Mizzou's starter who collected the 4-3 win in a game all about pitching. The Tiger righty countered with 8.2 innings of work and three runs allowed for his fifth win of the year.
· The two teams played a doubleheader on Saturday due to the threat of rain showers on Sunday. In Saturday's first contest, the Crimson Tide used a standout start from freshman Jake Walters to claim the 6-0, shutout win. Walters tossed 7.0 innings of scoreless baseball in his first career SEC start. Thomas Burrows came in to close out the final two innings for the combined shutout win. The Alabama offense was powered by three home runs, including a two-run shot from Casey Hughston and solo shots from Georgie Salem and Kyle Overstreet.
· Game two saw the Crimson Tide get out to an early 3-0 lead, but four Tiger home runs off Alabama starter Geoffrey Bramblett secured the 5-3 victory and series win for Missouri.
· UA is led offensively by Mikey White and Casey Hughston, both team leaders in a combined nine statistical categories. In recognition of their efforts this season, both were named to the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List on April 19. The two Tide players make up the national list of 60 players.
· White is tied for the SEC lead in triples (6) and is tied for sixth in doubles (13). He leads the Crimson Tide in runs (37), doubles, triples, total bases (90), slugging percentage (.600) and on-base percentage (.444). In the field, he leads the team in assists with 127 at the shortstop position.
· Hughston currently leads the Crimson Tide in hits (57) and home runs (5). The sophomore has also added a team-high five outfield assists from the right field position.
· Freshman Cody Henry has heated up as of late. For his efforts at Samford and in the three games vs. Georgia, the first-year player was named SEC Freshman of the Week. He collected an eight-game hitting streak from April 2-17 and has started the last 16 games at first base. Henry now leads the team in walks with 18, as well.
· Ray Castillo highlights the Crimson Tide bullpen, making 17 relief appearances across a team-high 35.1 innings out of the pen. He leads relievers in wins with a perfect 3-0 record, is tied for the team lead in saves (4) and has maintained a 2.04 ERA (8 ER/35.1 IP). All of his saves have come across 2.0 or more innings of work.
· The Tide has collected 20 multi-hit efforts this season and is 14-6 when doing so, with eight of those double-digit performances coming in SEC play. Alabama has collected 10 or more hits in 10 of its last 17 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.
· The Crimson Tide were selected to finish second in the SEC Western Division in the preseason conference poll, as voted on by league coaches.
SCOUTING OLE MISS
· Ole Miss is coming off a pair of midweek games in which they finished 1-1 overall. Prior to the two contests during the week, the Rebels claimed one of three games at Auburn last weekend.
· The Rebels fell, 10-5, in Wednesday's contest with Memphis. The Tigers used 13 hits to tally 10 runs including three in the first and five in the fifth inning on the way to the midweek win.
· On Tuesday, Mississippi came away with an 18-4 blowout win over Central Arkansas. The Rebels were able to jump on UCA early, scoring 14 of the team's 18 runs across the first two innings of play to seal the victory.
· The Rebels were delayed by the rain in Friday's series opener at Auburn, and would fall 3-1 by night's end. The Tigers scored three through the first five innings and then shut down Ole Miss until the ninth. UM was able to tally one run in the final inning, but the rally came up just short.
· Ole Miss and Auburn were forced to play a doubleheader on Saturday, with the Rebels taking game one 7-2, before falling in the series-deciding game in a 14-0 shutout. The Rebels were able to jump on Keegan Thompson early to score three off the Auburn starter before chasing him after 2.0 innings.
· In the final game of the series, Auburn limited the Rebels to just six total hits in the shutout effort. Four Tigers pitchers combined for 10 strikeouts and just three walks in the 14-0 series-deciding victory.
· Ole Miss is batting .257 as a team to rank second to last in the SEC in average.
· The offense is highlighted by daily starters Colby Bortles, J.B. Woodman and Sikes Orvis. Bortles leads the team with 34 RBI and sports a .288 average. Woodman leads the offense in hits (43), triples (2) and walks. Orvis, a senior, is the face of the team and leads the Rebels in total bases (69) and slugging percentage (.483) across his 41 starts. Junior Cameron Dishon provides a spark on the bases for UM, leading the team with 12 stolen bases.
· Junior reliever Jacob Waquespack leads the team in appearances out of the bullpen, logging 17 so far this season. The righty owns a 3.13 ERA (11 ER/31.2 IP) and has struck out 24 so far. Sophomore Wyatt Short leads the Rebel relievers with a lowly 0.67 ERA (2 ER/27.0 IP) and has limited opposing hitters to a .206 average on his way to collecting a team-high six saves so far. Short also leads the Ole Miss relievers with three wins so far.
· Rebel senior first baseman Sikes Orvis was the team's lone selection to the preseason All-SEC team, being tabbed as a first-team selection by the league's head coaches.
· Ole Miss was selected to finish sixth in the SEC Western Division in the preseason conference poll, as voted on by league coaches.
SERIES HISTORY
· Alabama and Ole Miss will square off for the 348th meeting all-time between the two storied programs when the Tide and Rebels kick off the series on Friday.
· The Crimson Tide own the all-time series, 204-141-2, and are 73-63-1 all-time in Oxford.
· In the first matchups between the two teams, Alabama claimed a 10-5 victory followed by a 12-8 win against Ole Miss back in 1895. The pair of games took place in Meridian, Miss., with the first meeting between the two teams in Oxford not coming until 1932.
· Most recently, the Tide swept the then-ninth ranked Rebels last season in Tuscaloosa from March 28-30.
· Alabama currently owns a four-game win streak in the series, but the two teams have split evenly at 5-5 across the last 10 meetings between the programs.
COMING UP
Following the weekend series in Oxford, Alabama will return to the Hoover Met for a six-game homestand. The Crimson Tide will first welcome Southern Miss on Tuesday for a 6:30 p.m. CT game. Alabama will then play host to 25th-ranked Arkansas for a three-game set from Thursday to Saturday with all three games airing live on national television. The Tide will then round out the home stretch with a Tuesday doubleheader against Alabama A&M on May 5. The game with A&M was rescheduled when the original contest between the two schools was rained out earlier this year.
-UA-
RTR,
Diamond Tide :biga:
April 23, 2015
TUSCALOOSA, AL - Alabama hits the road once again for its second straight SEC weekend series, this time heading to Oxford for a trio of games with Ole Miss. The Crimson Tide and Rebels are set for a 6:30 p.m. CT start on Friday evening with the contest airing on SECN+. Saturday and Sunday's games will be televised on national TV, with Saturday's game airing at 7 p.m. CT on the SEC Network and the series finale showing live on ESPN with a Noon CT start.
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)
Watch: SEC Network (Saturday) & ESPN (Sunday)
Web: SECN+ (Friday)
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP
FRIDAY: UA -- Taylor Guilbeau (Sr., LHP) vs. UM -- Christian Trent (R-Jr., LHP)
SATURDAY: UA -- Jake Walters (Fr., RHP) vs. UM -- Brady Bramlett (R-So., RHP)
SUNDAY: UA -- Geoffrey Bramblett (So., RHP) vs. UM -- Will Stokes (Fr., RHP)
LEADING OFF
· Alabama and Ole Miss will meet on Friday for the 348th time in the history of a series that dates back to 1895. The UA-UM rivalry is the second-longest standing series between Alabama and another current SEC member. In that first pair of games between the two schools, Alabama claimed 10-5 and 12-8 wins over Ole Miss in Meridian, Miss. Most recently, the Crimson Tide swept then-No. 9 Ole Miss last season in Tuscaloosa from March 28-30.
· Ole Miss is coming off a week in which the Rebels claimed an 18-4 blowout win over Central Arkansas before falling, 10-5, to Memphis on Wednesday evening. This past weekend, the Rebels fell in two of three games at Auburn. UM came away with a 7-2 victory in game one of Saturday's doubleheader to even the series at 1-1, but Auburn claimed the series win with a 14-0 shutout victory in the second game of the day.
· Alabama will continue with the same rotation as last weekend. The Crimson Tide will send senior southpaw Taylor Guilbeau to the mound in Friday's series opener and then call on freshman righty Jake Walters to make his second career SEC start in Saturday's game. The Tide will wrap up the series with sophomore right-hander and team wins leader, Geoffrey Bramblett on Sunday.
· Ole Miss will send junior left-hander Christian Trent to the mound for Friday's series opener. The Rebels will then follow up with sophomore righty Brady Bramlett on Saturday, and finish off the weekend with freshman right-hander Will Stokes on Sunday.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
· The Crimson Tide heads to Oxford after claiming a pair of victories in Tuesday's doubleheader with Mississippi Valley State. Prior to midweek double-dip, Alabama claimed one victory this past weekend at No. 14 Missouri.
· In game one of Tuesday's doubleheader, Nick Eicholtz' career-high 7.0 innings of work helped propel the Crimson Tide to a 3-1 win over Mississippi Valley State. The sophomore earned his third win of the season and was followed up by Ray Castillo, who earned his fourth save of the year in his team-leading 17 appearance.
· The second game of the twinbill saw the Tide claim a 16-5 blowout victory. Alabama got out to an early 10-run lead through the first two innings and would collect 14 hits by day's end. The offense was highlighted by Georgie Salem's 4-for-4 night with the junior recording a pair of triples to go with his three RBI and three runs scored.
· In the first game of the weekend at #14 Missouri, Alabama starter Taylor Guilbeau tossed a complete game, allowing only four runs, but was outdueled by Mizzou's starter who collected the 4-3 win in a game all about pitching. The Tiger righty countered with 8.2 innings of work and three runs allowed for his fifth win of the year.
· The two teams played a doubleheader on Saturday due to the threat of rain showers on Sunday. In Saturday's first contest, the Crimson Tide used a standout start from freshman Jake Walters to claim the 6-0, shutout win. Walters tossed 7.0 innings of scoreless baseball in his first career SEC start. Thomas Burrows came in to close out the final two innings for the combined shutout win. The Alabama offense was powered by three home runs, including a two-run shot from Casey Hughston and solo shots from Georgie Salem and Kyle Overstreet.
· Game two saw the Crimson Tide get out to an early 3-0 lead, but four Tiger home runs off Alabama starter Geoffrey Bramblett secured the 5-3 victory and series win for Missouri.
· UA is led offensively by Mikey White and Casey Hughston, both team leaders in a combined nine statistical categories. In recognition of their efforts this season, both were named to the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List on April 19. The two Tide players make up the national list of 60 players.
· White is tied for the SEC lead in triples (6) and is tied for sixth in doubles (13). He leads the Crimson Tide in runs (37), doubles, triples, total bases (90), slugging percentage (.600) and on-base percentage (.444). In the field, he leads the team in assists with 127 at the shortstop position.
· Hughston currently leads the Crimson Tide in hits (57) and home runs (5). The sophomore has also added a team-high five outfield assists from the right field position.
· Freshman Cody Henry has heated up as of late. For his efforts at Samford and in the three games vs. Georgia, the first-year player was named SEC Freshman of the Week. He collected an eight-game hitting streak from April 2-17 and has started the last 16 games at first base. Henry now leads the team in walks with 18, as well.
· Ray Castillo highlights the Crimson Tide bullpen, making 17 relief appearances across a team-high 35.1 innings out of the pen. He leads relievers in wins with a perfect 3-0 record, is tied for the team lead in saves (4) and has maintained a 2.04 ERA (8 ER/35.1 IP). All of his saves have come across 2.0 or more innings of work.
· The Tide has collected 20 multi-hit efforts this season and is 14-6 when doing so, with eight of those double-digit performances coming in SEC play. Alabama has collected 10 or more hits in 10 of its last 17 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.
· The Crimson Tide were selected to finish second in the SEC Western Division in the preseason conference poll, as voted on by league coaches.
SCOUTING OLE MISS
· Ole Miss is coming off a pair of midweek games in which they finished 1-1 overall. Prior to the two contests during the week, the Rebels claimed one of three games at Auburn last weekend.
· The Rebels fell, 10-5, in Wednesday's contest with Memphis. The Tigers used 13 hits to tally 10 runs including three in the first and five in the fifth inning on the way to the midweek win.
· On Tuesday, Mississippi came away with an 18-4 blowout win over Central Arkansas. The Rebels were able to jump on UCA early, scoring 14 of the team's 18 runs across the first two innings of play to seal the victory.
· The Rebels were delayed by the rain in Friday's series opener at Auburn, and would fall 3-1 by night's end. The Tigers scored three through the first five innings and then shut down Ole Miss until the ninth. UM was able to tally one run in the final inning, but the rally came up just short.
· Ole Miss and Auburn were forced to play a doubleheader on Saturday, with the Rebels taking game one 7-2, before falling in the series-deciding game in a 14-0 shutout. The Rebels were able to jump on Keegan Thompson early to score three off the Auburn starter before chasing him after 2.0 innings.
· In the final game of the series, Auburn limited the Rebels to just six total hits in the shutout effort. Four Tigers pitchers combined for 10 strikeouts and just three walks in the 14-0 series-deciding victory.
· Ole Miss is batting .257 as a team to rank second to last in the SEC in average.
· The offense is highlighted by daily starters Colby Bortles, J.B. Woodman and Sikes Orvis. Bortles leads the team with 34 RBI and sports a .288 average. Woodman leads the offense in hits (43), triples (2) and walks. Orvis, a senior, is the face of the team and leads the Rebels in total bases (69) and slugging percentage (.483) across his 41 starts. Junior Cameron Dishon provides a spark on the bases for UM, leading the team with 12 stolen bases.
· Junior reliever Jacob Waquespack leads the team in appearances out of the bullpen, logging 17 so far this season. The righty owns a 3.13 ERA (11 ER/31.2 IP) and has struck out 24 so far. Sophomore Wyatt Short leads the Rebel relievers with a lowly 0.67 ERA (2 ER/27.0 IP) and has limited opposing hitters to a .206 average on his way to collecting a team-high six saves so far. Short also leads the Ole Miss relievers with three wins so far.
· Rebel senior first baseman Sikes Orvis was the team's lone selection to the preseason All-SEC team, being tabbed as a first-team selection by the league's head coaches.
· Ole Miss was selected to finish sixth in the SEC Western Division in the preseason conference poll, as voted on by league coaches.
SERIES HISTORY
· Alabama and Ole Miss will square off for the 348th meeting all-time between the two storied programs when the Tide and Rebels kick off the series on Friday.
· The Crimson Tide own the all-time series, 204-141-2, and are 73-63-1 all-time in Oxford.
· In the first matchups between the two teams, Alabama claimed a 10-5 victory followed by a 12-8 win against Ole Miss back in 1895. The pair of games took place in Meridian, Miss., with the first meeting between the two teams in Oxford not coming until 1932.
· Most recently, the Tide swept the then-ninth ranked Rebels last season in Tuscaloosa from March 28-30.
· Alabama currently owns a four-game win streak in the series, but the two teams have split evenly at 5-5 across the last 10 meetings between the programs.
COMING UP
Following the weekend series in Oxford, Alabama will return to the Hoover Met for a six-game homestand. The Crimson Tide will first welcome Southern Miss on Tuesday for a 6:30 p.m. CT game. Alabama will then play host to 25th-ranked Arkansas for a three-game set from Thursday to Saturday with all three games airing live on national television. The Tide will then round out the home stretch with a Tuesday doubleheader against Alabama A&M on May 5. The game with A&M was rescheduled when the original contest between the two schools was rained out earlier this year.
-UA-
RTR,
Diamond Tide :biga:
