Diamond Notes : Alabama Welcomes Alabama A&M for Tuesday Doubleheader

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The Crimson Tide and Bulldogs will meet for the fourth and fifth times in program history

May 4, 2015

TUSCALOOSA, AL -
Alabama wraps up its current six-game homestand with a Tuesday doubleheader versus in-state foe Alabama A&M. The twillbill will be Alabama's last scheduled doubleheader of 2015. The first pitch of Tuesday's doubleheader at The Met is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT. The second game of the afternoon is set to start 30 minutes after the final out of game one. The games were originally scheduled for March 10, but rain forced the two teams to reschedule.

FOLLOW THE TIDE
Fans can watch/follow the Tuesday games via the below outlets:


Gametracker: RollTide.com
Listen: 99.1 FM (Tuscaloosa) / CTSN / TuneIn App
Web: SEC Network+
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS

GAME 1: UA -- Nick Eicholtz (So., RHP) vs. A&M -- TBD
GAME 2: UA -- TBD vs. A&M -- TBD

LEADING OFF

· Alabama and A&M will meet for the fourth and fifth times in the history of the two programs. The Crimson Tide own the 3-0 all-time advantage in the series.
· Alabama A&M is coming off a weekend where the Bulldogs traveled to Ohio for three games. Saturday was a split, with the A&M falling to Xavier, 10-1, before claiming a win over Dayton, 4-2. On Sunday, the Bulldogs matched up with Dayton again for a third contest that saw the Flyers claim the weekend's final game, 5-4.
· Alabama will toss sophomore right-hander Nick Eicholtz in game one. The Crimson Tide has yet to determine a starter for the second game of the day. Eicholtz will be making his fifth start of the season, coming off a loss in his most recent start vs. Southern Miss last Tuesday.
· Alabama A&M's two starters are still to be determined.
· Tuesday's doubleheader will be Alabama's third scheduled double-dip and eighth overall, with the other five coming thanks to inclement weather. In its first scheduled doubleheader of the season, Alabama finished off Savannah State on Feb. 24. The Tide took down the Tigers by a score of 7-2 in the first game, and then claimed a 4-2 victory in the cap. Most recently, Mississippi Valley State came to The Met for a pair of games with the Crimson Tide claiming 3-1 and 16-5 victories in games one and two, respectively.
· The midweek pairing will once again be a "Two for One" Tuesday, where fans can purchase two general admission tickets for the price of one. The game with the Bulldogs will also be a "Dollar Dog Night" featuring $1 hotdogs for all fans in attendance.

SCOUTING ALABAMA

· The Crimson Tide hosts Alabama A&M after falling in all four contests this past week. Alabama was swept by No. 23 Arkansas and fell prior to that vs. Southern Miss in a midweek game.
· Alabama and Arkansas had a pitcher's duel in game one, with Arkansas eventually coming away with some late-inning runs to claim the 5-1 win. Eight of the Tide's nine starters recorded a hit but the team could not put together a rally.
· The Razorbacks used a five-run fifth inning to claim game two on Friday by a score of 8-4. The Crimson Tide once again hit, with seven of the nine starters collecting a hit while five of them recorded two-hit games. Alabama had the bases loaded in the eighth but could only come away with one run as the comeback effort fell short.
· Geoffrey Bramblett posted a solid 7.0 innings of work, allowing three runs on six hits, but the Alabama offense went cold, as Arkansas claimed the series finale, 4-0 on Saturday afternoon.
· The sweep was just the second time this season that the Crimson Tide has fallen in all three games of a series. Alabama also fell victim to the sweep in its series with then No. 3 LSU.
· Tuesday's solo contest with Southern Miss was shortened by rain, with the two teams only getting in seven full innings. The Golden Eagles scored all six runs from the fourth-sixth inning to come away with the 6-2 win. Alabama's lone runs came by way of a two-run home run from J.C. Wilhite, his second homer of the season.
· UA is led offensively by Mikey White and Casey Hughston, 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 April 19. The two Tide players make up the national list of 60 players.
· White is second in the SEC in triples (6) and fourth in doubles (16). He leads the Crimson Tide in runs (39), doubles, triples, total bases (99), slugging percentage (.569) and on-base percentage (.435). In the field, he leads the team in assists with 146 at shortstop to rank fourth in the conference.
· Hughston is among the top-15 in numerous categories across the SEC rankings. The sophomore currently leads the Crimson Tide in hits (64), home runs (6), and RBI (35). The starting outfielder has also added a team-high five outfield assists from the right field position
· Freshman Cody Henry has heated up as of late, especially in the month of April. He led the team in batting average for April at .354 (23-65) and owned a team-leading .462 on-base percentage, which can be attributed partly to his 11 walks in the month. For his efforts at Samford and in the three games vs. Georgia from April 7-12, the first-year player was named SEC Freshman of the Week.
· Ray Castillo highlights the Crimson Tide bullpen, making 19 relief appearances across a team-high 41.0 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 2.85 ERA (13 ER/41.0 IP). All of his saves have come across 2.0 or more innings of work.
· The Tide has collected 22 multi-hit efforts this season and is 15-7 when doing so, with 10 of those double-digit performances coming in SEC play. Alabama has collected 10 or more hits in 12 of its last 23 nine-inning 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 was selected to finish second in the SEC Western Division in the preseason conference poll, as voted on by league coaches.

SCOUTING ALABAMA A&M

· Alabama A&M is coming off a weekend in Ohio, playing a pair of games on Saturday and then one on Sunday. The Bulldogs began Saturday with Xavier before closing out the weekend with Dayton in game two and in Sunday's finale. Prior to the weekend set, A&M claimed a 6-4 Tuesday victory over Jacksonville State.
· The Bulldogs allowed 10 runs in the lone contest with Xavier, falling to the Musketeers, 10-1. The Xavier offense was highlighted by a five-run fifth inning that included a grand slam.
· A&M bounced back in the second game of the day on Saturday, taking down Dayton by a score of 4-2. The Bulldogs used 12 hits, including 11 off the Flyer starting pitcher, to come away with the win.
· Dayton evened the two-day series with A&M, claiming the 5-4 walkoff win. The Bulldogs took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth, but four hits and two walks led to a four-run ninth for Dayton. The Flyers capped off the rally with a two-RBI single to left to end the game in UD's favor.
· A trio of two-run innings in the first three frames of the night gave Alabama A&M all the firepower it would need to claim the 6-4 win over Jacksonville State on Tuesday.
· Alabama A&M is batting .304 as a team and leads the SWAC in home runs. The Bulldogs also rank among the top three in numerous other categories including average (third), slugging (second), hits (2nd) and RBI (3rd). The offense sports eight everyday players batting above .300.
· The Bulldogs are led by a pair of Juniors in Andrew Utterback and Julio Nunez. Utterback has played in all 49 games for A&M and sports a .359 average with a team-leading 65 hits. He also leads the team in runs (47) and triples with four. Nunez sports a .331 average and leads the SWAC with 19 doubles on the season. He also leads the Bulldogs in the power numbers, including home runs (10), RBI (50) and total bases (109).
· A&M's pitchers own a 5.51 ERA (247 ER/403.2 IP) and have recorded 359 strikeouts to rank second in the conference in that category. The bullpen features seven relievers with double-digit appearances, including Devin Smith who leads the team with 22 overall (two starts). Smith owns a 4.59 ERA (26 ER/51.0 IP) and has received very little help from his defense, giving up 45 total runs. Offensive standout Utterback also acts as the team's primary closer. The two-way player leads the team with six saves and sports a 3.78 ERA (7 ER/16.2 IP) across his 15 relief appearances.
· Alabama A&M collected 21 wins last season, the most in the program's Division I history, and also won the first game of the SWAC Tournament for the first time since 2000.
· The Bulldogs had five players named to the Preseason All-SWAC team, including Utterback - the SWAC's Hitter of the Year in 2014, Austin Hulsey, Jordan Friend, Brandyn Crutcher and Nunez.
· The SWAC Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league's coaches, picked Alabama A&M to finished second in the SWAC's Eastern Division and third overall in the conference.

SERIES HISTORY

· Alabama and A&M will meet for the fourth and fifth times in program history. The only other meeting between the two teams came in a three-game series from March 17-18, 2009.
· The Crimson Tide came away with a 24-0 win in seven innings in the series opener.
· On the second day, the two teams faced off in a doubleheader. The Crimson Tide would come away with victories in both contests, but the games were closer than day one. The first game of the twinbill resulted in a 6-1 win and the second game ended, 12-0, in favor of the Tide. Both of the games were also seven innings apiece.

COMING UP

Following the two games against A&M, the Crimson Tide will travel to Auburn for a three-game, weekend series with the Tigers. The two rivals are scheduled for a 6 p.m. CT first pitch on Friday, followed by a 3 p.m. start on Saturday and a 1 p.m. finale. Alabama owns the all-time series, 152-127, and has claimed six of the last 10 matchups between the rivals. Most recently, the Tigers claimed a 5-3 victory over the Tide on March 3 in the Capital City Classic in Montgomery. In the last three-game set between the two teams, Alabama took two of three from Auburn in Tuscaloosa.


-UA-



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