Diamond Notes : Alabama Heads to Huntsville for Midweek Contest with Mercer

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The Crimson Tide and Bears will meet for the 27th time in series history

May 11, 2015

TUSCALOOSA, AL -
Alabama will wrap up its midweek slate this Tuesday when the Crimson Tide hosts the Mercer Bears for one game up north in Huntsville. The two teams are scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start time inside Joe W. Davis Municipal Stadium, the former home of the Double-A Huntsville Stars.



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

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

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP

UA -- Alex Watkins (Fr., LHP)vs. MU -- Eric Nyquist (Sr., RHP)

LEADING OFF

• Alabama and Mercer will meet for the 27th time when the two teams square off on Tuesday evening. The Crimson Tide own the all-time advantage, 19-6-1, in series dates back to 1905 when the two teams first met for a 1-1 tie to end Alabama's season.
• Mercer is coming off a weekend that was free of games. The Bears most recently played last Wednesday, falling 9-7 to Georgia Tech. Prior to the solo midweek with the Yellow Jackets, MU swept Virginia Military Institute in a three-game set from May 1-3 two weekends ago. The Bears will head to the postseason tournament ranked as the top team in the Southern Conference.
• Alabama will call on freshman left-hander Alex Watkins in the midweek contest. Watkins is making just his second career start after getting the call in game two of last week's doubleheader with Alabama A&M. The southpaw tossed 7.0 innings of one-run baseball, scattering five hits and walking one while striking out a season-high nine batters for his first career win.
• Mercer is set to throw senior right-hander Eric Nyquist. The righty has made 14 appearances this season with 11 games started. He owns a 6-2 overall record and has collected 54 strikeouts compared to 26 walks.
• The Crimson Tide is 17-8 so far this season in non-conference action, including a 14-4 record in "home" games. Alabama has won eight of its last 10 games overall out of the conference, including both ends of a doubleheader last week against Alabama A&M.



SCOUTING ALABAMA

• The Crimson Tide heads to Huntsville riding a five-game winning streak. Alabama swept 24th-ranked Auburn on the Plains this weekend and kicked off the week with a doubleheader sweep of Alabama A&M.
• Alabama and Auburn entered the ninth, knotted up at 2-2 following two standout pitching performances from the starters. With one down in the top of nine, Chance Vincent and Will Haynie knocked back-to-back solo home runs to give the Crimson Tide the series-opening, 4-2 victory. Haynie's shot went over the scoreboard in left-center to put an exclamation point on the game-one win.
• The offense exploded for 17 hits to pair with a solid pitching performance, helping the Crimson Tide claim game two and the series win, 7-6. In a game that featured three lead changes, the Crimson Tide came out on top in the end thanks to a four-run seventh and a pair of runs in the eighth to ensure the victory.
• After two close victories in the in the first pair of matchups, Alabama put up an eight-spot in the ninth to leave no doubt of the series sweep, claiming the 14-4 blowout win. In the seventh, a great diving catch in left-center by Georgie Salem preserved the Crimson Tide lead and then an offensive explosion in the ninth ensured the win.
• The sweep was Alabama's first conference sweep of the season and marked the first time the Crimson Tide swept Auburn on the plains in 32 years.
• Alabama collected 42 hits on the weekend, including 17 on Saturday and 16 on Sunday.
• Tuesday's first game saw reliever Jay Shaw claim his first win of the season as he combined with fellow senior J.C. Wilhite for 7.2 innings of scoreless work in the Tide's 7-2 game one victory.
• Freshman Alex Watkins earned his first career start in the second game of Tuesday's twinbill, tossing a career-high 7.0 innings and striking out nine Bulldogs on the way to a second 7-2 win on the day. The Crimson Tide offense was powered by seven extra-base hits, all of which were doubles.
• UA is led offensively by Mikey White and Casey Hughston, both team leaders in a combined nine statistical categories. Freshman Cody Henry has also stood out for the Tide this season, especially in recent contests.
• White is among SEC leaders in numerous categories, ranking second in triples (6), third in doubles (18) and eighth in slugging percentage (.446). He leads the Crimson Tide in runs (43), doubles, triples, slugging percentage and on-base percentage (.446). In the field, he leads the team in assists with 158 at shortstop to rank fourth in the conference.
• Hughston is among the top-15 in numerous categories across the SEC leaderboards. The sophomore currently leads the Crimson Tide in hits (69) and RBI (37), while adding six home runs to rank second on the team. The starting outfielder has also added a team-high five outfield assists from the right field position.
• Freshman Cody Henry heated up 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.
• Henry had a standout five-game set this past weekend. The freshman batted .474 (9-19) with five doubles, a triple, six RBI, seven runs scored and two walks to help the Crimson Tide sweep the week at a perfect 5-0.
• The Tide has collected 27 multi-hit efforts this season and is 20-7 when doing so, with 13 of those double-digit performances coming in SEC play. Alabama has collected 10 or more hits in 17 of its last 28 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 MERCER

• Mercer did not play in any games this past weekend, with its lone contest last week coming vs. Georgia Tech. The Bears fell, 9-7 to the Yellow Jackets. Prior to the midweek game, Mercer swept at VMI two weeks ago across a trio of games.
• The Bears took the early 1-0 lead in Wednesday's game and then swapped runs with Georgia Tech until the eighth, where MU regained its lead with a four spot. In the top of the ninth, the Yellow Jackets countered with a five-run frame before closing the door on Mercer in the ninth for the 9-7 win.
• In Friday's series-opener at VMI, the Bears fell behind 2-1 after one inning, but a four-run second gave Mercer all the runs it would need as they ran away with the 7-2 win.
• VMI entered the ninth down two and would get one run thanks to a solo home run to narrow the gap. The Mercer reliever would regroup to record the final outs and help the Bears claim the game and series, 7-6.
• In a high-scoring affair, Mercer put together a five-run ninth to break the 11-11 tie that the two teams were locked into heading to the final frame. The Bears collected two home runs in addition to having four players with double-digit RBI totals at day's end.
• Mercer is batting .281 as a team and finished the season at the Southern Conference's top team.
• The offensive attack for the Bears is led by Kyle Lewis, the SoCon's leader in average at .400. The sophomore also leads the league in hits (74), total bases (132) and slugging percentage (.714). The outfielder sports a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage across his 44 games of action (43 starts). Sophomore infielder Matt Meeder ranks second on the team in average at .306 (49-160) and has drawn a team-high 39 walks to contribute to his .471 on-base percentage, which also ranks first on the squad.
• Mecer's pitchers have accumulated a 4.55 ERA (214 ER/423.0 IP) while recording 334 strikeouts compared to 139 free passes. The bullpen is led by Mitchell Wade, with the senior making a team-high 29 appearances out of the pen to collect a 5-1 record across his 31.1 IP. Morgan Pittman leads the team with three saves across his team-high 51.1 innings out of the pen. He also sports the team's lowest overall ERA at 2.45 (14 ER).
• The Bears return 16 letterwinners from a season ago and feature 13 newcomers to the 2015 roster.
• Today's starter, Eric Nyquist, was selected to the Preseason All-SoCon First Team, while catcher Charlie Madden and first baseman Howard Joe each earned preseason second-team recognition from the league.
• Mercer was selected to finish third in both the coaches and media preseason SoCon polls.



SERIES HISTORY

• Alabama and Mercer will match up for the 27th time when the two teams meet on Tuesday evening.
• The Crimson Tide owns the all-time series, 19-6-1, in a history that dates back to 1905.
• In the most recent meeting between the two schools, Alabama claimed the 5-3 victory on June 6, 2010, in the NCAA Atlanta Regional. The win started a streak of three consecutive victories to send the Tide to Clemson for a Super Regional appearance.
• In the first meeting between the two schools, the game wrapped up in a 1-1 tie to close out Alabama's 14th season in existence.



COMING UP

Following the quick trip to Huntsville, Alabama will close out its home slate at the Hoover Met with a three-game series against seventh-ranked Vanderbilt. The two teams will square off from Thursday until Saturday, with the first two games starting at 7 p.m. on SECN+ and the series finale beginning at 3:30 p.m. CT on the SEC Network. The Alabama-Vanderbilt series is the longest-standing series between the Crimson Tide and an SEC opponent, starting back in 1893 when the two conference foes played a four-game series. UA owns the all-time advantage, 91-55-2, including a 63-31-2 mark in home games.


-UA-



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