The Crimson Tide joins Brown, Bucknell, Niagara, N.C. State and Notre Dame at the three-day event
March 3, 2016
TUSCALOOSA, AL - The Crimson Tide, riding a six-game winning streak, travels to Cary, N.C., for the fourth annual USA Baseball-Irish Classic presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance. Alabama will join Brown, Niagara, N.C. State and Notre Dame at the three-day tournament. The Tide are scheduled for a 4 p.m. start on Friday, followed by a pair of games on Saturday with the first starting at 11:30 a.m. and the second at 3:30 p.m. CT. The final game on Sunday is slated for an 11 a.m. CT first pitch.
LEADING OFF
UA is No. 27 in the latest College Baseball News poll thanks to a 6-1 start that included this past week's 4-0 record. The Crimson Tide is also receiving votes in the most recent D1 Baseball and NCBWA polls.
Alabama and Notre Dame will meet for the eighth time in series history, with the Fighting Irish owning the 4-3 all-time advantage. The two teams last met in 1995 for a pair of games in South Bend. The Tide fell in game one, 5-3, but bounced back for the 9-1 victory in the second game of the series.
The Crimson Tide owns a 3-0 all-time record against Niagara. The Crimson Tide and Purple Eagles squared off from March 5-7, 1999, with Alabama earning the three-game sweep. The first contest was a 14-3 win followed by a 19-2 victory for the series win. Alabama completed the sweep in game three with a 27-0 shutout win.
Alabama and N.C. State are even at 2-2 in the all-time series and will meet for the fifth time in history on Saturday afternoon. Most recently, the Crimson Tide and Wolfpack squared off in 1998 in the NCAA West Regional in Palo Alto, Calif., for a pair of games. N.C. State took the first game, 13-10, but the Tide countered with a 9-2 victory two days later.
The Tide will challenge Brown for the third time in series history. The only two meetings came in 1907 in Providence, R.I., with Alabama winning 10-4 and 9-0, respectively, in consecutive days.
The four-game rotation will begin with junior right-hander Geoffrey Bramblett on the mound Friday against Notre Dame. Saturday will feature a pair of righties, with redshirt-junior Mike Oczypok getting the nod against Niagara and sophomore Jake Walters working the evening game against N.C. State. Sunday's starter against Brown is still to be determined.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
FRIDAY
UA - Geoffrey Bramblett (Jr., RHP) vs. ND - Ryan Smoyer (Jr., RHP)
SATURDAY
UA - Mike Oczypok (RS-Jr., RHP) vs. NU - TBD
UA - Jake Walters (So., RHP) vs. NCST - TBD
SUNDAY
UA - TBA vs. BU - Austin French (Sr., LHP)
SCOUTING ALABAMA
Alabama enters this weekend's USA Baseball-Irish Classic riding a six-game winning streak that included a perfect 4-0 mark last week and was followed by a 2-1 win over Troy on Tuesday evening.
Thomas Burrows set the Alabama all-time mark for career saves with his 22nd stop and fourth save of the season on Tuesday evening, as UA defeated Troy, 2-1. The Crimson Tide stranded 10 runners through the first seven innings of play, but in the eighth a bunt single and then a double put two in scoring position. An infield groundout scored the tying run, and one out later Chance Vincent notched his third hit of the night. Vincent sent a single to the outfield to cross the Tide's second run before the bullpen closed out the win. The victory was Alabama's first ever at Troy in four total chances.
The series opener on Friday evening was a pitcher's duel, with Geoffrey Bramblett keeping things close to provide the opportunity for the Tide to walk it off in the ninth, 2-1. Bramblett worked 8.0 innings of one-run baseball, allowing four hits and walking two while striking out six. With runners on the corners and the man from third on the move, freshman Keith Holcombe knocked a ball back up the middle to plate the winning run.
Game two featured another standout start from Alabama's starter, with Jake Walters this time making an impact. The sophomore struck out a career-high 13 batters to help secure the 5-2 victory and the series win.
Sunday's series finale featured a standout performance by the Alabama bullpen to complete the sweep of UND. An early exit from the Crimson Tide starter forced the relievers into action, with the foursome of Dylan Duarte, Kyle Cameron, Matt Foster and Burrows tossing 6.0 scoreless innings. Duarte earned the win with 2.2 frames, allowing two hits with one strikeout.
The Crimson Tide has outscored its opponents 29-6 over the last five contests.
Alabama returned home this season after spending 2015 on the road. The Tide played a total of 34 "home" games across the state of Alabama on top of the 22 road contests slotted into the schedule. Thirty of the team's home games were played at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover. The Crimson Tide also played a weekend series at Hank Aaron Stadium in Mobile and a single game inside Joe W. Davis Municipal Stadium in Huntsville.
In addition to the "home" contests, UA also traveled to Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery for the annual MAX Capital City Classic against Auburn, and then to Regions Field in Birmingham for an away game with UAB.
Alabama's roster features 21 letterwinners from the 2015 squad that reached the quarterfinals of the 2015 SEC Tournament. The 2016 Tide returns five positional starters, and five pitchers who made five or more career starts.
SERIES HISTORY - NOTRE DAME
Alabama and Notre Dame will meet for the eighth time in series history, with the Fighting Irish owning the all-time advantage, 4-3.
The two teams have never met at a neutral site.
In the initial matchup, the two teams split a pair of games. Alabama won the initial matchup on March 19, 1976, in shutout fashion, 9-0, but fell in game two the next day, 5-0.
The next time the Tide and Irish squared off was in a three-game series from March 10-12, 1994, in Tuscaloosa, with Notre Dame taking the series, 2-1. Alabama secured the 5-2 victory in game one, before the Fighting Irish bounced back with a 5-4 win in game two and a 10-7 victory in the series finale.
Most recently, the two teams squared off for a pair of midweek contests in South Bend from April 25-26, 1996. Notre Dame won the first matchup, 5-3, before UA rallied for the 9-1 victory in game two to split the series.
SERIES HISTORY - NIAGARA
Alabama and Niagara will meet for the fourth time in series history. The lone trio of games came from March 5-7, 1999, with the Crimson Tide collecting the sweep.
Game one finished at 14-3, while game two was a 19-2 win for the series victory. Alabama completed the series sweep in the finale with a 27-0 win on getaway day.
The Crimson Tide has also faced off with Canisius and Siena out of the 11 member institutions that make up the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Alabama went 3-0 against Canisius in 2007 and before that finished 2-0 in a midweek pairing with Siena in 1992.
SERIES HISTORY - N.C. STATE
Alabama and N.C. State will meet for the fifth time in a series that is split evenly at 2-2.
The two programs have met at a neutral site in all four games.
The first meeting came in 1968 in Gastonia, N.C., at the NCAA South District III Playoffs. In that contest, N.C. State earned a 5-3 win to hand the Crimson Tide its first loss of the tournament.
Game two came on May 24, 1997, in Tuscaloosa for the NCAA South II Regional. In that game, the Crimson Tide earned a 6-3 victory and would go on to sweep the Regional to advance to Omaha for the College World Series.
One year later, Alabama and N.C. State met in the NCAA West Regional in Palo Alto, Calif., in 1998. The first contest between the two on May 21 fell in favor of the Wolfpack, 13-10, but two the Crimson Tide earned a 9-2 win over State two days later to stay alive in the bracket.
SERIES HISTORY - BROWN
Alabama and Brown will square off for the third time in a series that dates back to 1907.
In that year, the Crimson Tide closed out its season at Providence and took down the Bears 10-4 in game one before taking the series, 9-0, in game two.
The Crimson Tide owns a combined 8-3 record against the Ivy League schools. Alabama is 2-0 against Dartmouth, 3-3 vs. Yale and 1-0 against Princeton to go with the two wins over Brown. UA has never faced Columbia, Cornell, Harvard or Penn of the eight total schools in the Ivy League.
ON DECK
Following the three-day tournament, Alabama will return home for a four-game set. The homestand will begin with a single matchup against No. 11/ 9 Oregon on Thursday, March 10, before the Crimson Tide starts its three-game weekend series with No. 21/NR Houston from March 11-13.
-UA-
RTR,
Diamond Tide :biga:
March 3, 2016
TUSCALOOSA, AL - The Crimson Tide, riding a six-game winning streak, travels to Cary, N.C., for the fourth annual USA Baseball-Irish Classic presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance. Alabama will join Brown, Niagara, N.C. State and Notre Dame at the three-day tournament. The Tide are scheduled for a 4 p.m. start on Friday, followed by a pair of games on Saturday with the first starting at 11:30 a.m. and the second at 3:30 p.m. CT. The final game on Sunday is slated for an 11 a.m. CT first pitch.
LEADING OFF
UA is No. 27 in the latest College Baseball News poll thanks to a 6-1 start that included this past week's 4-0 record. The Crimson Tide is also receiving votes in the most recent D1 Baseball and NCBWA polls.
Alabama and Notre Dame will meet for the eighth time in series history, with the Fighting Irish owning the 4-3 all-time advantage. The two teams last met in 1995 for a pair of games in South Bend. The Tide fell in game one, 5-3, but bounced back for the 9-1 victory in the second game of the series.
The Crimson Tide owns a 3-0 all-time record against Niagara. The Crimson Tide and Purple Eagles squared off from March 5-7, 1999, with Alabama earning the three-game sweep. The first contest was a 14-3 win followed by a 19-2 victory for the series win. Alabama completed the sweep in game three with a 27-0 shutout win.
Alabama and N.C. State are even at 2-2 in the all-time series and will meet for the fifth time in history on Saturday afternoon. Most recently, the Crimson Tide and Wolfpack squared off in 1998 in the NCAA West Regional in Palo Alto, Calif., for a pair of games. N.C. State took the first game, 13-10, but the Tide countered with a 9-2 victory two days later.
The Tide will challenge Brown for the third time in series history. The only two meetings came in 1907 in Providence, R.I., with Alabama winning 10-4 and 9-0, respectively, in consecutive days.
The four-game rotation will begin with junior right-hander Geoffrey Bramblett on the mound Friday against Notre Dame. Saturday will feature a pair of righties, with redshirt-junior Mike Oczypok getting the nod against Niagara and sophomore Jake Walters working the evening game against N.C. State. Sunday's starter against Brown is still to be determined.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
FRIDAY
UA - Geoffrey Bramblett (Jr., RHP) vs. ND - Ryan Smoyer (Jr., RHP)
SATURDAY
UA - Mike Oczypok (RS-Jr., RHP) vs. NU - TBD
UA - Jake Walters (So., RHP) vs. NCST - TBD
SUNDAY
UA - TBA vs. BU - Austin French (Sr., LHP)
SCOUTING ALABAMA
Alabama enters this weekend's USA Baseball-Irish Classic riding a six-game winning streak that included a perfect 4-0 mark last week and was followed by a 2-1 win over Troy on Tuesday evening.
Thomas Burrows set the Alabama all-time mark for career saves with his 22nd stop and fourth save of the season on Tuesday evening, as UA defeated Troy, 2-1. The Crimson Tide stranded 10 runners through the first seven innings of play, but in the eighth a bunt single and then a double put two in scoring position. An infield groundout scored the tying run, and one out later Chance Vincent notched his third hit of the night. Vincent sent a single to the outfield to cross the Tide's second run before the bullpen closed out the win. The victory was Alabama's first ever at Troy in four total chances.
The series opener on Friday evening was a pitcher's duel, with Geoffrey Bramblett keeping things close to provide the opportunity for the Tide to walk it off in the ninth, 2-1. Bramblett worked 8.0 innings of one-run baseball, allowing four hits and walking two while striking out six. With runners on the corners and the man from third on the move, freshman Keith Holcombe knocked a ball back up the middle to plate the winning run.
Game two featured another standout start from Alabama's starter, with Jake Walters this time making an impact. The sophomore struck out a career-high 13 batters to help secure the 5-2 victory and the series win.
Sunday's series finale featured a standout performance by the Alabama bullpen to complete the sweep of UND. An early exit from the Crimson Tide starter forced the relievers into action, with the foursome of Dylan Duarte, Kyle Cameron, Matt Foster and Burrows tossing 6.0 scoreless innings. Duarte earned the win with 2.2 frames, allowing two hits with one strikeout.
The Crimson Tide has outscored its opponents 29-6 over the last five contests.
Alabama returned home this season after spending 2015 on the road. The Tide played a total of 34 "home" games across the state of Alabama on top of the 22 road contests slotted into the schedule. Thirty of the team's home games were played at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover. The Crimson Tide also played a weekend series at Hank Aaron Stadium in Mobile and a single game inside Joe W. Davis Municipal Stadium in Huntsville.
In addition to the "home" contests, UA also traveled to Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery for the annual MAX Capital City Classic against Auburn, and then to Regions Field in Birmingham for an away game with UAB.
Alabama's roster features 21 letterwinners from the 2015 squad that reached the quarterfinals of the 2015 SEC Tournament. The 2016 Tide returns five positional starters, and five pitchers who made five or more career starts.
SERIES HISTORY - NOTRE DAME
Alabama and Notre Dame will meet for the eighth time in series history, with the Fighting Irish owning the all-time advantage, 4-3.
The two teams have never met at a neutral site.
In the initial matchup, the two teams split a pair of games. Alabama won the initial matchup on March 19, 1976, in shutout fashion, 9-0, but fell in game two the next day, 5-0.
The next time the Tide and Irish squared off was in a three-game series from March 10-12, 1994, in Tuscaloosa, with Notre Dame taking the series, 2-1. Alabama secured the 5-2 victory in game one, before the Fighting Irish bounced back with a 5-4 win in game two and a 10-7 victory in the series finale.
Most recently, the two teams squared off for a pair of midweek contests in South Bend from April 25-26, 1996. Notre Dame won the first matchup, 5-3, before UA rallied for the 9-1 victory in game two to split the series.
SERIES HISTORY - NIAGARA
Alabama and Niagara will meet for the fourth time in series history. The lone trio of games came from March 5-7, 1999, with the Crimson Tide collecting the sweep.
Game one finished at 14-3, while game two was a 19-2 win for the series victory. Alabama completed the series sweep in the finale with a 27-0 win on getaway day.
The Crimson Tide has also faced off with Canisius and Siena out of the 11 member institutions that make up the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Alabama went 3-0 against Canisius in 2007 and before that finished 2-0 in a midweek pairing with Siena in 1992.
SERIES HISTORY - N.C. STATE
Alabama and N.C. State will meet for the fifth time in a series that is split evenly at 2-2.
The two programs have met at a neutral site in all four games.
The first meeting came in 1968 in Gastonia, N.C., at the NCAA South District III Playoffs. In that contest, N.C. State earned a 5-3 win to hand the Crimson Tide its first loss of the tournament.
Game two came on May 24, 1997, in Tuscaloosa for the NCAA South II Regional. In that game, the Crimson Tide earned a 6-3 victory and would go on to sweep the Regional to advance to Omaha for the College World Series.
One year later, Alabama and N.C. State met in the NCAA West Regional in Palo Alto, Calif., in 1998. The first contest between the two on May 21 fell in favor of the Wolfpack, 13-10, but two the Crimson Tide earned a 9-2 win over State two days later to stay alive in the bracket.
SERIES HISTORY - BROWN
Alabama and Brown will square off for the third time in a series that dates back to 1907.
In that year, the Crimson Tide closed out its season at Providence and took down the Bears 10-4 in game one before taking the series, 9-0, in game two.
The Crimson Tide owns a combined 8-3 record against the Ivy League schools. Alabama is 2-0 against Dartmouth, 3-3 vs. Yale and 1-0 against Princeton to go with the two wins over Brown. UA has never faced Columbia, Cornell, Harvard or Penn of the eight total schools in the Ivy League.
ON DECK
Following the three-day tournament, Alabama will return home for a four-game set. The homestand will begin with a single matchup against No. 11/ 9 Oregon on Thursday, March 10, before the Crimson Tide starts its three-game weekend series with No. 21/NR Houston from March 11-13.
-UA-
RTR,
Diamond Tide :biga:
