Diamond Notes : Alabama Travels to College Station to Face Third-Ranked Texas A&M
The Crimson Tide and Aggies will meet for only the 13th, 14th and 15th times this weekend
April 21, 2016
TUSCALOOSA, AL - The Crimson Tide travels to College Station for a three-game set against third-ranked Texas A&M. The trip to Texas will Alabama's second in a line of three straight weekend series against top-10 foes. The Crimson Tide and Aggies are scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. CT start in the series opener on Friday.
Saturday's game is set to start at 2 p.m. CT, while Sunday's finale is slated for a 1 p.m. CT first pitch. All three games will air live on SECN+ with Will Johnson doing the play-by-play and Mark Johnson providing color for all the action.
LEADING OFF
Alabama is receiving votes in this week's NCBWA and USA Today Coaches polls. Texas A&M is ranked in all five major polls, with its lowest ranking coming from Collegiate Baseball News, who has A&M at No. 5. All four other major polls have the Aggies as the third-ranked team in the country.
The Aggies welcome Alabama to College Station following a 14-1 win over Texas State on Tuesday. Prior to the midweek contest, A&M swept No. 8 Mississippi State in Starkville across a three-game weekend series, scoring 10 runs apiece in all three contests.
Alabama and Texas A&M will meet for the 13th time in series history when the teams square off on Friday night. The Aggies own the all-time advantage, 7-5, including a 4-2 mark in College Station. The two SEC foes last met in the 2015 conference tournament, with A&M claiming a 4-3 victory in the double-elimination portion of the tourney. In the regular season, A&M took the first two of three games from the Tide in Hoover, before Alabama bounced back to win Saturday's second game of a doubleheader, handing the Aggies their first loss of the season and snapping a 24-game winning streak.
The Crimson Tide will call on its trio of right-handed starters for the weekend once again, first with junior Geoffrey Bramblett to open the series on Friday. Sophomore Jake Walters will follow on Saturday, before junior Nick Eicholtz closes out the series with the start on Sunday.
The Aggies counter with three righties of their own, first with sophomore Brigham Hill in Friday's series opener. On Saturday. A&M will throw sophomore Jace Vines before closing out the weekend with senior Kyle Simonds on Sunday afternoon.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
FRIDAY: UA - Geoffrey Bramblett (Jr., RHP) vs. TAMU - Brigham Hill (So., RHP)
SATURDAY: UA - Jake Walters (So., RHP) vs. TAMU - Jace Vines (So., RHP)
SUNDAY: UA - Nick Eicholtz (Jr., RHP) vs. TAMU - Kyle Simonds (Sr., RHP)
SERIES HISTORY - TEXAS A&M
Alabama and Texas A&M will meet for the 13th time when the two teams square off on Friday evening. The series dates back to 1995, with the conference matchups beginning in 2013.
Overall, Texas A&M holds a 7-5 lead in the series, including a 4-2 mark in College Station. Since joining the SEC, Alabama owns the advantage at 5-4 in conference play.
The teams last met in the 2015 SEC Tournament, with Texas A&M claiming a 4-3 victory in the double-elimination round of the conference tourney. Alabama took an early 3-0 lead, but the Aggies answered with three in the third to even things up. A&M recorded a one-out RBI-single in the bottom of the eighth. The Crimson Tide had two run-scoring opportunities in the ninth but was not able to capitalize on the chances.
Texas A&M took two of three games from Alabama in last year's regular-season series in Hoover from March 20-21. The Aggies claimed a 5-2 victory on Friday night before earning the series win with a 10-5 win in game one of Saturday's doubleheader. The Crimson Tide won game two, 6-2, to hand A&M its first loss of the 2015 season and snap the Aggies' 24-game winning streak.
Last time the two teams met in College Station, Alabama took two of three from A&M from April 4-6, 2014, with wins in the bookend games of the series. The Crimson Tide came out on top, 5-1, in the opener before falling 13-8 in the second game. The rubber match went in favor of Alabama, 6-4, to give the Tide the series victory.
BRAMBLETT, WALTERS, EICHOLTZ TRIO IN SEC PLAY
The Crimson Tide's 1-2-3 punch of Geoffrey Bramblett, Jake Walters and Nick Eicholtz has been one of the best weekend trio of starting pitchers in SEC play.
Combined, the three have made 15 starts and own a 6-4 record with a 2.42 ERA (23 ER/85.2 IP). Of those 15 outings, eight have been quality and only two of those have seen a starter give up more than three earned runs.
Each arm has a pair of wins, with Bramblett and Walters each being a part of a shutout effort.
Bramblett has excelled on Friday night, sporting a 2.97 ERA (10 ER/30.1 IP) and leads the trio in strikeouts (31) and average against (.216) while issuing the fewest walks of the three, dealing out only six.
Walters has made been key to the Crimson Tide on Saturdays, sporting a league-low 1.21 ERA (4 ER/29.2 IP) with 24 strikeouts compared to only seven walks. The sophomore has allowed one or zero runs in all five starts thus far. He also has not allowed a home run in conference play and has limited the opposition to a .239 average.
Eicholtz has allowed only nine earned runs across his 25.2 innings pitched (3.16 ERA) and helped the Tide avoid the sweep at Kentucky followed by giving the Crimson Tide the series win over No. 8 Ole Miss last weekend with a quality start on Sunday.
ON DECK
Following this weekend's games, Alabama will travel to Samford on Tuesday, April 26, for a midweek contest against the Bulldogs. The Crimson Tide will then welcome seventh-ranked Mississippi State to Sewell-Thomas Stadium for a Thursday-Friday-Saturday series in Tuscaloosa. Game one of the conference matchup will air live on ESPNU with a 6:30 p.m. CT start. Friday's second game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. CT first pitch with Saturday's finale slated for 3 p.m. CT. The final two games of the series will air on SECN+.
-UA-
RTR,
Diamond Tide :biga:
The Crimson Tide and Aggies will meet for only the 13th, 14th and 15th times this weekend
April 21, 2016
TUSCALOOSA, AL - The Crimson Tide travels to College Station for a three-game set against third-ranked Texas A&M. The trip to Texas will Alabama's second in a line of three straight weekend series against top-10 foes. The Crimson Tide and Aggies are scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. CT start in the series opener on Friday.
Saturday's game is set to start at 2 p.m. CT, while Sunday's finale is slated for a 1 p.m. CT first pitch. All three games will air live on SECN+ with Will Johnson doing the play-by-play and Mark Johnson providing color for all the action.
LEADING OFF
Alabama is receiving votes in this week's NCBWA and USA Today Coaches polls. Texas A&M is ranked in all five major polls, with its lowest ranking coming from Collegiate Baseball News, who has A&M at No. 5. All four other major polls have the Aggies as the third-ranked team in the country.
The Aggies welcome Alabama to College Station following a 14-1 win over Texas State on Tuesday. Prior to the midweek contest, A&M swept No. 8 Mississippi State in Starkville across a three-game weekend series, scoring 10 runs apiece in all three contests.
Alabama and Texas A&M will meet for the 13th time in series history when the teams square off on Friday night. The Aggies own the all-time advantage, 7-5, including a 4-2 mark in College Station. The two SEC foes last met in the 2015 conference tournament, with A&M claiming a 4-3 victory in the double-elimination portion of the tourney. In the regular season, A&M took the first two of three games from the Tide in Hoover, before Alabama bounced back to win Saturday's second game of a doubleheader, handing the Aggies their first loss of the season and snapping a 24-game winning streak.
The Crimson Tide will call on its trio of right-handed starters for the weekend once again, first with junior Geoffrey Bramblett to open the series on Friday. Sophomore Jake Walters will follow on Saturday, before junior Nick Eicholtz closes out the series with the start on Sunday.
The Aggies counter with three righties of their own, first with sophomore Brigham Hill in Friday's series opener. On Saturday. A&M will throw sophomore Jace Vines before closing out the weekend with senior Kyle Simonds on Sunday afternoon.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
FRIDAY: UA - Geoffrey Bramblett (Jr., RHP) vs. TAMU - Brigham Hill (So., RHP)
SATURDAY: UA - Jake Walters (So., RHP) vs. TAMU - Jace Vines (So., RHP)
SUNDAY: UA - Nick Eicholtz (Jr., RHP) vs. TAMU - Kyle Simonds (Sr., RHP)
SERIES HISTORY - TEXAS A&M
Alabama and Texas A&M will meet for the 13th time when the two teams square off on Friday evening. The series dates back to 1995, with the conference matchups beginning in 2013.
Overall, Texas A&M holds a 7-5 lead in the series, including a 4-2 mark in College Station. Since joining the SEC, Alabama owns the advantage at 5-4 in conference play.
The teams last met in the 2015 SEC Tournament, with Texas A&M claiming a 4-3 victory in the double-elimination round of the conference tourney. Alabama took an early 3-0 lead, but the Aggies answered with three in the third to even things up. A&M recorded a one-out RBI-single in the bottom of the eighth. The Crimson Tide had two run-scoring opportunities in the ninth but was not able to capitalize on the chances.
Texas A&M took two of three games from Alabama in last year's regular-season series in Hoover from March 20-21. The Aggies claimed a 5-2 victory on Friday night before earning the series win with a 10-5 win in game one of Saturday's doubleheader. The Crimson Tide won game two, 6-2, to hand A&M its first loss of the 2015 season and snap the Aggies' 24-game winning streak.
Last time the two teams met in College Station, Alabama took two of three from A&M from April 4-6, 2014, with wins in the bookend games of the series. The Crimson Tide came out on top, 5-1, in the opener before falling 13-8 in the second game. The rubber match went in favor of Alabama, 6-4, to give the Tide the series victory.
BRAMBLETT, WALTERS, EICHOLTZ TRIO IN SEC PLAY
The Crimson Tide's 1-2-3 punch of Geoffrey Bramblett, Jake Walters and Nick Eicholtz has been one of the best weekend trio of starting pitchers in SEC play.
Combined, the three have made 15 starts and own a 6-4 record with a 2.42 ERA (23 ER/85.2 IP). Of those 15 outings, eight have been quality and only two of those have seen a starter give up more than three earned runs.
Each arm has a pair of wins, with Bramblett and Walters each being a part of a shutout effort.
Bramblett has excelled on Friday night, sporting a 2.97 ERA (10 ER/30.1 IP) and leads the trio in strikeouts (31) and average against (.216) while issuing the fewest walks of the three, dealing out only six.
Walters has made been key to the Crimson Tide on Saturdays, sporting a league-low 1.21 ERA (4 ER/29.2 IP) with 24 strikeouts compared to only seven walks. The sophomore has allowed one or zero runs in all five starts thus far. He also has not allowed a home run in conference play and has limited the opposition to a .239 average.
Eicholtz has allowed only nine earned runs across his 25.2 innings pitched (3.16 ERA) and helped the Tide avoid the sweep at Kentucky followed by giving the Crimson Tide the series win over No. 8 Ole Miss last weekend with a quality start on Sunday.
ON DECK
Following this weekend's games, Alabama will travel to Samford on Tuesday, April 26, for a midweek contest against the Bulldogs. The Crimson Tide will then welcome seventh-ranked Mississippi State to Sewell-Thomas Stadium for a Thursday-Friday-Saturday series in Tuscaloosa. Game one of the conference matchup will air live on ESPNU with a 6:30 p.m. CT start. Friday's second game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. CT first pitch with Saturday's finale slated for 3 p.m. CT. The final two games of the series will air on SECN+.
-UA-
RTR,
Diamond Tide :biga:
