Alabama Baseball Game Notes: Southeast Missouri State
2/21/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
 |
|
» Complete Game Notes 
» Weather Forecast for Tuscaloosa, AL
Live Audio: Friday | Saturday | Sunday
Game 5: Alabama Crimson Tide vs. SE MISSOURI STATE INDIANS
February 21, 2003
SEWELL-THOMAS STADIUM
TUSCALOOSA
6:30 PM (CT) -- First Game of three game series
Date Game Time
Radio
Feb. 21 Alabama vs. SEMO 6:30 p.m. (CT) CTSN (WRTR-FM, 105.5)
Feb. 22 Alabama vs. SEMO 4 p.m. (CT) CTSN (WRTR-FM, 105.5)
Feb. 23 Alabama vs. SEMO 2 p.m. (CT) CTSN (WRTR-FM, 105.5)
RADIO: The games will be aired locally on WRTR-FM (105.5) in Tuscaloosa. David Crane and Chris Stewart will call the action.
INTERNET BROADCAST: Live stats (home games only) and audio broadcasts can be found at http://www.rolltide.com/
TICKETS: Season tickets are available by calling the Alabama Ticket Office (205-348-2262). Single-game tickets are available for $5 each and the gates will open two hours prior to each game.
RANKINGS: Alabama and SE Missouri State are unranked.
Batting Order
No. Name Pos. B-T 2003 Stats
11 Travis Garner CF R-R .333, 0 HR, 2 RBI
6 Allen Rice 2B L-R .083, 0 HR, 2 RBI
30 Brad Van Winkle DH L-R .312, 0 HR, 0 RBI
5 Beau Hearod RF R-R .308, 2 HR, 4 RBI
24 Al Hecklinski LF R-R .312, 1 HR, 2 RBI
12 Zac Welch 1B L-L .273, 0 HR, 2 RBI
4 Adam Pavkovich SS R-R .083, 0 HR, 1 RBI
14 Evan Bush 3B R-R .300, 0 HR, 1 RBI
37 Charlie Lyons C R-R .286, 0 HR, 0 RBI
Key Reserves
No. Name Pos. B-T 2003 Stats
1 Brandon Avalos OF R-R .000, 0 HR, 0 RBI
16 Bobby Burns C R-R .000, 0 HR, 0 RBI
29 John Marshall C R-R .143, 0 HR, 1 RBI
31 Nathan Meiners INF L-R .000, 0 HR, 0 RBI
13 Spencer Pennington 1B/3B L-R .000, 0 HR, 0 RBI
27 Grant Redding OF R-R .000, 0 HR, 0 RBI
21 Gabe Scott OF R-R .381, 0 HR, 8 RBI
3 Shaud Williams OF R-R .000, 0 HR, 0 RBI
Starting Pitching Rotation
No. Name B-T 2003 Stats
40 Taylor Tankersley L-L 1 GS, 1-0, 2.84 ERA
31 Donnie Fuller R-R *17 G, 3-2, 4.56 ERA
39 Brent Carter L-L 1 GS, 0-1, 6.23 ERA
20 Jon Nourie L-L Transfer
9 Jeffrey Norris L-L 1 GS, 0-0, 13.50 ERA
33 James Beever R-R *11 G, 0-0, 5.09 ERA
Alabama Bullpen
No. Name B-T 2003 Stats
16 Ryan Beagle L-L 1 GS, 0-0, 4.50 ERA
20 Seth Johnson R-R 1 G, 0-0, 0.00 ERA
34 Eric Mennen R-R 1 G, 1-0, 4.50 ERA
38 Jared Woodward R-R 2 G, 0-0, 6.23 ERA
44 Allen Ponder R-R 1 G, 1-0, 0.00 ERA
25 Brain Reed R-R 3 G, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 Saves
BAMA HOSTS SEMO IN THREE-GAME SET
The Alabama Crimson Tide opens a three-game series with the Southeast Missouri State Indians Friday night at 6:30 p.m. (CT) here at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The two teams met last year the 2002 NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional and split a pair of meetings. SEMO beat Alabama 7-4 in a first-round game, handing the Crimson Tide its first-ever home loss in an NCAA Regional game. Alabama bounced back the next day and posted a 7-4 win to eliminate the Indians from the tournament. SEMO is the defending Ohio Valley Conference champions and returns six position players and three pitchers off last year's squad.
THE RECORDS
Alabama (3-1) has won back-to-back one-run games against No. 2 Rice (6-5) and Centenary (4-3) to extend its winning streak to two games. UA opened its 2003 season last week at the Minute Maid Park College Classic in Houston, Texas, playing three teams ranked in the preseason polls.
SE Missouri State (0-0) will open its 2003 season here this weekend against Alabama. The Indians were scheduled to open the season last week, but all three games at No. 00 Oklahoma were cancelled due to rain and snow.
THE COACHES
Alabama's Jim Wells is in his ninth season at the Capstone, compiling a 374-153 (.710) record at the helm of the Crimson Tide. Overall, Wells is 566-242 (.700) in his 14th season as a Division I head coach today. SEMO head coach Mark Hogan has compiled a 248-185-1 (.572) record in eight years at his alma mater. Overall, Hogan has fashioned a 625-441-3 (.586) record in 21 years at Lurleen B. Wallace Community College and Livingston (Ala.) State University.
LAST TIME OUT
Alabama managed only three hits, but pulled out a 4-3 win over Centenary in the 2003 home opener this past Wednesday night. Brad Van Winkle's RBI triple broke up John Ruffing's no-hit bid with one out in the sixth inning. Zac Welch followed three batters later with a two-run double into the right field corner. Alabama was out hit (10-3), but played errorless baseball and did not walk a batter for its second straight win.
NEXT GAME
The three-game series continues on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 4 p.m. here at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The series finale is Sunday, Feb. 23 at 2 p.m.
WELLS SET TO MOVE PAST CAMPBELL FOR ALL-TIME GAMES AT ALABAMA
Alabama head coach Jim Wells will move past former head coach Tilden "Happy" Campbell (1935-42, 1947-63) for second place with his 528th game at Alabama tonight against Southeast Missouri State. Campbell (1935-42, 1947-63) coached 527 games for the Crimson Tide during his successful 25-year career at the Capstone.
*Barry Shollenberger (1980-94) holds the Alabama record with 804 games while with the Crimson Tide.
*In addition, Wells is UA's second winningest coach with 357 career wins at the Capstone. He surpassed Campbell's second-place mark during the 2002 NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional. He tied the mark with a win over Auburn (6-3) and then moved into sole possession of second place with a 7-4 win over SE Missouri State.
*Shollenberger is the school's all-time winningest coach with 487 career wins. Wells is now 127 wins shy of the school's all-time mark for career victories.
Alabama's All-Time Victory Leaders
1. Barry Shollenberger (1980-94) 487
2. Jim Wells (1995-Present) 360
3. Tilden Campbell (1935-42, 47-63) 355
4. Hayden Riley (1970-79) 236
5. Joe Sewell (1964-69) 106
Alabama's All-Time Games Coached
1. Barry Shollenberger (1980-94) 822
2. Jim Wells (1995-Present) 527
3. Tilden Campbell (1935-42, 47-63) 527
4. Hayden Riley (1970-79) 443
5. Joe Sewell (1964-69) 185
ALABAMA-SEMO SERIES
The baseball series between Alabama and Southeast Missouri State series is tied at 1-1 after last year's two meetings in the NCAA Tournament.
*Bama and SEMO met for the first time last season at the 2002 NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional, splitting a pair of tourney games. SEMO upset national No. 3 seed Alabama with a 7-4 win in the opener. The loss was also the first ever for Alabama in an NCAA Tournament game at home. The next day, Alabama evened the score with a 7-4 win over SEMO in an elimination game at the tournament.
Year Game Result
2002 SE Missouri State L 7-4
SE Missouri State W 7-4
*SEMO's win in the post season was Alabama's first-ever NCAA Tournament loss at home. Prior to the SEMO game, Alabama had gone 13-0 in NCAA Tourney home games under Jim Wells.
*The loss was Alabama's first post-season home loss since dropping a 2-1 decision to Vanderbilt in the 1974 SEC Playoffs.
*Jeffrey Norris pitched eight strong innings to eliminate the Indians from the NCAA Tournament. Norris allowed three earned runs and nine hits, while striking out eight SEMO batters.
*The SEMO roster contains 27 players, including three D-I transfers, 14 JC transfers and 10 high school players.
*The Indians return eight players, including six position off last year's Ohio Valley Conference Championship team.
*SEMO head coach Mark Hogan spent two years under Ron Polk as a graduate assistant coach at Miss. State (1978-79) before moving to the state of Alabama as head coach at Lurleen B. Wallace Community College (1982-89) and Livingston State University (1990-94).
*SEMO pitching coach Jeremy Tyson played three seasons at LSU (1995-97) and was a member of back-to-back national championship teams in 1996 and 1997. The 1997 LSU team beat Alabama, 13-6, in the championship game at the College World Series.
*Assistant coach Steve Southard played for coach Steve Kitrell at South Alabama.
*Senior second baseman Justin Christian played the 2001 season at Auburn University, where he appeared in 53 games for the Tigers. As a junior, he hit .259 with two home runs and 19 RBI. Also swiped 18-of-20 bases and led the Tigers with 15 sacrifice bunts.
BAMA VS. THE OVC
Alabama owns a 24-3 (.889) record against the current members of the Ohio Valley Conference.
*The record breakdown is as follows:
Opponent Last Mtg Record
Austin Peay 2001 5-0
E. Illinois 1998 1-0
E. Kentucky 1996 2-1
Morehead State 1992 4-1
Murray State 1996 8-1
SE Missouri State 2002 1-1
UT-Martin NA 0-0
Tennessee Tech 1994 4-0
Totals 2002 24-3
PONDER NAMED SEC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
University of Alabama freshman right-hander Allen Ponder was named the Southeastern Conference "Pitcher of the Week" in an announcement made Monday by the league office.
The true freshman made his Alabama debut against the No. 2 Rice Owls and turned in a strong outing for the Crimson Tide.
Ponder worked five scoreless innings, allowing two hits, two walks and striking out five in the upset win.
The Opelika, Ala., native entered the game in the fourth inning with the Crimson Tide trailing 5-2 and runners on the corners. Ponder struck out Rice leadoff hitter Jeff Jorgensen and then got the No. 2 hitter in the lineup to ground out to end the inning.
"(Allen) entered the game in a tough situation and did a great job," Alabama head coach Jim Wells said. "We told him three hours before the game that he would be the first one in out the bullpen and he really looked forward to it. We did not know he'd be in the game that earlier, but thanks to him we won the game."
Alabama tied the game in the fifth and added the winning run in the sixth, making Ponder a winner in his debut against the No.2 Owls.
Ponder limited the Owls to a .125 batting average (2-for-16), shutting down a team that won more than 50 games last year and played in the College World Series.
A 2002 graduate of Lee-Scott Academy in Opelika, Ponder was a three-year starter for coach Jay Harper.
In his five-year career, Ponder was 37-6 (.860) with a 1.16 ERA. He pitched 283 career innings and recorded 484 strikeouts. He also compiled a .517 batting average and set the Lee-Scott Academy record with 49 home runs.
PITCHING NOTEBOOK
*Alabama returns 29 of its 51 (57 percent) pitching wins from last season, led by Taylor Tankersley's eight victories.
*Tankersley, Brent Carter, Jeffrey Norris, Jared Woodward and Brian Reed were a combined 27-7 (.794) last year.
*Reed and Tankersley combined for 16 of the team's school-record 22 saves, which ranked second in the SEC.
*Overall, Alabama ranked second in the SEC in ERA (3.59), wins (51) and fewest earned runs allowed (235).
*The Crimson Tide led the league in fewest runs allowed (283) and fewest walks allowed (149).
*In conference play, Bama ranked first in SEC games for innings pitched (267.1), fewest runs allowed (130), fewest walks (72) and fewest triples allowed (2).
*The Crimson Tide's starters are 1-1 with a 6.00 ERA through the first four games this season. The starters have worked 18 innings and allowed 28 hits, 14 runs, 12 earned runs, five walks and 15 strikeouts.
*Opponents are batting .359 (28-for-78) against the UA starter this season.
*The bullpen is a different story, compiling a 2-0 record with three saves and a 2.12 ERA in four games. In 17 innings, the pen has allowed 12 hits, four runs (4 ER), six walks and 11 strikeouts.
*Opponents are hitting just .207 (12-for-58) against the UA bullpen this season.
*Reed, Ponder and Carter have combined to throw 10.1 scoreless innings out of the pen in five appearances.
*Alabama did not allow a walk in its win over Centenary (Feb. 16).
*UA pitchers have hit four batters in four games this season.
*Opponents have scored nine of their 18 runs this season in the second (5 runs) and fourth innings (4 runs) against the Tide.
HITTING NOTEBOOK
*Alabama managed only three hits in its win over Centenary this past Wednesday night, its lowest hit total since the 2000 season.
*The last time Alabama was held to three hits came in a 6-5 win at Arkansas on April 14, 2000.
*It's interesting to note that Alabama has won each of the last two games when recording three hits. Centenary out hit Alabama 10-3 this past Wednesday, while Arkansas had a 12-3 advantage during the 2000 season.
*Alabama has recorded nine of its 19 RBI this season with two outs.
*Alabama has three come-from-behind wins this season and two one-run wins in its first four games.
*Pavkovich and Rice are a combined 2-for-24 (.083) at the plate in the first four games.
*Alabama batters have been hit six times in the first four games, including two each by Garner and Bush.
*After collecting 12 hits in its 9-3 win over UL Lafayette in the season opener, Alabama has gone 15-for-86 (.174) in its last three games.
*UA enters the SEMO series with .240 batting average, which has dropped 103 points in the last three games.
*Senior Beau Hearod is the Crimson Tide's leading returning hitter, in terms of batting average (.335), home runs (12) and RBI (54).
*Alabama returns 48 percent of its total hits (355-of-702), 46 percent of its RBI (201-of-437), 43 percent of its home runs (29-of-67) and 41 percent of its stolen bases (36-of-87) for last year.
*The Crimson Tide offense ranked among the Top 5 in the SEC in several categories last year, including doubles (2nd, 154), runs scored (3rd, 481), total hits 4th, 702) and batting average (5th, .310).
