Alabama Baseball Notebook: April 5, 2004
4/5/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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SEC Record: 3-6 (.333)
This Week's Schedule:
April 6 vs. Louisiana Tech (6:30 PM)
April 9 vs. Vanderbilt (6:30 PM)
April 10 vs. Vanderbilt (4 PM)
April 11 vs. Vanderbilt (2:07 PM, CSS)
Last Week's Results:
Mar. 31 Alabama 12, South Alabama 1 (Mobile)
April 2 Alabama 6, Arkansas 3 (Fayetteville)
April 3 Arkansas 7, Alabama 2 (Fayetteville)
April 4 Arkansas 11, Alabama 6 (Fayetteville)
ALABAMA NOTEBOOK:
*Alabama posted a 2-2 (.500) record in its four-game road trip last week, winning back-to-back games at South Alabama (Mar. 31) and Arkansas (April 2).
*Like most teams, Alabama is fighting the injury bug this season. A total of eight players have combined to miss 76 games this season due to injury or illness. Freshman left-hander Brandon Belcher missed the final two games at Arkansas this weekend, including a start on the mound, with strep throat. Belcher, Allen Ponder (RHP), Jeffrey Norris (LHP) and T.J. Large (RHP) were not available on the mound at Arkansas due to injury. Large has missed the last 20 games for Bama, while Norris (15 games) has not pitched since March 10th.
*The Crimson Tide has one of its better weeks at the plate, hitting .294 (40-for-136) last week with three home runs and 25 RBI. Against Arkansas, Alabama batted .269 (28-for-104) with three home runs and 13 RBI in three games. The .269 average against the Hogs was the best SEC weekend for the Crimson Tide.
*Sophomore Evan Bush leads Alabama with six home runs and and ranks third with 21 RBI this season. Bush had no home runs and 13 RBI in 44 games as a true freshman last year. In 29 games this season, he is batting .290 (27-for-93) with six doubles and a .548 slugging percentage. Bush was 4-for-9 (.444) with two home runs and four RBI in the final two games of the Arkansas series. He has hit safely in five of his last six games for the Tide.
*Sophomore catcher Charlie Lyons made his return to the UA lineup on Saturday, April 3 after missing the previous 27 games with a broken hamate bone in his left (non-throwing) hand. Lyons was 1-for-8 in two starts against New Orleans (Feb. 13-14) before undergoing surgery on March 1. He still showed signs of the injury at Arkansas and may not be available this week.
*Junior Allen Rice did not start the final game of the Arkansas series, missing his first SEC starting assignment since April 28, 2002 against Auburn. Prior to Sunday, Rice had started 56 consecutive SEC games for the Tide.
*Senior catcher Nick Richardson made his first error of the season on Sunday, with a throwing error in the bottom of the fifth inning that led to Arkansas' first run of the game. The Tuscaloosa native entered the game with 150 errorless chances in 21 games this season.
*Junior outfielder Matt Grooms hit his first home run of the season on Sunday at Arkansas.
*Alabama has played only five games this season lasting more than three hours, including two this past weekend at Arkansas.
