Alabama Crimson Tide Baseball Weekly Report
2/14/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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Overall Record: 37-19 (.661)
SEC Record: 17-13 (.567) (3rd SEC West, 5th Overall)
Last Week: 2-1 (.667)
Auburn 8, Alabama 1
Alabama 8, Auburn 6
Alabama 11, Auburn 9
This Week: SEC Tournament at Hoover Met
PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOMINEE
Zac Welch (Sr., 1B, Wellington, Ala)
*Welch started all three games at Auburn and led the team in hitting with a .545 (6-for-11) batting average, with four runs scored, one double and one RBI.
*He also compiled a .636 slugging percentage and a .583 on-base mark. Welch also handled all 29 chances at first base with out and error, including four assists and several outstanding defensive plays.
*Welch hit safely in all three games to extend his hitting streak to nine games, where he is batting .400 (12-for-30) with eight runs scored, two doubles and three RBI.
*He has also hit safely in 11 consecutive SEC games, where he is batting .432 (16-for-37), with 10 runs scored, one home run and six RBI.
*Tallied three hits in Bama's 8-6 win over Auburn on May 21st. He singled and scored the first run of the game in the third inning and then started the Tide's ninth inning rally with a base hit to open the inning. Welch was lifted for a pinch runner and the runner scored the winning run.
*He added two more hits in the series finale and again was responsible for the winning run as the Tide won its first series in Auburn since 1997. Welch slammed an RBI double off the left field wall to tie the game in the sixth inning off AU relief ace Jon Madden and then scored the go-ahead run on Cale Iorg's base hit up the middle.
ALABAMA NOTEBOOK:
*Alabama (37-19, 17-13 SEC) closed out the 2005 regular season by winning two of three at arch-rival Auburn. The Crimson Tide won its first series on the Plains since 1997 and in the process eliminated the Tigers from SEC Tournament contention.
*Alabama won six of 10 SEC series this season after winning only one SEC series in 2004. Alabama won four of five home series and two of five road series.
*Alabama's final regular season record is a 7 1/2 game improvement over last year's 29-26 record.
*The 37 regular-season wins are the sixth-most wins under coach Jim Wells during the regular season.
*The Crimson Tide needs just three more wins to secure its 13th, 40-win season in school history. All but three of those have come since Wells became head coach in 1995.
*Alabama enters the 2005 Southeastern Conference baseball tournament as the No. 5 seed.
*Alabama finished third in the SEC Western Division behind co-champions LSU (18-12) and Ole Miss (18-12).
*The No. 5 seed is the highest for Alabama since the Crimson Tide was seeded second in 2002.
*This is the first time Alabama has been the No. 5 seed since the tournament went to an eight-team format.
*The 2001 Alabama baseball team is the only team with a .500 record (or better) not to qualify for the SEC Tournament.
*Auburn (15-15 SEC) and Alabama (15-15 SEC) tied for eighth place in the overall SEC standings in 2001 and by virtue of its three-game sweep of Alabama on the Plains, Auburn was awarded the No. 8 seed and Alabama stayed home.
*Since the eight-team format was adopted in 1996, there have been 16 teams with losing conference records qualify for the SEC Tournament, including Miss. State and Arkansas this season.
*Alabama (14-16 SEC) qualified with the sub .500 record in 2003 and won the SEC Tournament title.
*Head coach Jim Wells has compiled a 475-221 (.683) record in 696 games as head coach of the Crimson Tide. He notched his 475th win at Alabama with an 11-9 victory at Auburn on May 22, 2005. Wells needs just 13 more wins to become the Crimson Tide's all-time winningest coach. Dr. Barry Shollenberger (1980-94) currently holds the record with 487 career wins. Wells has also compiled a 667-310 (.683) all-time record in 977 games at the Division I level.
*Alabama has trailed in 42 of 56 games this season and produced 23 come-from-behind wins, including two this weekend at Auburn. Of the 23 comeback wins, 15 have taken place since the sixth inning. Alabama has 11 come-from-behind wins in SEC play.
*Of the Tide's 30 SEC games this season, 20 games were decided by two runs or less. Alabama was 12-8 in SEC games decided by two runs or less.
*Alabama pitchers continue to lead the SEC with 518 strikeouts this season. The 2005 pitching staff is just the fourth in school history to log 500 or more strikeouts. The school record is 585 strikeouts set in 1999.
*Freshman RHP David Robertson set the Alabama single-season freshman record with his two strikeouts at Auburn on May 22. Robertson has a staff-leading 99 strikeouts this year and broke the previous record of 98 strikeouts set last year by Wade LeBlanc.
*Alabama has a chance to have four pitchers with 100 strikeouts this season. Robertson has 99 and LeBlanc, despite missing five weeks, has 91 strikeouts. Brent Carter and T.J. Large enter the post-season with 87 strikeouts each.
SEC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
*Alabama has compiled a 43-34 (.558) all-time record in SEC post-season, which includes divisional playoff series prior to 1977.
*Since 1977, Alabama has compiled a 34-23 (.596) mark in SEC Tournament games and has won seven SEC Tournament titles.
*Alabama has won more SEC Tournament championships than any other school. The Crimson Tide has seven championships, while LSU is second on the list with six titles.
*Alabama has the second-best winning percentage (.596) in tournament history. LSU leads the way with a .620 winning percentage.
*Alabama's 34 wins rank fourth all-time in SEC Tournament play. LSU (49), Miss. State (48) and Florida (43) all have more wins than the Tide.
*LSU and Miss. State open the 2005 SEC Tournament and those two teams have combined for 97 all-time wins and 11 championships.
*Under head coach Jim Wells, Alabama is a remarkable 30-8 (.789) in SEC Tournament play and has won six post-season crowns.
*Wells has a winning record against every SEC team in post-season action. He has led Alabama to a 6-0 (1.000) mark against Miss. State and a 7-2 (.778) record against Florida.
*Alabama is 10-3 (.769) under Wells against the three teams in its half of the 2005 SEC Tournament bracket.
*Bama is 1-0 vs. Ole Miss, 2-1 vs. Arkansas and 7-2 against Florida in SEC Tournament play since 1995.
*Prior to Wells arrival at the Capstone, Alabama was just 4-16 (.200) in SEC Tournament play from 1977-94.
*The Crimson Tide lost 10 consecutive SEC Tournament games from 1986-94.
*Alabama ended that losing streak with an 8-7 walk-off win over LSU during the 1995 SEC Western Division Tournament in Starkville.
*The Crimson Tide won all four games in its final at-bat at Dudy Noble Field to claim its first SEC Tournament title since 1983.
*Alabama has had a total of seven players win SEC Tournament MVP honors.
*Alabama and Arkansas played in front the of the largest crowd (16,165) in SEC Tournament history when the two teams met in the SEC Championship game on May 23, 1999. Alabama won the game, 9-3.
*In fact, Alabama is responsible for nine of the Top 10 crowds in SEC Tournament history, including the seven-highest attended games in history.
SEC CHAMPIONSHIPS
*Alabama has won seven SEC Tournament championships, more than any other school.
*LSU is second all-time with six SEC Tournament championships, but only one (2000) since 1995.
*Alabama set the all-time SEC Tournament record by posting a 5-1 (.833) ledger en route to the 1996 SEC Tournament Championship. The five wins are the most by any team in post-season history.
*Alabama head coach Jim Wells and former LSU head coach Skip Bertman are the only two head coaches in SEC history to lead their team to six SEC Tournament championships.
*Wells has guided Alabama to SEC Tournament championships in 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2002 and 2003.
*Bertman led LSU to SEC Tournament titles in 1986, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 2000.
*Only nine of the 12 SEC teams have ever won the SEC Tournament. Kentucky, Arkansas and Georgia have never won the post-season tournament championship.
*Only six head coaches have won multiple titles. The list includes Wells (6), Bertman (6), Ron Polk (3), Joe Arnold (3), Rod Delmonico (3) and Hal Baird (2).
HOOVER MET RECORD
*Alabama has compiled a 25-9 (.735) all-time record at the Hoover Met.
*Alabama is 22-6 (.786) in SEC Tournament games at the Met and has won championships in 1996, 1999, 2002 and 2003.
*Alabama is 3-3 (.500) in regular season games at the Hoover Met since its first game in 1989. The Crimson Tide posted a lopsided 14-3 win over UAB in its first game at the Met.
*Alabama has won six consecutive games at the Hoover Met. The Tide's last loss was a 7-4 decision to Florida on May 25, 2002 in the SEC Tournament.
