Alabama Baseball Hosts Miami in Weekend Series
3/10/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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Game 17: MIAMI REDHAWKS (2-5) at ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE (13-3)
SEWELL-THOMAS STADIUM (6,118)
TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA -- 6:30 PM
MARCH 11, 2005
ON THE MOUND: MU -- LHP Graham Taylor (2 GS, 1-0, 2.63 ERA) vs. UA - 23 LHP Wade LeBlanc (3 GS, 2-1, 1.89 ERA)
RADIO/TV: The Alabama-Miami series will be broadcast through the Crimson Tide Sports Network and will be aired locally in Tuscaloosa on THE TUSK (WACT, 1420-AM). Veteran play-by-play announcer David Crane will describe the action from the Joe this weekend.
Date Game Time Radio/TV
March 11 vs. Miami 6:30 PM CTSN (WACT 1420-AM)
March 12 vs. Miami 4 PM WACT (1420-AM)
March 13 vs. Miami 2 PM WACT (1420-AM)
INTERNET BROADCAST: Live audio broadcasts and live stats can be found at www.rolltide.com.
TICKETS: Tickets to all other Bama home games are $5 and can be purchased at the Sewell-Thomas Stadium box office two hours prior to each home game.
ALABAMA HOSTS MIAMI
The Alabama (13-3) Crimson Tide baseball team, winners of 12 of its last 13 games, brings an eight-game winning streak into its weekend series with the Miami Redhawks at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The Crimson Tide and Redhawks will open this three-game series Friday, March 11 at 6:30 p.m. The series will continue on Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Alabama is 11-0 at home this season, including an 8-0 record on its current 16-game homestand. For the second straight weekend, pitching will be the name of the game as the Tide and Redhawks battle over the next three days. Alabama will send sophomore Wade LeBlanc (3 GS, 2-1, 1.89) to the mound in the opener against junior left-hander Graham Taylor (2 GS, 1-0, 2.55 ERA). LeBlanc is reigning National Player of the Week after last Friday's one-hit, 17-strikeout performance against McNeese State. Taylor was named the MAC Eastern Division Pitcher of the Week after his effort at Louisville on Sunday. Taylor has 19 strikeouts and one walk in 13 2/3 innings. Another solid pitching match up is set for Saturday as RHP T.J. Large (4 GS, 4-0, 0.68 ERA) takes the mound for Alabama against sophomore LHP Keith Weiser (2 G, 0-0, 2.19 ERA). Large leads the SEC with four wins this season, while Weiser was the 2004 MAC Freshman of the Year and All-American. Then series will finale will see senior LHP Brent Carter (4 GS, 3-1, 0.67 ERA) meet freshman RHP Jeff Day (4 G, 1 GS, 0-2, 6.48). Alabama's weekend rotation has been solid. The trio are a combined 9-2 (.818) with a 0.99 ERA (72.2 IP, 33 H, 14 R, 8 ER, 15 BB, 126 K).
BAMA BASEBALL DIAMOND NOTES
Bama leads the SEC with a 1.66 ERA and ranks ninth in the SEC in hitting (.307) and ninth in fielding (.952) ... The Crimson Tide pitching staff also leads the league in lowest opponents batting average (.173) and strikeouts (189) and is tied for first with 13 wins ... Junior Evan Bush is fifth in the SEC with four home runs and fourth in the league with 21 RBI ... Bush has six hits and eigtht RBI in his last three games ... Senior Morrow Thomley leads the SEC with three triples ... Junior RHP T.J. Large leads the SEC with four wins and ranks second in st rikeouts (39) and sixth in innings pitched (26.2) ... Senior LHP Brent Carter leads the SEC with 42 strikeouts and ranks fourth in opponents average (.117) and fifth in innings pitched (27) ... LeBlanc is second in opponents batting average (.094) and third in the league in strikeouts (35) ... Bama's 9-hole hitter is 6-for-9 (.667), with two doubles, triples and nine RBI in last two games ...
ALABAMA-MIAMI SERIES
*Alabama holds a 5-1 (.833) all-time series lead with Miami.
*The two teams last played in Feb. 17-18, 2001, with Alabama sweeping the three-game series at the Joe.
*The Crimson Tide opened the series with a 13-2 win behind the hitting of Aaron Clark and the pitching of Mark Carter.
*Clark went 2-for-3, with one home run and two RBI, while Carter allowed two runs and seven hits in the complete game win. He added six strikeouts.
*In game two, Lance Cormier went the distance in a 2-1 win as Bama scored the winning run on an error in the bottom of the ninth inning.
*Cormier allowed one unearned run and seven hits in nine innings. He added six strikeouts in the win.
*Bama completed the sweep with a 9-2 win in the series finale behind the strong pitching of B.J. Green and hitting of Jeremy Brown.
*Green worked six innings and allowed two runs and six hits, with five strikeouts, for the win.
*Brown went 2-for-3, with two home runs and three RBI as the Tide completed the sweep.
*The two schools first met in 1974, with Alabama winning two of the three games at the Joe Sewell Classic in Tuscaloosa.
BAMA-MIAMI ALL-TIME SCORES
Year Score Site
1974 W 7-3 (Sewell Classic) Tuscaloosa
L 6-5 (Sewell Classic) Tuscaloosa
W 7-6 (Sewell Classic) Tuscaloosa
2001 W 13-2 Tuscaloosa
W 2-1 Tuscaloosa
W 9-2 Tuscaloosa
ALABAMA VS. MAC
*Alabama owns an 14-4-1 (.763) all-time record with the current members of the Mid American Conference.
*Alabama head coach Jim Wells is 8-1 (.889) against the MAC while at Alabama.
*The Crimson Tide has a four-game winning streak against MAC teams.
SCOUTING REPORT: Miami Redhawks
*The Miami Redhawks (2-5) opened the season with four straight losses, but bounced back last weekend and took two of three from Louisville at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium in Louisville.
*Miami opened the season with consecutive losses to Texas State, UL Lafayette, Marist and Xavier before winning the first two games at Louisville last weekend.
*The Redhawks are hitting .250 (59-for-236) after seven games with four home runs and 25 RBI.
*Miami has averaged 3.9 runs and 8.4 hits per game thus far.
*Junior shortstop Eric Radley (.381, 2 RBI) is the club's top hitter after seven games.
*Sophomore left fielder Brian Hillier and senior third baseman Brian Canada are the only other MU regulars hitting better than .300 for the season.
*Hillier is batting .353 (6-for-17) in six games, with three RBI. He has the club's lone triple of the year.
*Canada is batting .320 (8-for-25), with eight runs scored, one home run and two RBI.
*The Redhawks preseason All-MAC star and senior catcher John Slone (6 G, .217, 3 RBI) is off to a slow start at the plate, but is one of the better players on the team.
*The Redhawks have compiled a 5.70 ERA in its first seven games of the season. In 60 innings, the staff has allowed 65 hits, 45 runs and 38 earned runs, with 20 walks and 60 strikeouts.
*The ace of the staff is preseason MAC Pitcher of the Year, sophomore Keith Weiser.
*Weiser (2 GS, 0-0, 2.19 ERA) has worked 12 1/3 innings and allowed 14 hits, four runs, three earned runs, with five walks and eight strikeouts.
*He was 8-3 with a 4.30 ERA in 19 appearances as a freshman last year. As a rookie, he worked 83 2/3 innings and allowed 89 hits, 50 runs, 40 earned runs, with 29 walks and 62 strikeouts.
*Weiser's counterpart junior LHP Graham Taylor gives the Redhawks a formidable one-two punch on the mound.
*Taylor (2 GS, 1-0, 2.63 ERA) has been the ace of the staff thus far and has logged worked 13 2/3 innings and allowed 12 hits, four runs and four earned runs, with 19 strikeouts and only one walk.
*Taylor (Villa Hills, Ky.) was named the Mid-American Conference's East Division Pitcher of the Week for his performance versus the University of Louisville on March 6.
*He gave Miami its second win of the season with 8.2 scoreless innings in which he allowed seven hits and struck out 11 Cardinals while walking just one. The 11 punchouts were a career high, besting his previous mark of nine set versus Akron (4-23-04). For the season, Taylor is 1-0 with a 2.63 earned run average and has struck out 19 batters while walking only one.
*Miami has made 13 errors (.950) in its first seven games, led by outfielder Geoff Orr, who has made four this season.
