Alabama Crimson Tide Baseball Weekly Report
4/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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Overall Record: 26-12 (.684)
SEC Record: 9- 6 (.600) (1st SEC West, t3rd Overall)
Streak: Won 25 of last 33 games; Won 6 of last 10 vs. Top 25 Teams
Last Week: 2-2 (.500)
Alabama 8, Memphis 3
No. 5 Florida 9, Alabama 8
No. 5 Florida 7, Alabama 4
Alabama 9, No. 5 Florida 6
This Week:
April 20 - vs. Mississippi Valley State (6:30 PM)
April 23 - vs. South Carolina (6:36 PM) (CSS)
April 24 - vs. South Carolina (3:06 PM) (FSN South)
April 25 - vs. South Carolina (2:06 PM) (CSS)
PITCHER OF THE WEEK NOMINATION
David Robertson (RHP, Fr. Tuscaloosa, Ala.)
1 G, 1-0, 1.50 ERA - 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
*Notched his sixth win of the season and third in SEC with six strong innings in relief at No. 5 Florida.
*Robertson allowed one run and three hits in six innings, with one walk and seven strikeouts.
*He stranded both inherited runners as he entered the game with two men on base and no outs in the fourth, with UF already holding a 5-3 lead.
*The true freshman has accounted for three of Alabama’s nine SEC wins.
ALABAMA NOTEBOOK:
*Alabama (26-12, 9-6 SEC) just completed a stretch of 10 road games in its last 14 ballgames, including back-to-back SEC road series at No. 9 Ole Miss and No. 5 Florida. Alabama posted a 5-5 record in those 10 road games and split the two SEC series. The Crimson Tide won two of three at Ole Miss (April 8-10) and lost two of three at Florida (April 15-17).
*Alabama’s nine SEC wins through its first 15 games is just one shy of last season’s SEC win total (10-20 SEC).
*Alabama is also three wins shy of tying last year’s win total of 29 games. Bama is 26-12 this season after 38 games.
*The Crimson Tide salvaged the final game of the Florida series, but not without some ninth inning magic. Alabama scored six runs on seven hits to erase a 6-3 deficit and post a 9-6 win on Sunday at McKethan Stadium. Junior Spencer Pennington started the rally with a two-run double. Sophomore Emeel Salem, who led UA with four hits, plated the winning run with a bunt single up the first base line.
*The six-run ninth inning marked the seventh time this season that Alabama has scored six or more runs in an innings. Alabama has scored six runs in twice in the ninth inning on the road this season at Hawai’i (W, 9-5) and at No. 5 Florida (W, 9-6).
*Alabama has trailed in 27 of its 38 games this season and has recorded 15 come-from-behind wins. Alabama’s last four SEC wins have all been come-from-behind wins.
*Of Alabama’s 15 SEC games, eight have been decided by two runs or less.
*Alabama is 6-6 (.500) against Top 25 clubs this season and has won six of its last 10 games against ranked teams.
*Alabama has homered in nine of its last 10 games and has hit 15 home runs in 10 games during the month of April.
*Senior OF Gabe Scott hit safely in all four games last week to extend his hitting streak to 25 consecutive games. The Lake Charles, La., native is batting .427 (38-for-89) during the streak, with seven doubles, seven home runs and 21 RBI. Scott’s streak is the third longest in the coach Jim Wells era at Alabama. Scott needed a fifth at-bat on Sunday, April 17 to extend the streak as he reached on a ground rule double in the six-run, ninth inning. He was the ninth bat to bat in the inning as UA sent 11 batters to the plate.
*Senior 3B Rocky Scelfo was 4-for-9 (.444) in the Florida series.
*Sophomore Emeel Salem and senior DH Allen Rice were both 5-for-12 (.417) in the Florida series.
*Rice played his 200th career game at Alabama on April 16th, becoming just the 11th player in school history to play in 200 or more career games. He now has 201 career games, tying G.W. Keller (1997-99) for eighth place all-time.
*Salem had four hits in Sunday’s win over Florida to give him a team-leading 12 multi hit games in 2005. Salem also had one infield hit and one bunt single on Sunday to give him a team best 13 infield/bunt hits this season.
*Junior catcher Kody Valverde recorded his 100th career hit on Saturday, April 16th and added his fourth home run of the season on Sunday, April 17th.
*Alabama used four pinch-hitters and two pinch-runners in the ninth inning against Florida on Sunday. The pinch-hitters were 2-for-3 (HBP) with two RBI in the win. Senior OF Matt Grooms had a pinch-hit single and junior Spencer Pennington added a pinch-hit, two-run double. Sophomore Michael McCallister and junior Jordan Davis scored as pinch-runners for the Tide.
*For the season, Alabama pinch-hitters are hitting .348 (16-for-46). Pennington leads Alabama with a .571 (4-for-7) mark as a pinch-hitter, while Grooms is second with a .455 (5-for-11) mark.
*Alabama is hitting .305 with two outs this season and has 96 RBI (44 percent) of its 216 RBI this season with two outs.
*Junior 1B Evan Bush tied an Alabama record with two hits in the ninth inning against Florida on Sunday.
*Sophomore LHP Wade LeBlanc made his return to the mound this week for Alabama, with a pair of starts against Memphis (3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K) and No. 5 Florida (4.1 IP, 10 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 6 K). He had not pitched in four weeks since suffering a bruised shoulder in a post-game celebration against Miami (Ohio) on March 12.
*The Alabama bullpen was solid at Florida this weekend. The pen was 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA in three appearances this weekend. The pen worked 13 innings and allowed nine hits and three earned runs, with four walks and 13 strikeouts.
*The three UA relieves stranded all five inherited runners in the Florida series.
*Including the Memphis game, the Alabama bullpen is 2-0 with a 1.89 ERA in its last four games. The pen worked 19 innings this week and allowed four earned runs and 14 hits, with six walks and 16 strikeouts.
*Alabama has recorded double figure hits in each of its last eight games. In those eight games, Bama is batting .320 (98-for-306), with 12 home runs and 58 RBI. Bama is averaging 12.25 hits per game since April 3.
*After two straight weekends on the road, Alabama returns home Wednesday, April 20 to face the Miss. Valley State Delta Devils (18-19, 17-4 SWAC). The MVSU game is the beginning of a nine-game home stand for Alabama.
*The Crimson Tide will host its fifth straight Top 25 opponent this weekend as the South Carolina Gamecocks visit Tuscaloosa. The USC series will be the first of two straight SEC home series for Alabama. The Crimson Tide will host Georgia (April 29-May 1) in two weeks.
*Alabama has lost its last three series to South Carolina. The Crimson Tide’s last series win came in Tuscaloosa during the 2001 season as UA completed the sweep of USC.
