Alabama Crimson Tide Baseball Notebook
4/10/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Monday, April 10, 2006
Overall Record: 25-10 (.714)
SEC Record: 9-3 (.750) (t1st Overall; 1st SEC West)
Streak: Won 9 of 11 Games; 2-game winning streak
Last Week: 3-1 (.750)
April 5 -- Alabama 4, UAB 3 (Tuscaloosa)
April 7 -- South Carolina 7, Alabama 6 (11)
April 9 -- Alabama 8, South Carolina 6 (DH)
April 9 -- Alabama 6, South Carolina 1 (DH)
This Week:
April 12 -- at SE Louisiana (6:30 PM)
April 14 -- at LSU (6:30 PM)
April 15 -- at LSU (2 PM)
April 16 -- at LSU (1 PM)
Pitcher/Freshman of the Week:
Tommy Hunter (RHP, 6-4, 250, Indianapolis, Ind.)
STATS: 1 GS, 1-0, 1.29 ERA, 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
*Hunter notched his second complete game of the season with a series-clinching win at No. 1 South Carolina
*He limited the SEC’s second-best offense to one run and three hits in the seven-inning win. He walked two and added five strikeouts.
*Hunter faced just five batters over the minimum at Sarge Frye Field. He needed just 85 pitches (64 strikes) for the win
*The one run equaled the lowest run total for South Carolina this season.
*The three hits were the fewest by USC this year.
*For the season, Hunter has appeared in 11 games, including seven starts, and has compiled a 5-2 record with one save and 2.95 ERA. He has worked 55 innings and allowed 46 hits, 21 runs and 18 earned runs, with 10 walks and 41 strikeouts.
ALABAMA NOTEBOOK:
*Alabama (25-10, 9-3 SEC) won its second straight series against the No. 1 ranked team by taking two of three from South Carolina this past weekend in Columbia. The Crimson Tide also took two of three from Miss. State last weekend (March 31-April 2) in Tuscaloosa.
*Bama is 9-2 in its last 11 games, dating back to March 24.
*The Crimson Tide is 13-12 (.520) all-time against the No. 1 ranked team, including a 4-2 mark this season. Alabama has now won all six regular-season series with the top-ranked team, including wins over Miami (1985), Miss. State (1989), Auburn (1995), LSU (1997), Miss. State (2006) and South Carolina (2006). Alabama is 6-3 (.667) in regular season road games against the No. 1 ranked team with wins at Miss. State (1989), Auburn (1995) and South Carolina (2006).
*Alabama head coach Jim Wells is 9-8 (.523) in his career against the top ranked team.
*The Crimson Tide is 6-6 (.500) this year against Top 25 teams, including a 4-4 mark against Top 10 teams. Alabama has series wins over No. 23 Georgia, No. 1 Miss. State and No. 1 South Carolina. The Tide lost its series at No. 6 Nebraska. Alabama has played three of its four series against Top 10 teams on the road.
*Alabama recorded its first-ever series win at South Carolina this past weekend. After dropping the opener (7-6) in 11 innings, the Crimson Tide swept a double header on Sunday, April 9 to clinch the series.
*The double header sweep at South Carolina marked the first time since 2000 that Alabama has swept an SEC double header when UA beat Kentucky at the Joe. The last time Bama swept an SEC double header on the road came at Ole Miss in 1997.
*Alabama is 9-3 in the SEC for just the second time in the Wells era. The Crimson Tide also opened the 2002 season with a 9-3 record through 12 games. Alabama’s 9-3 league record equals the sixth best in school history. The best starts include 1940 (11-1) and 1955 (11-1), 1935 (10-2), 1950 (10-2), 1981 (9-2-1) and 2002 (9-3).
*The Crimson Tide has four straight SEC series wins over Georgia, Ole Miss, Miss. State and South Carolina. The last time Alabama won four straight SEC series was against Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Miss. State in 1996.
*Alabama is 1-3 in extra inning games this season, with all three losses coming in 11 innings. The Crimson Tide has a 10-inning win over Ole Miss on March 25.
*Hunter logged his second complete game of the 2006 season and fourth quality start at No. 1 South Carolina on April 9.
*Alabama leads the SEC with 18 quality starts this year, including nine of 12 in SEC play.
*Junior RHP Bernard Robert (7 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 3 K) and Hunter (7 IP, 3 H, ER, 2 BB, 5 K) threw back-to-back complete games at No. 1 South Carolina in an April 9 double header.
*Junior CF Emeel Salem had his 16-game hitting streak snapped in game one of Sunday’s double header at South Carolina. For the season, Salem has hit safely in 31 of 35 games for the Crimson Tide. He also made his 100th career start against the Gamecocks in game two of Sunday’s twin bill at USC.
*Junior LF Brandon Belcher went 4-for-12 (.333) at South Carolina, with two runs, one double and one RBI. He moved into the No. 2 spot in the batting order in all four games this past week. Since March 5, Belcher has hit safely in 17 of his last 21 games.
*Senior 2B Evan Bush notched his team-best 6th game-winning RBI of the season in the Tide’s 6-1 win at South Carolina. Bush was 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI in the win.
*Senior catcher Kody Valverde hit his team-leading eighth home run in game one of Sundays double header at South Carolina. Valverde’s two-run HR in the fourth inning gave the Tide a 4-3 lead en route to an 8-6 win. Six of his eight home runs this season have tied the game or given Alabama the lead.
*Valverde returns to his hometown (Baton Rouge) this weekend when the Crimson Tide plays the LSU Tigers at Alex Box Stadium (April 14-16).
*Freshman DH Alex Avila was 4-for-13 (.308) at South Carolina with two runs scored and three RBI. He was 2-for-4 with an RBI in Bama’s 8-6 win in game one of Sunday’s double header.
*Senior 3B Matt Downs slugged his second career home run and first in SEC play at South Carolina (April 9). Downs went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and a career-high three RBI in the Tide’s 8-6 win.
*Senior 1B Spencer Pennington went 3-for-9 (.333) at South Carolina with three walks, two runs scored and one RBI.
*Junior SS Greg Paiml (3-for-9, .333, HR, 2 RBI) hit his first home run of the 2006 season in the series opener with South Carolina. He led off the ninth inning with a game-tying home run, his first for the Tide in 57 games and 152 at-bats, dating back to 2005. Paiml made his 100th career start in game one of the double header on April 9.
*Redshirt freshman RF Kyle Moore (2-for-5, 3 RBI) made his first career SEC start as he started both game of a double header on April 9. Moore was 1-for-2 with an RBI in the opener and went 1-for-3 with two RBI in the nightcap. His two-run single in the second inning gave Bama a 4-0 lead.
*Alabama continues its seven-game road trip this week with games at SE Louisiana (April 12) and LSU (April 14-17).
*The Crimson Tide is 7-0 all-time against SE Louisiana and will be making his first-ever appearance at Alumni Field this week. The SE Louisiana game will mark Alabama’s first midweek, out of state road game since playing at Northwestern State (April 8) and Centenary (April 9) in 2003.
*Coach Wells is 10-2 all-time against SE Louisiana, including a 3-0 mark in Hammond.
*Alabama owns a 187-136-3 all-time record with LSU. The Crimson Tide won two of three from the Tigers last season in Tuscaloosa. Alabama will be seeking its first series win at Alex Box Stadium since 1996.
*Coach Wells is 21-29 all-time against LSU, including a 7-16 record in Baton Rouge.
