ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE BASEBALL NOTEBOOK
5/21/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Overall Record: 39-17 (.696)
SEC Record: 20-10 (.667) (SEC co-Champions; SEC Western Division Champions)
Streak: Won 5
Last Week: 3-0 (1.000)
May 18 -- Alabama 11, Tennessee 3
May 19 -- Alabama 5, Tennessee 3
May 20 -- Alabama 5, Tennessee 1
Player of the Week Nominee
26 Matt Downs (Sr., 3B, 6-3, 190, Centreville, Ala.)
3 GS, 10-for-14 (.714), 3 R, 2B, 3B, HR, 6 RBI, BB, 2-2 SB, 1.143 Slugging Pct.; .733 On-Base Pct.
*Downs played a key role in Alabama’s three-game sweep of the Tennessee Vols in Knoxville this past weekend that resulted in the Crimson Tide’s 14th SEC Championship and 12th Western Division title
*Downs had multiple hits in all three games, including back-to-back four-hit games to open the series
*He was 4-for-5 with two runs scored, one double, one triple and one RBI in UA’s series-opening 11-3 win. His leadoff triple in the sixth inning ignited a five-run inning that allowed UA to seal the game with a 10-3 lead.
*Downs went 4-for-5 in game two of the series and drove in three of UA’s five runs. He had a game-tying single in the 7th inning as UA posted its second straight comeback win of the series en route to the school’s 12th SEC Western Division title
*He was 2-for-4 in the series finale and smashed a two-out, two-run home run in the eighth inning that gave Alabama a 5-0 lead en route to the school’s league-leading 14th SEC Championship.
*Downs was primarily a pitcher in his first two seasons at Alabama, before becoming the Tide’s full-time third baseman this spring. In 55 games, he is batting .317 (69-for-218) with six home runs and a team-leading 54 RBI. In SEC play, he leads Alabama with a .372 (45-for-121) with five home runs and 30 RBI. In 30 SEC starts, Downs is the team leader in runs scored, home runs and RBI.
Pitcher of the Week Nominee
23 Wade LeBlanc (Jr., LHP, 6-3, 193, Lake Charles, La.)
1 GS, 1-0, 1.29 ERA, 7 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
*In his best performance in more than a month, Wade LeBlanc held UT to one earned run and seven hits in seven-plus innings as the Crimson Tide captured its 12th SEC Western Division championship
*The left-hander improved to 9-0 (1.000) on the season to become the first UA pitcher since Dennis Walsh (1991) to win his first nine decisions on the mound
*Dating back to the 2005 season, LeBlanc will take a 10-game winning streak into the post-season
*He struck out six batters (no walks) in the win over UT to become UA’s all-time leader with 313 career strikeouts. He moved past Brent Carter (2002-05) who held the previous record of 307 career strikeouts.
*For the season, LeBlanc is 9-0 with a 2.88 ERA in 15 starts. He has recorded 107 strikeouts this season in 109 innings on the mound. The 107 strikeouts rank third on UA’s single-season charts. The 109 innings pitched rank 10th on the UA single-season lists.
Freshman of the Week Nominee
33 Tommy Hunter (Fr., RHP, 6-5, 255, Indianapolis, Ind.)
1 GS, 1-0, 1.00 ERA, 9 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
*Tommy Hunter not only became the winningest freshman pitcher in Alabama history, but he pitched the Crimson Tide to a share of the SEC Championship with a dominating 5-1 compete game win against Tennessee in the regular season finale
*Hunter limited the Vols to one run and six hits for his UA freshman record ninth win of the season. He added four strikeouts and did not walk a batter en route to his third CG of the season
*The previous record for freshman wins was eight held by current volunteer assistant coach B.J. Green (1998), Scott Murphy (1999), Taylor Tankersley (2002) and Wade LeBlanc (2004).
*Hunter took a shutout into the ninth inning and lost with two outs when Kelly Edmundson’s solo home run cut the UA lead to 5-1
*He escaped three middle-inning jams with UA clinging to a slim lead. Hunter stranded a two-out double in the fourth inning and a one-out double in the fifth inning. UT had runners on first and second with no outs in the sixth, before Hunter struck out J.P. Arencibia and got Edmundson to ground into the inning-ending double play
*For the season, Hunter is 9-3 with a 3.12 ERA in 17 appearances, including 13 starts. Hunter has logged 98 innings and allowed 91 hits, 41 runs and 34 earned runs, with 19 walks and 65 strikeouts.
ALABAMA BASEBALL NOTEBOOK
*Alabama (39-17, 20-10 SEC) earned a share of the 2006 SEC Championship with the Kentucky Wildcats. Alabama now owns a league-leading 14 SEC Championships. LSU ranks second with 13 league titles. Florida and Miss. State are the only other two schools with 10 or more SEC titles. Alabama’s SEC Championships have come in 1934, 1935, 1936, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1947, 1950, 1955, 1968, 1983, 1996 and 2006.
*The Crimson Tide also won its 25th regular-season conference championship this season. Alabama has won seven Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (1909, 1913, 1915, 1917, 1918, 1919 and 1920) titles, three Southern Conference (1924, 1930 and 1932) and 14 SEC (1934, 1935, 1936, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1947, 1950, 1995, 1968, 1983, 1996 and 2006) titles.
*Alabama clinched its 12th SEC Western Division championship with its 5-3 win over Tennessee on Friday night. This is the third divisional title under head coach Jim Wells, who also directed Bama to Western Division pennants in 1996 and 2002. The Crimson Tide won its first SEC Western Division championship in 1950 and then went on to defeat Kentucky three games to one to win the SEC Championship. Alabama has won SEC Western Division titles in 1950, 1951, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1969, 1973, 1974, 1981, 1996 and 2002. Only Florida (20) and LSU (13) have more divisional titles than Alabama.
*Alabama also earned its 20th SEC victory this season. UA had not had 20 conference wins since the 2002 season. A win tonight would give Alabama its fifth 20-win SEC season. Bama also won 20 games in 1996 (20-10), 1997 (20-9), 1999 (21-9) and 2002 (20-10). The 1999 team holds the school record with 21 SEC wins.
*Alabama joins Florida as the only two schools to win baseball and softball championships in the same season. Florida won the baseball and softball titles in 1998. Alabama won both baseball and softball this year.
*The Crimson Tide won eight of its 10 SEC series this season, losing at No. 20 LSU and No. 14 Arkansas. The Tigers and Razorbacks are in the same bracket with the Crimson Tide, along with Ole Miss. Alabama went 12-3 against the SEC Eastern Division and 8-7 against the Western Division.
*Alabama is the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament following the tie-breaker. UA and UK did not meet in the regular-season, but UA won two of three from No. 3 seed Georgia, while UK lost two of three.
*The Crimson Tide has compiled a 35-26 (.574) all-time record at the SEC Tournament since 1977. The Crimson Tide is an impressive 31-10 (.756) in SEC tourney games under coach Jim Wells, including six (1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2002 and 2003) tourney titles. Bama is 23-8 (.742) in SEC tourney games at the Hoover Met, with four (1996, 1999, 2002 and 2003) championships.
*Alabama also posted its first winning road record since the 2000 season. Bama was 11-10 on the road this season, including an 8-7 mark in SEC play. The last time UA had a winning road record was during the 2000 (12-10) season. The last time UA had a winning SEC road record was 1999 (8-7).
*Alabama closed out the regular season with a three-game sweep at Tennessee. It was UA’s third SEC series sweep (Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and Tennessee) of the 2006 season and first in Knoxville since 1981. Bama batted .322 (37-for-115) in the UT series with three home runs and 19 RBI.
*The Crimson Tide pitching staff (3-0, 1.67 ERA, 1 Save) allowed only five earned runs and three walks in the Tennessee series. Wade LeBlanc (7 IP) and Tommy Hunter (9 IP) combined for 16 innings without allowing a walk in the final two games.
*LeBlanc had six strikeouts in Bama’s 5-3 win over UT on May 19 to become the school’s all-time strikeout leader with his 313th career strikeout. The old record of 307 career strikeouts was held by Brent Carter (2002-05).
*LeBlanc ranks third on UA’s single-season strikeout chart with 107 strikeouts this year. LeBlanc also ranks second with 108 strikeouts last year. The single-season record of 118 strikeouts belongs to Bobby Sprowl (1977), who is now the head coach at Shelton State CC in Tuscaloosa.
*The Lake Charles, La., native is second all-time in career starts (43), third in innings pitched (309 2/3 IP) and sixth in wins (22).
*LeBlanc also ranks 10th on the UA single-season list with 109 innings pitched.
*Emeel Salem moved into sixth place all-time with his sixth career triple at Tennessee on May 19
*Salem is also tied with Ralph Lusian for 10th all-time with 50 career stolen bases.
*David Robertson moved into fourth place on the all-time list with his 17th career save at Tennessee on May 19.
