Alabama Meets Ole Miss in SEC Semis
5/27/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The 2006 SEC co-champion Alabama Crimson Tide (41-18, 20-10 SEC) meets the Ole Miss Rebels (38-20, 17-13 .SEC) in the semi finals of the 2006 Southeastern Conference baseball tournament on Saturday, May 27 at the Hoover Met. Alabama and Ole Miss will meet in the second game of the day at 1:36 p.m. (CT). The game will be televised by FSN South with Dave Neal (play-by-play), Larry Conley (analyst) and Jenn Hildreth (reporter) calling the action. Should Alabama win, the two teams would meet again at either 5 p.m. or 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, dependig on the outcome of the Georgia-Vanderbilt game. Ole Miss needs just one win to reach the SEC Championship game for the second straight year. Alabama advanced in the tournament with an 8-3 win over LSU on Friday night. Ole Miss won its first two games had a day off on Friday.
SEC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Alabama is 37-30 (.552) all-time in SEC Tournament play since 1977. Alabama is 33-11 (.750) under coach Jim Wells in SEC Tournament play and has won six championships (1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2002 and 2003). Bama is 25-9 (.734) in tournament games here at the Hoover Met. Alabama is 1-4 (.200) all-time in SEC tourney play against Ole Miss, including a 1-2 mark under Wells. The Rebels handed the Crimson Tide both its losses in last year’s tournament, including a 5-3 win in an elimination game. Ole Miss also eliminated Alabama from the 1994 SEC Western Division tournament in Oxford. Bama’s lone win came in first-round game in 1999.
HEAD COACH JIM WELLS
Wells has compiled a 519-243 (.681) record in 12 years at Alabama. He has led the Crimson Tide to two SEC Championships (1996 and 2006), three Western Division titles (1996, 2002 and 2006) and six tourney championships (1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2002 and 2003). In 17 years at Northwestern State and Alabama, Wells has compiled a 711-332 (.682) record. He is 33-11 (.750) in his career at the SEC Tournament.
RPI
Alabama enters today’s game with the No. 4 RPI in the nation in the latest report by warrennolan.com. The Crimson Tide enters Saturday’s semi final game with Ole Miss with more games (49) against the Top 100 RPI teams than any other team in the nation. Alabama has compiled a 31-18 (.633) record against those Top 100 RPI teams. The 31 wins rank second only to Clemson, who has a 35-12 (.744) record and the nation’s top RPI. Ole Miss, today’s opponent is 17th in the latest RPI and has compiled a 27-16 (.628) record against the Top 10 RPI teams.
40 WINS AGAIN
Alabama notched its 40th win of the season with a 4-3 win over Arkansas on Thursday. The 2006 season marks the 13th time in school history the Crimson Tide has posted 40 wins. Alabama has 40 or more wins in nine of the 12 years under coach Wells. UA’s 40-win seasons have come in 1981 (41-15-1), 1986 (43-20), 1991 (42-20), 1995 (42-23), 1996 (50-19), 1997 (56-14), 1998 (46-18), 1999 (53-16), 2000 (41-14), 2002 (51-15), 2005 (40-23) and 2006 (40-19).
ALABAMA-OLE MISS SERIES
Alabama leads the all-time series with Ole Miss, 188-128-1 (.591) since the first meeting in 1895. The Ole Miss series is the longest running series in the UA record book, dating back 101 years. Alabama swept Ole Miss (12-2, 9-8 and 9-2) in the regular season series in Tuscaloosa this year. Alabama had a .354 batting average and compiled a 3.54 ERA in the series sweep. Ole Miss beat Alabama twice last year in the SEC Tournament, including a 5-3 win in an elimination game. Coach Wells is 19-20 (.444) in his career against Ole Miss. Coach Mike Bianco is 12-8 (.600) in his career against Alabama. Bianco played at LSU while Wells was a graduate assistant coach. Bianco served two years at Northwestern State as a grad assistant under Wells in 1990-91.
ALABAMA NOTEBOOK
Alabama is 7-1 (.875) in its last eight games ... Bama pitchers have issued just eight walks in the last six games ... Alabama has compiled a 2.88 ERA in its last eight games ... Alabama is 17-3 (.850) is SEC Tournament games under Jim Wells ... The Crimson Tide is 18-2 (.900) this season when scoring in the first inning ... Bama scored three first-inning runs last night in its 8-3 win over LSU ... Alabama is 36-0 this season when leading after eight innings ... UA is 24-0 in scoring seven or mor runs ... The Tide scored eight runs in Friday’s win over LSU ... Alabama is 28-2 (.933) in holding an opponent to three runs or less ... Arkansas and LSU have scored only three runs in each of the last two games ... Alabama three SEC Tournament games have drawn 30,759 fans, an average of 10.253 per game ... The Crimson Tide is batting .200 (19-for-95) in the tournament with two home runs and 12 RBI ... Bama has scored 15 runs in the three games ... The Tide’s batting average is the worst among the eight tourney teams ... UA opponents are batting .250 (25-for-100) at the tournament with two home runs and 10 RBI ... Freshman RF Kent Matthes is 3-for-9 (.333) with one home run and three RBI in three SEC tourney games ... The UA pitching staff is 2-1 with two saves and a 3.33 ERA at the SEC Tournament ... The Tide’s 3.33 ERA ranks third among SEC tourney teams ... Opposing pitchers are 1-2 with a 2.77 ERA against the Tide ... Junior RHP Jake McCarter has made two appearances (4.2 IP, 4 H, ER, 0 BB, 3 K) and has no record, one save and a 1.93 ERA ... Alabama has made just one error (.990) in three SEC tourney games, to lead the eight teams in fielding ... Bama has scored 10 of its 15 runs this weekend after the sixth inning ... Bama batted .354 (35-for-99) against Ole Miss with three home runs and 26 RBI ... The Rebels batted .229 in the series and compiled a 9.59 ERA ... Alabama’s 2-3-4-5 hitters are 5-for-41 (.122) with four RBI and 10 strikeouts in the SEC Tourney ... Four of the five hits and three of the four RBI came in Friday’s win over LSU ... Downs (0-for-10) and Avila (1-for-10) are a combined 1-for-20 (.050) at the plate at the SEC tourney ... Alabama is 11-8 (.579) in one-run games this year ... Senior 3B Matt Downs has 11 sacrifice bunts this season and is one shy of the single-season record ... Adam Pavkovich (2002) and Nate Duncan (1995) hold the record with 12 sac bunts ... Alabama is 26-6 (.813) when it hits a home run this year ...
