Alabama Baseball Notebook
5/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE BASEBALL NOTEBOOK
Overall Record: 34-16 (.680)
SEC Record: 15-9 (.625) (1st SEC West; 2nd Overall)
Streak: Lost 3
Last Week: 0-3 (.000)
May 5 -- Arkansas 4, Alabama 3 (11 Innings) (Fayetteville)
May 6 -- Arkansas 13, Alabama 6
May 7 -- Arkansas 5, Alabama 3
This Week:
May 12 -- vs. Florida (6:06 PM) (CSS)
May 13 -- vs. Florida (4 PM)
May 14 -- vs. Florida (1:06 PM) (Sun Sports)
ALABAMA BASEBALL NOTEBOOK
*Alabama (34-16, 15-9 SEC) was swept in a three-game series at No. 14 Arkansas (L 4-3, L 14-6, L 5-3) and fell into second place in the overall SEC standings with six games remaining in the regular season. The Crimson Tide trails league-leading Kentucky (16-8 SEC) by one-game in the overall SEC race. The Crimson Tide and Wildcats did not play each other this season. Alabama maintained its lead in the SEC Western Division and now holds a slim one-game lead over second-place Arkansas (14-10 SEC) heading into the final two weeks of play. Ole Miss (13-11 SEC) is two games behind Alabama in third place in the SEC West. The Rebels, Georgia (13-11 SEC) and South Carolina (13-11 SEC) are all tied for fourth place in overall SEC standings after this weekend’s play. Alabama (at Arkansas), Ole Miss (at Kentucky) and South Carolina (at Georgia) all suffered road sweeps this weekend.
*Alabama has played 25 of 50 games this season against ranked teams. Alabama is 12-13 against those ranked teams, including an 11-11 mark against Top 25 clubs. Alabama has compiled a 25-16 (.610) record against the Top 100 RPI.
*The Crimson Tide batted .254 (30-for-118) at Arkansas with one home run and 10 RBI. UA scored 12 runs in the three-game series and stranded 33 base runners. UA left 13 men on base in the series opener and 15 men on base in the finale. Alabama was 8-for-40 (.200) with runners in scoring position, including 0-for-6 (.000) with the bases loaded. Alabama managed only two, 2-out RBI, while Arkansas collected 12, two-out RBI in the series.
*The pitching staff was 0-3 with a 6.41 ERA in the series. Alabama pitchers logged 26 2/3 innings and issued 25 walks.
*Overall, Alabama is batting .296 (513-for-1735) with 39 home runs and 303 RBI in 50 games. Junior CF Emeel Salem is the leading hitter with a .369 (79-for-214) with two home runs and 23 RBI and 53 runs scored. Salem continues to lead the SEC with 28 stolen bases in 35 attempts.
*Junior CF Emeel Salem is the leading hitter with .369 (79-for-214) average with two home runs and 23 RBI. He leads the SEC with 79 hits and 28 stolen bases. Salem is riding a 12-game hitting streak, where he is batting .491 (28-for-57) with seven extra base hits and five RBI.
*Senior catcher Kody Valverde (.327, 10 HR, 47 RBI) and senior 3B Matt Downs (.000, 5 HR, 47 RBI) are the co-leaders with 47 RBI.
*In SEC play, Alabama is hitting .313 (267-for-854) with 23 home runs and 149 RBI. The Tide has scored 166 runs in 24 SEC games. Salem leads UA with a .374 (40-for-107) average in league play, with two home runs and 11 RBI. He has scored 25 runs in 24 games. The junior is riding an 11-game SEC hitting streak, where he is batting .426 (20-for-47) with one home run and five RBI.
*The UA pitching staff has compiled a 34-16 record with 10 saves, six complete games and a league-leading 3.48 ERA. The Crimson Tide has three pitchers among the Top 10 ERAs in the SEC through Sunday’s games, including Jake McCarter (2nd, 2.33 ERA), Wade LeBlanc (6th, 3.02 ERA) and Tommy Hunter (9th, 3.29 ERA). In SEC play, UA pitchers are 15-9 with a 4.33 ERA in 24 games. The Crimson Tide has five complete games in SEC play this season.
*The Crimson Tide will host the Florida Gators in the final home series of the 2006 regular-season this weekend (May 12-14) at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Alabama is 26-6 (.813) at home this year, including a 10-2 (.833) mark in SEC play. The Crimson Tide has home SEC series wins against Ole Miss, No. 1 Miss. State, No. 16 Vanderbilt and Auburn. Alabama swept Ole Miss and Vandy and took two of three from MSU and Auburn.
*The Florida series will mark the final regular-season home series for seven senior players and one student manager. The senior players are Ken Brown (LHP, Lafayette, La.), Evan Bush (2B, Rainbow City), Jordan Davis (RHP, Frisco, Texas), Matt Downs (3B, Centreville), David Ferazza (C, Hayward, Calif.), Spencer Pennington (1B, Fayette) and Kody Valverde (C, Baton Rouge). The student manager is Nick Rambo.
*Alabama leads the Florida series 48-37. Florida has won the last three series (2003-05) and has posted a 6-3 record in those three series against UA. Coach Jim Wells is 22-10 (.688) against the Gators, including an 11-3 (.786) record at home. Alabama has won five of the six home series with Florida since 1995.
*The Crimson Tide suffered its first sweep at Arkansas since the 1994 this past weekend in Fayetteville. The Arkansas series marked the 10th time since 1995 that Alabama had been swept in a three-game series. UA had been swept twice this year against No. 6 Nebraska (Mar. 10-12) and No. 14 Arkansas (May 7-9), with both series coming on the road.
*Alabama pitchers walked a school record 16 batters in its 4-3, 11-inning loss to Arkansas on Friday, May 5. The previous record was 13 walks against Auburn on Mar. 30, 1987 and April 26, 1987.
*Freshman DH Alex Avila tied the UA single-game record with five strikeouts against Arkansas on Friday, May 5. Avila was 0-for-6 in the 11-inning game, with five strikeouts to tie Brent Reese’s school record set against Auburn on April 22, 1989.
*Salem also tied the UA record most consecutive times on base with 12 with his first-inning single on Friday, May 5. He lined out in his next at-bat in the third inning to end the streak. Salem tied the mark set by Mick Kerns in 1991.
*Bush made his 200th career start at Arkansas on Sunday, May 7.
