Alabama Hosts Troy on Wednesday Afternoon
2/13/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The University of Alabama baseball team will host the Troy University Trojans on Wednesday, February 14, 2007 at 2 p.m. here at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The game was moved up from the original start time of 6:30 p.m. due to cold weather. The game will be a rematch of last year’s NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional Championship game also played here in Tuscaloosa. Alabama beat Troy, 14-5, to advance to the 2006 NCAA Super Regionals. In fact, the two teams played three times last year, with the Crimson Tide winning two of the three games. Troy beat Alabama, 9-6, in a regular-season meeting on March 22 in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide beat the Trojans, 4-3, to advance to the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional Championship on June 3, before winning the championship on June 4. Alabama (3-0) is coming off a three-game sweep of Georgia State this past weekend in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide hit .384 (38-for-99) in the series with seven home runs and 25 RBI. The Crimson Tide has five starters hitting .400 or better through the first three games, led by senior shortstop Greg Paiml (.583, HR, 5 RBI) and sophomore second baseman Jeff Texada (.583, HR, 4 RBI). The Alabama pitching staff (3-0, 1.00 ERA) allowed just three earned runs and 19 hits in the weekend series. UA pitchers recorded 28 strikeouts and walked three batters. Bama’s three starters held GSU to one run (0.54 ERA) and 12 hits in 16 2/3 innings, with 17 strikeouts and one walk. Troy (1-2) lost two of three at home this weekend to No. 6 Arkansas. The Trojans were outscored 37-16 in the three-game series by the Razorbacks.
THE HEAD COACHES
Alabama head baseball coach Jim Wells (Northwestern State, 1980) is the winningest coach in school history. He has compiled a 526-246 (.681) record in 13 seasons at the Capstone. Overall, Wells has posted a 718-335 (.682) record in 18 seasons. Troy head coach Bobby Pierce (Alabama, 1981) is 148-88 (.627) in his fifth year at Troy. Overall, he is 424-196 (.684) in 11 years as a head coach. For more on Coach Wells, please see pages 6-7.
TROY SERIES
*Alabama leads the all-time series with Troy, 14-4.
*The two teams first met in 1941, with Alabama claiming a 9-6 win.
*The Crimson Tide and Trojans played three times last season, with Alabama winning two of the three meetings.
*Troy claimed a 9-6 win during the regular season on March 22, while Alabama’s two wins came at the 2006 NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional here at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
*Alabama beat Troy 4-3 on June 3 to advance to the championship game and then moved on to the NCAA Super Regionals with an easy 14-5 win in the Tuscaloosa Regional championship game on June 4.
*The Crimson Tide and Trojans also met in the 1997 NCAA South II Regional in Tuscaloosa. Alabama won the game 8-5.
*Alabama head coach Jim Wells is 6-2 (.750) in his career against the Trojans.
*Troy head coach Bobby Pierce is 1-2 (.333) against Alabama.
*Pierce, a 1981 Alabama alum, was a two-year starter for coach Barry Shollenberger in 1980-81. He was a 1981 All-SEC Western Division pick as a senior.
*In 2006, Pierce became the first former UA player to coach against the Crimson Tide since Craig Antush coached Marshall in 1997.
*The Crimson Tide opened the season with a three-game sweep of the Thundering Herd. Antush is now the pitching coach at Youngstown (Ohio) State.
ALABAMA VS. SUN BELT CONFERENCE
*Alabama owns a 139-72 (.659) record against the teams from the Sun Belt Conference.
*Bama is 16-3 (.842) against Sun Belt Conference teams since the 2002 season.
*The Crimson Tide was 6-1 (.857) against Sun Belt Conference teams last season, winning three games with Florida International, two out of three with Troy and one against South Alabama.
BELCHER HONORED
University of Alabama senior left-hander Brandon Belcher was named the Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Week, the league office announced Monday afternoon. In his first appearance on the mound since "Tommy John" surgery, Belcher (Ruston, La.) threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings in his 2007 debut against Georgia State on Saturday, Feb. 10. He limited the Panthers to just one single and added six strikeouts after throwing 70 pitches.
After allowing a second-inning single, Belcher retired the next 12 GSU hitters in order before leaving the game with two outs in the sixth inning. The start was Belcher's first since May 21, 2005 at Auburn when he suffered an injury that led to surgery. This marks the second time Belcher has won SEC Pitcher of the Week honors in his career. He earned the first award on March 15, 2004 after posting wins over Southern Miss (5.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K) and Southeast Missouri State (7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K) over a five-day span during his freshman season.
CRIMSON TIDE DEBUTS
*A total of six Alabama players made their playing debuts this past weekend against Georgia State.
*The list includes Jared Avchen (C, Palm Bay, Fla.), Brandon May (INF, Marietta, Ga.), Mike Meschke (INF, Marietta, Ga.), Jake Smith (3B, Shannon), Will Stroup (LHP, Birmingham) and Elvin Vargas (OF, New York, N.Y.).
*Smith started all three games at first base and hit .444 (4-for-9) with one home run and three RBI in the weekend series.
*He slapped an opposite field RBI single to right field in his first collegiate at-bat in the season opener on Feb. 10 and added a solo home run in his second at-bat in the third inning.
*Avchen, who missed the entire fall with a broken foot, started two games behind the plate against Georgia State and collected his first career hit in game two of the series on Feb. 10.
*May popped an opposite field, pinch-hit double to right in his first collegiate at-bat in the series finale on Feb. 11.
*Stroup pitched two scoreless innings in the season opener on Feb. 10 in relief of Tommy Hunter.
*Meschke and Vargas saw action as pinch-hitters last weekend.
*The Crimson Tide opened the season with 14 players on its roster who had never seen action at Alabama.
*Alabama has eight more players looking to make their debuts this season. The list includes J.J. Baswell (C, Millport), Brock Bennett (C, Tucker, Ga.), Vin DiFazio (C, Hampton, N.J.), Austin Evans (RHP, Tampa, Fla.), Jason Garner (LHP, Trussville), Brian Griggs (LHP, Melbourne, Fla.), Del Howell (LHP, Tuscaloosa) and Bryant Jones (OF, Dacula, Ga.).
TIME CHANGE
The start time of the Alabama-Canisius game scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 17 has been moved up one hour. The original start time was listed as 4 p.m. (CST), but the game has been moved up one hour to 3 p.m. (CST).
ON DECK
Alabama will host the Canisius Golden Griffins in a three-game series this weekend at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The series opener is set for Friday, Feb. 16 at 6:30 p.m. The teams will also play Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 11 a.m.
