No. 13 Bama Baseball Team Faces No. 28 Southern Miss
3/5/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
GAME 15: ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE (12-2) vs. SOUTHERN MISS GOLDEN EAGLES (10-2)TRUSTMARK PARK ?? PEARL, MISSISSIPPI -- 7 PM (CST)
MARCH 6, 2007 -- ALABAMA PLAYS FIRST ROAD GAME IN PEARL
ALABAMA ON THE ROAD AGAINST USM
The 13th ranked University of Alabama baseball team plays its first road game of the 2007 season when the Crimson Tide travels to Pearl, Miss., to face the Southern Miss Golden Eagles in a 7 p.m. (CST) on Tuesday, March 6. The game will be played at Trustmark Park, the home of the Southern League’s Mississippi Braves (Class AA affiliate of the Atlanta Braves). Alabama (12-2) brings a six-game winning streak into the Southern Miss game after a three-game sweep of McNeese State in Tuscaloosa over the weekend. The Crimson Tide notched its first extra inning win of the season with a 4-3 victory in 10 innings in the series finale. The Southern Miss game is the first of five games this week for the Crimson Tide. Alabama returns home on Wednesday, March 7 to face Tennessee Tech and then hosts Nebraska (March 9-11) this weekend. No. 28 Southern Miss (10-2) is coming off a series win over then-No. 29 UL Lafayette this past weekend in Hattiesburg.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP
Odr No. Name Pos. Bats 2007 Stats
1 2 Emeel Salem CF L/L .382 (21x55), 2 HR, 10 RBI, 20 R
2 10 Jeff Texada 2B R/R .333 (17x51), 1 HR, 7 RBI, 12 BB
3 14 Jake Smith 3B R/R .351 (13x37), 2 HR, 15 RBI
4 6 Alex Avila DH L/R .370 (20x54), 2 HR, 13 RBI, 7 2B
5 22 Kent Matthes RF R/R .426 (23x54), 4 HR, 20 RBI, 16 R
6 34 Ryan Rhoden C R/R .383 (18x47), 0 HR, 7 RBI, 10 R
7 25 Matt Bentley 1B L/L .385 (15x39), 1 HR, 10 RBI
8 6 Brandon May LF R/R .417 (10x26), 0 HR, 5 RBI
9 3 Greg Paiml SS R/R .271 (13x48), 1 HR, 10 RBI, 5 2B
SOUTHERN MISS SERIES
Alabama holds a 68-23 series lead over Southern Miss. The teams have met on an annual basis since 1997 (except 2003) and the Crimson Tide owns a 12-1 record in those meetings. USM snapped an 11-game series losing streak with a 7-4 win over Alabama in 2005. The game at Trustmark Park will be just the third neutral site game in series and first since 1979 when the two teams met in Jackson.
THE HEAD COACHES
Alabama head baseball coach Jim Wells (Northwestern State, 1980) is the winningest coach in school history. He has compiled a 535-248 (.683) record in 13 seasons at the Capstone. Overall, Wells has posted a 727-337 (.683) record in 18 seasons. Wells is 12-1 (.923) in his career against Southern Miss. USM head coach Corky Palmer has compiled a 347-212 (.629) record in 10 seasons in Hattiesburg. Palmer is 1-10 (.091) in his career against Alabama.
STARTING PITCHERS
Alabama will send senior right-hander Bernard Robert (Denham Springs, La.) to the mound against Southern Miss. He is 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA in three appearances this season. Robert has worked 10 innings and allowed six hits and two earned runs, with three walks and seven strikeouts. Robert posted two wins last week against UAB and McNeese State. Southern Miss will counter with freshman right-hander Todd McInnis (Brandon). McInnis is 2-0 with 2.08 ERA in two starts this season.
BAMA RIDING SIX-GAME WINNING STREAK
Alabama brings a season-high six-game winning streak into Tuesday’s game against Southern Miss. Alabama’s six-game winning streak is the longest active streak by an SEC Western Division team and the third-longest active streak in the SEC behind Vanderbilt (14) and South Carolina (12). During the streak, Alabama is batting .359 (79-for-220) with two home runs and 44 RBI. The Crimson Tide is averaging 8.5 runs (51) and 13.2 hits (79) per game during the recent winning streak. Sophomore Kent Matthes (Orlando, Fla.) is hitting .500 (11-for-22) with seven runs scored and five RBI during this streak. Sophomore Ryan Rhoden (Tuscaloosa) is batting .478 (11-for-23) with six runs scored and five RBI, while junior Matt Bentley (Huntsville) is hitting a .471 (8-for-17) slip with three runs scored and a team-leading eight RBI in the last six games.
UAB REWIND:
Alabama’s 16-0 win is the third-largest in series history against UAB ... The Crimson Tide racked up 20 hits in the win, including 18 singles ... The 18 singles were the most in the game by Alabama since April 16, 2006 at LSU ... The school record is 20 singles against Virginia on May 24, 1996 at the NCAA South I Regional ... Alabama’s 10 runs in the fifth inning were the most by the Crimson Tide since scoring 10 runs in the fifth inning against Southeast Missouri State on March 12, 2004 ... Alabama’s eight hits in the fifth inning were the most since a nine-hit, seventh inning against Canisius on Feb. 17, 2007 ... Sophomore catcher Ryan Rhoden (Tuscaloosa) tied the school record with five hits in the win over UAB on Wednesday ... Sophomore Tyler Odle (Vestavia Hills) recorded his first collegiate hit during Alabama’s 10-run, fifth inning on Wednesday ...
McNEESE STATE REWIND:
Alabama swept a three-game series from McNeese State this past weekend in Tuscaloosa, winning 6-4, 9-1 and 4-3 (10 innings) against the defending Southland Conference champions ... Alabama had 15 hits, all singles in the series-opening win over the Cowboys ... Sophomore left-hander Miers Quigley recorded a career-high nine strikeouts in seven innings in the opener ... Sophomore right-hander Casey Kebodeaux turned in a career-high eight innings en route to his second win of the season ... Alabama has scored 47 runs (11.75 per game) in Kebodeaux’s four starts this season ... Alabama claimed its first extra inning win of the season in the series finale ... The Crimson Tide is 1-1 in extra inning games this season ... Freshman third baseman Jake Smith returned to the lineup on Saturday after missing five games with a knee injury ... He went 2-for-5 with a home run and five RBI in the 9-1 win over Saturday, including an eighth-inning grand slam ... He drove in the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning in Sunday’s series finale ... Sophomore right-hander Tommy Hunter turned in three scoreless innings in two relief stints this weekend against McNeese State ...
OFFENSIVE NOTES:
Alabama is hitting .344 (173-for-503) through 14 games with 13 home runs and 106 RBI ... The Crimson Tide has averaged 8.4 runs and 12.4 hits through the first 14 games ... This time last year, Alabama was hitting only .249 (112-for-450) with 12 home runs and 78 RBI ... The Crimson Tide has increased its offensive production by more than two runs per game and four hits per game and from this time last year ... The Crimson Tide has six starters hitting .350 or better this season, compared to only one (Kody Valverde) last year ... Sophomore right fielder Kent Matthes (Orlando, Fla.) continues to lead the Crimson Tide with a .426 (23-for-54) average, four home runs and 20 RBI in 14 games ... He has reached base in all 14 games this season ... He has at least one hit and one RBI in 13 of 14 games ... Junior first baseman Matt Bentley (Huntsville) is the second-leading hitter with a .385 (15-for-39) mark with one home run and 10 RBI ... Sophomore catcher Ryan Rhoden (Tuscaloosa) is third with a .383 (18-for-47) average, while senior center fielder Emeel Salem (Mountain Brook) is fourth with a .382 (21-for-55) with two home runs and 10 RBI ... Salem leads Alabama with 20 runs scored and has scored in all 14 games this year, including the winning run in the 10th inning against McNeese State on March 4 ...
PITCHING NOTES:
The pitching staff has a 12-2 record and 2.56 ERA through 14 games ... The staff has worked 103 innings and allowed 102 hits, 44 runs and 37 earned runs, with 33 walks and 134 strikeouts this season ... Opponents are batting only .213 against the Crimson Tide ... Alabama starters are 8-1 (.889) with a 1.39 ERA this season ... The starters have logged 77 2/3 innings and allowed 51 hits, 14 runs and 12 earned runs, with 21 walks and 75 strikeouts ... Kebodeaux (4 GS, 2-0, 1.19 ERA) and Quigley (4 GS, 2-0, 1.61 ERA) lead the way with four starts and two wins each ... Kebodeaux leads the team with 22 2/3 innings pitched, while Quigley heads the list with 26 strikeouts ... Sophomore right-hander Austin Hyatt made his first career start against McNeese State (6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K) on March 4 ... The bullpen is 4-1 with four saves and 4.30 ERA in 14 games ... The pen has worked 52 1/3 innings and allowed 51 hits, 30 runs and 25 earned runs, with 12 walks and 59 strikeouts ... Opponents are hitting .250 against UA relievers ... Junior right-hander Josh Copeland (0-1, 3 SV, 5.62 ERA) leads the way with eight appearances ... Senior right-hander Patrick Kelly (1-0, 7.27 ERA) and junior left-hander Will Stroup (0-0, 5.62 ERA) have appeared in six games ...
ON DECK
Alabama returns home on Wednesday, March 7 to face the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles in a 6:30 p.m. (CST) game at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The game will be televised by WVUA Sports.
