Alabama Opens Five-Game Road Trip at Troy
3/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 2, 2009
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama looks to extend its winning streak to five straight games when the No. 23 ranked Crimson Tide travels to Troy, Ala., to face the Troy Trojans at Riddle-Pace Field on Tuesday, March 3, at 6 p.m. (CST).
The Crimson Tide will be playing its first road game of the season and opens a five-game road trip with its game against the Trojans. Alabama will play at the 2009 Whataburger College Classic this weekend in Corpus Christi, Texas. The Crimson Tide will face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Thursday, March 5, and Saturday, March 7 in the three-day event. UA will meet Texas Pan American on Friday, March 6. The team will close the five-game road trip against Auburn at the MAX Capital City Classic on Tuesday, March 10 at Montgomery's Riverwalk Stadium.
Alabama (5-2) has won four straight games, including Saturday's double-header sweep of 2008 Horizon League champion, Illinois-Chicago. The Tide won the opener 4-2, before posting a convincing 20-4 win in the nightcap.
"We are playing better," Alabama head coach Jim Wells said. "We played much better, obviously than we did in our first three games. We scored a lot of runs in the second game, which hopefully gives us some confidence. As a whole, we played better. We hope to get better each and every time out."
The Crimson Tide will send sophomore right-hander Nathan Kilcrease (1 G, 0-1, 4.75 ERA) to the mound against the Trojans. It will be his first start of the season. Troy will counter with left-hander Travis Burge (1 GS, 1-0, 3.00 ERA).
Troy (5-2) is led on offense by third baseman Brett Henry, who is hitting .476 (10-for-21) with three home runs and 10 RBI in seven games. Junior first baseman Ryan Ditthardt is hitting .467 (14-for-30) with three home runs and 11 RBI. Junior outfielder Miles Hoyle (.429, HR, 7 RBI) hit for the cycle in Troy's win over Memphis on Saturday.
RANKINGS: Alabama enters the week ranked 23rd in the Rivals.com Top 25 poll. Troy is unranked.
RADIO: The game will be carried on WTSK-AM (790) in Tuscaloosa. Mick Gillispie will handle the play-by-play call for the Crimson Tide Sports Network.
HEAD COACH Jim Wells: Coach Jim Wells begins his 15th season at Alabama and his 20th overall as a Division-I head coach. He has compiled a 593-302 (.663) record in 895 games since being named UA's 29th head coach on June 4, 1995. A 2009 Alabama Baseball Coaches Association (AlaBCA) Hall of Fame inductee, Wells is the winningest coach in Crimson Tide baseball lore. He is sixth on the SEC's all-time win list and needs just nine wins to become the sixth league coach to win 600 games. He is also fifth on the SEC's all-time list in terms of winning percentage. Overall, Wells has compiled a 785-391 (.668) record in 1,176 games over 20 seasons at the Division-I level. Prior to Alabama, he spent five years at Northwestern (La.) State, where he compiled a 192-89 (.683) record and led the Demons to three Southland Conference championships and two NCAA Regional appearances.
WHO TO WATCH: Senior right fielder Kent Matthes (.481, 6 HR, 15 RBI) has tied the Alabama record with a home run in five straight games. Roberto Vaz (April 12-19, 1997) and Aaron Clark (April 10-15, 2001) also homered in five straight games. In his last five games, Matthes is batting .550 (11-for-20) with six home runs, 15 RBI and a 1.650 slugging mark. He also has 11 runs, two doubles and one triple. Matthes was 3-for-7 (.429) in the UIC series with two home runs and seven RBI. Freshman left fielder Taylor Dugas (.360, 7 R, 4 RBI) raised his season average 93 points by going 4-for-5 with three runs scored and one RBI in game two of Saturday's twin bill. Sophomore second baseman Ross Wilson (.355, HR, 6 RBI) went 4-for-9 (.444) with one home run and five RBI on Saturday. In game two, Wilson had three hits, including a two-run home run and two-run double, and five RBI. Senior backup first baseman Wes Henderson went 3-for-3 with one home run and five RBI after entering the game in the fifth inning as a pinch-hitter. Sophomore right-hander Jimmy Nelson (5 G, 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 SV) has one win, one hold and two saves in his five appearances this season. Nelson earned the save in the game on Saturday as he stranded two runners in the ninth inning. He has stranded seven of eight inherited base runners this year.
ALABAMA-TROY SERIES: Alabama leads the all-time series with Troy, 15-6. The Alabama-Troy series dates back to the 1941 season when the Crimson Tide posted a 9-6 win at University Field (UA Quad) in Tuscaloosa. The two teams met six times during the 1970s, playing three double-headers in 1975, 1978 and 1979. Alabama won all four games in Tuscaloosa in 1975 and 1978. Troy hosted Alabama for the first time in 1979 and pulled off a double-header sweep on their home campus. The two teams met seven times in the 1990s, including a 1997 NCAA South II Regional appearance in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide won five straight games from 1991-97, including an 8-5 win in the 1997 NCAA Regional. The series moved back to Troy in 1998, where the Trojans posted an 8-4 win with a late-inning home run. Alabama swept a double-header with the Trojans in Tuscaloosa in 1999. The teams would not meet again until 2006 and the two schools are meeting for the fourth straight year in 2009. Troy won the renewal game in 2006, beating the Crimson Tide 9-6 in Tuscaloosa. Alabama posted two more wins on the NCAA's biggest stage in 2006, beating Troy 4-3 and 14-5 to capture the 2006 NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional and advance to the NCAA Super Regionals. The Trojans have won three of the last four regular season meetings, including a pair of extra inning wins in 2007 and 2008. Troy posted a 7-5, 11-inning win in Tuscaloosa in 2007 and a 5-4, 10-inning win last year in Montgomery. Alabama won 8-2 in Tuscaloosa last season. In 2009, the teams will play a home-and-home series. Alabama's visit to Riddle-Pace Field tonight will be their third-ever visit to Pike County and first since 1998. Alabama and Troy will meet in Tuscaloosa on Tuesday, April 7.
ALABAMA VERSUS SUN BELT CONFERENCE: Alabama has compiled a 129-80 (.617) all-time record against teams from the Sun Belt Conference. The Crimson Tide was 1-4 against Sun Belt Conference foes in 2008, losing single games to Troy and South Alabama and a two-game series to New Orleans. Alabama's lone win came against Troy. The Tide has played at least one game against all 11 baseball playing members of the league, including NCAA Regional wins against Florida Atlantic, Florida International, UL Lafayette, South Alabama and Troy. Alabama has played more than 20 games with South Alabama (96), Middle Tennessee (25) and Troy (21). Head Coach Jim Wells is 67-34 (.663) in his career against the Sun Belt Conference. His first win at Alabama came against Middle Tennessee on February 18, 1995. The Crimson Tide won the game 2-1 in 11 innings. Wells also has NCAA Regional wins against Florida Atlantic (2002), UL Lafayette (2005), South Alabama (1996) and Troy (1997 and 2006).
IN-STATE SCHOOLS: Alabama holds a 496-246 (.668) all-time record against teams from the state of Alabama. Coach Wells is 111-49 (.694) in his career against in-state schools.
MARCH RECORD: Alabama has posted a 174-86 (.669) record in the month of March under Coach Wells. The Crimson Tide posted a 13-9 record in the month of March in 2008 and closed the month by winning six of its last seven games, including series wins over No. 4 Vanderbilt and No. 15 Mississippi. The Crimson Tide's longest winning streak in the month of March was a 10-game streak from March 4-21, 2003. UA also had a nine-game winning streak from March 8-22, 2002. The longest losing streak in the month is four games from March 23-27, 2001. Alabama has never had a losing record in the month of March under Coach Wells.
