Tide Baseball Team Travels to Whataburger Classic
3/4/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 4, 2009
Alabama's Whataburger Classic Game Notes 
Alabama Crimson Tide at 2009 Whataburger Classic
vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Thursday, March 5 - 6 p.m.)
vs. Texas Pan American (Friday, March 6 - 6 p.m)
vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Saturday, March 7 - 5 p.m.)
Whataburger Field (7,050) - Corpus Christi, Texas
FIRST PITCH: Alabama heads to the Lone Star state this weekend to play in the fourth annual Whataburger College Classic at Whataburger Field in Corpus, Christi, Texas. The Crimson Tide will be joined in the field by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Texas Pan American. Alabama will open the tournament on Thursday, March 5, at 6 p.m. against the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders. The Crimson Tide will then face the Texas Pan American Broncs on Friday, March 6, at 6 p.m., before wrapping up the event with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday, March 7, at 5 p.m. The Islanders and Broncs will also meet on Saturday, March 7, at 1 p.m. and Sunday, March 8, at 1 p.m.
RECORDS: Alabama brings a 5-3 record into the 2009 Whataburger College Classic, following its 6-2 loss at Troy on Tuesday night. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (3-7) ended a seven-game losing streak on Tuesday with a double-header sweep of Texas Pan American in Edinburg. Texas Pan American (0-9) seeks its first win of the season at this weekend's tournament.
RANKINGS: Alabama enters the week ranked 23rd in the Rivals.com Top 25 poll.
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 593-303 (.662) record in 896 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 seven 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 785-392 (.667) record in 1,177 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.
MATTHES HONORED: Alabama senior right fielder Kent Matthes has picked up some hardware this week after one of the most impressive weeks in Crimson Tide baseball history. Matthes was named the Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week (Collegiate Baseball newspaper), ProLine Hitter of the Week (National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association) and College Baseball Foundation "All-Star" Lineup for his four-game performance last week. He hit .563 (9-for-16) with four home runs and 13 RBI and compiled a 1.563 slugging mark. He was also tabbed the SEC Player of the Week for his efforts.
WHO TO WATCH: Senior right fielder Kent Matthes has set the Alabama record with a home run in six straight games. He has seven home runs in those six games, including a two home run game against SE Missouri State on Feb. 22. The previous school record was a home run in five straight games set by Roberto Vaz (April 12-19, 1997) and Aaron Clark (April 10-15, 2001). For the season, Matthes is hitting .467 (14-for-30) with seven home runs and 17 RBI. He has compiled a 1.300 slugging mark with 10 extra base hits this season. Matthes has also scored 14 runs. Alabama starting pitchers have issued just one walk in the last 31 innings over the last seven games. The starters went 21 2/3 innings without a walk from Feb. 22-28, a span of five games. Sophomore right-hander Jimmy Nelson (6 G, 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 SV) has one win, one hold and two saves in his six appearances this season. Nelson earned the save in the game on Saturday as he stranded two runners in the ninth inning. He has stranded nine of 10 inherited base runners this year.
2009 WHATABURGER CLASSIC: Alabama will join Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Texas Pan American at this week's Whataburger Classic, played at Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi, Texas. The Crimson Tide will play three games in three days, beginning with a 6 p.m. game Thursday, March 5 against the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders. The Crimson Tide will also face the Texas Pan American Broncs on Friday, March 6, at 6 p.m., before closing out their portion of the tournament with the Islanders on Saturday, March 7, at 5 p.m. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Texas Pan American will meet twice in the event. The two teams will play Saturday, March 7, at 1 p.m. and Sunday, March 8 at 1 p.m.
REGULAR-SEASON TOURNAMENTS: Alabama's appearance at the 2009 Whataburger Classic will mark the school's 30th regular season tournament appearance, dating back to its debut in the 1949 Rollins College Tournament in Winter Park, Fla. Overall, Alabama is 54-52-1 (.509) in regular-season tournaments, including eight championships. The eight championships include the 1951 Rollins College Tournament, 1969 Joe Sewell Classic, 1971 Joe Sewell Classic, 1972 Joe Sewell Classic, 1974 Joe Sewell Classic, 2003 Minute Maid Park Classic and 2008 Southwest Diamond Classic. The Crimson Tide has played in the Rollins College Tournament and Joe Sewell Classic (Tuscaloosa) six times each in its history. Alabama head coach Jim Wells has led the Tide into eight regular-season tournaments, including this year's Whataburger Classic. Wells has compiled a 14-9 (.609) record, including two championships and three runner-up finishes. Last year, Alabama captured the 2008 Southwest Diamond Classic championship in Frisco, Texas with a 2-1 record. After a first-round loss to Texas-Arlington, Alabama came back to defeat Nevada and Dallas Baptist for the title.
2008 SWDC RECAP: Alabama went 2-1 to win the 2008 Southwest Diamond Classic championship at Dr Pepper Ballpark in Frisco, Texas, on February 28-March 1. The Crimson Tide won its eighth overall regular-season tournament championship with its 8-1 win over DBU on March 1. As a team, the Tide hit .354 (40-for-113) with 24 runs scored, 15 extra base hits (8 2B, 3 3B, 4 HR) and 20 RBI. Alabama averaged eight runs and 13.3 hits per game. On the mound, Alabama was 2-1 with a 5.19 ERA. Hyatt and Stroup were 2-0 with a 1.23 ERA (14.2 IP, 10 H, 2 R, 2 ER, and 5 BB 16 K) in their two wins against Nevada and DBU.
RUTLEDGE NAMED MVP: Freshman shortstop Josh Rutledge (Cullman, Ala.) was named the 2008 SWDC Most Valuable Player after hitting .643 (9-for-14) in three games with six runs scored, three stolen bases, one triple and one RBI. He also posted a .786 slugging percentage and .600 on-base mark. Rutledge posted back-to-back four-hit games in wins over Nevada (4-for-5, 3 R, 2 SB) and Dallas Baptist (4-for-4, R, 3B, RBI, SB, SFly) going 8-for-9 (.889) in wins over the Wolf Pack and Patriots.
2008 SWDC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: In addition to Rutledge, the 2008 SWDC MVP, Alabama placed four other players on the All-Tournament Team, including junior RHP Austin Hyatt (7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K), junior center fielder Alex Kubal (.625, 5-for-8, 3 R, HR, 3 RBI), junior LHP Will Stroup (7.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 10 K) and freshman second baseman Ross Wilson (.357, 5-for-14, 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 6 RBI). Sophomore left fielder Brandon May (.456, 5-for-11, R, 3 2B, 2 RBI) also had a stellar tournament but did not make the All-Tournament team.
MINOR LEAGUE PARKS: Alabama will be playing in its 23rd professional baseball stadium when the Crimson Tide makes its first-ever appearance at Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi, Texas this week. The Crimson Tide has played in 21 minor league stadiums and two major league parks in its baseball history. In addition, Alabama has also played in all five of the existing minor league ballparks in the state of Alabama, including Rickwood Field (Birmingham), Regions Park (Hoover), Joe Davis Stadium (Huntsville), Hank Aaron Stadium (Mobile) and Riverwalk Stadium (Montgomery). Alabama has also played several games at Stanky Field in Mobile. The home of the South Alabama Jaguars, also served as the home stadium of the Mobile Bay Sharks in the Texas-Louisiana League in the late 1990s. There have been several other minor league stadiums in the state of Alabama, most notably Bloch Park (Selma), Eagle Stadium (Ozark) and Rams Field (Anniston), but the Tide has not appeared at any of those parks.
LONE STAR STATE: Alabama will be making its seventh all-time appearance in the state of Texas this weekend, and second in a row. The Crimson Tide will participate in the 2009 Whataburger Classic this Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Corpus Christi, Texas. Last year, Alabama claimed the 2008 Southwest Diamond Classic championship, with a 2-1 record in Frisco, Texas. Alabama's first game in the Lone Star state was a 5-3 loss to Texas on March 29, 1922. Alabama has played in four tournaments in the state of Texas, including the 2003 NCAA College Station Regional. Overall, Alabama is 10-10 (.500) in its 20 games in the state of Texas.
ALABAMA-TEXAS A&M CORPUS CHRISTI SERIES: Alabama and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi will meet for the first time this weekend at the 2009 Whataburger Classic in Corpus Christi, Texas.
ALABAMA VS. SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE: Alabama owns a 24-6 (.800) record against the current Southland Conference field, including a 2-0 record this season following a two-game series sweep of Nicholls State (Feb. 24-25) last week in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide has played 24 of the 30 games against Southeastern Louisiana (9), Nicholls State (8) and McNeese State (7). Alabama is 9-0 all-time against SE Louisiana and also holds series leads against McNeese (6-1), Nicholls State (6-2) and Northwestern State (3-0). The Crimson Tide has never beaten Texas-Arlington (0-2) and Lamar (0-1). Alabama has never met Central Arkansas, Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas-San Antonio or Texas State. The Nicholls State series is the first of four games with Southland Conference teams in 2009. Alabama will play five total games against Southland Conference teams this season, including Nicholls State (Feb. 24-25), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (March 5 and March 7) and Southeastern Louisiana (March 31).
WELLS VS. SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE: Alabama coach Jim Wells is no stranger to the Southland Conference. In fact, Wells was named SLC Coach of the Year three times and led Northwestern State to a pair of SLC titles during his five-year career at NSU. Wells compiled a 192-89 record at Northwestern State from 1990-94, including a 38-13 record in his rookie season. It was the school's first winning season since 1977. Wells is 81-39 (.675) against the current SLC field and has double-figure wins against McNeese State (17), SE Louisiana (12), Stephen F. Austin (11), Nicholls State (10) and Sam Houston State (10). He has a winning record against every current team he has faced, with the exception of Texas-Arlington. He is 9-9 in 18 career games against the Mavericks. Wells has never faced SLC members Central Arkansas, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi or Texas State in his career.
ALABAMA-TEXAS PAN AMERICAN: Alabama and Texas Pan American will meet for the first time this weekend at the 2009 Whataburger Classic in Corpus Christi, Texas.
