Baseball Team Plays Final Non-Conference Game at Samford
5/11/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 11, 2010
The Game: Alabama at Samford (6:30 p.m.)
Wednesday, May 12, 2010 - Joe Lee Griffin Field (Birmingham)
The Records: Alabama (29-19, 10-15 SEC)
Samford (26-10, 14-9 SoCon)
Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network (Tuscaloosa: WFFN-FM, 95.3)
Play-by-Play: Chris Stewart
Alabama Starting Pitcher:
vs. Samford - 26 Jonathan Smart (LHP, 12 G, 2-1, 5.65 ERA)
Samford Starting Pitcher:
vs. Alabama - 35 Mark Lewallyn (RHP, 18 G, 0-0, 6.21 ERA)
THE GAME: Alabama will play its final non-conference game of the 2010 season when the Crimson Tide travels to Birmingham to meet the Samford Bulldogs at Joe Lee Griffin Field on Wednesday, May 12, at 6:30 p.m. (CDT). The game was originally scheduled for Tuesday, March 2, but was rescheduled due to cold weather. Alabama and Samford are meeting for the second time this season on Wednesday. The Bulldogs captured a 7-5 win over the Crimson Tide on April 13 in Tuscaloosa. Mason Meredeth had three hits and three RBI to pace the Bulldogs' 14-hit attack. Alabama trailed 6-1 in the sixth inning before closing the gap to 6-5 in the seventh. The Crimson Tide left a season-high 13 runners on base in the loss. Alabama (29-19, 10-14 SEC) has won seven of its last 11 games, including a 10-8 win over third-ranked Florida on Sunday afternoon in Tuscaloosa. Samford (26-20, 14-9 SoCon) has lost nine of 15 games since its win over Alabama five weeks ago. The Bulldogs have lost three of its last four Southern Conference series, including dropping two of three games at Wofford this past weekend.
HEAD COACH Mitch Gaspard: Alabama head coach Mitch Gaspard is 29-19 (.604) in his first season as the Crimson Tide's head coach. Overall, he has compiled a 240-149 (.622) record in seven seasons as a head coach. He was named the school's 30th head coach on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009, replacing Jim Wells, who retired after 15 seasons. Gaspard begins his 10th overall season with the Crimson Tide baseball program this spring, after serving two stints as an assistant coach under Wells from 1995-2001 and 2008-09, where he helped land some of the nation's top recruiting classes. Gaspard spent six years as the head coach at Northwestern State, where he compiled a 211-128 (.622) record from 2002-07. He led the Demons to a pair of Southland Conference championships, one SLC Tournament title and a berth into the 2005 NCAA Baton Rouge Regional.
NON-CONFERENCE GAMES: Alabama has compiled a 19-5 record in non-conference games this season, including a three-game winning streak. The Tide is hitting .311 (193-for-811) in non-SEC games with 20 home runs and 172 RBI. Alabama is averaging 8.04 runs and 10.5 hits per game against non-SEC foes this season. Sophomore center fielder Taylor Dugas is hitting .407 (33-for-81) with 28 runs scored, 28 walks and 15 RBI in 24 games. Senior first baseman Clay Jones (.400, 9 HR, 33 RBI) leads the Crimson Tide with nine home runs and 33 RBI and is riding a 10-game hitting streak against non-SEC teams. The Tide pitching staff is 19-5 with six saves and 3.66 ERA this season. Junior left-hander Jonathan Smart is 1-1 with 5.65 ERA in six non-SEC starts. Junior right-hander Nathan Kilcrease is 2-0 with one save and 0.84 ERA in 14 games. Alabama owns a 47-12 scoring advantage in the first two innings of its non-SEC games.
ALABAMA HITTING NOTES: Alabama is sixth in the SEC in hitting (.306) and third in sacrifice bunts (39) ... in SEC play, UA is third in hitting (.301), fourth in hits (259) and fourth in doubles (43) ... Alabama pinch hitters are 20-for-53 (.377) this season ... the 20 pinch-hits and 53 at-bats are the third-highest total in the SEC ... the Crimson Tide has scored 10 or more runs 11 times this season and is 10-1 in those 11 games ... Alabama has also recorded 27 double-digit hit games ... Alabama and LSU combined for the most at-bats (99) in an SEC game this season on April 18 ... Alabama and South Carolina combined for the most runs (35), hits (41), doubles (11) and home runs (9) in a game this season on May 2 ... Alabama has matched its season high with a home run in four straight games, dating back to May 2 ... UA also homered in four straight games from April 17-25 ... the Tide has homered in 11 of its last 13 games and has totaled 23 home runs in those 13 games ... the Tide is 19-9 when it hits a home run and 10-10 without a home run ... Alabama hit a season-high five home runs at South Carolina on May 2 ... the previous high was three home runs against Stony Brook (March 13), LSU (April 17) and Mississippi Valley State (April 27) ... Alabama is 3-for-18 (.167) with the bases loaded since April 17 ... Alabama went 1-for-9 (.111) in the Florida series with the bases loaded ... the Tide is 22-1 when leading after eight innings and 1-16 when trailing after eight innings ... the Crimson Tide stranded a season-high 13 base runners against Mississippi Valley State (April 27) and Samford (April 13) ... junior SS Josh Rutledge scored five runs in the win over Illinois-Chicago on Feb. 27, the most by an SEC player this year … Alabama did not strike out in its 15-8 win over Stony Brook on March 12 ... the Tide had only one strikeout at Arkansas on March 27 ... UA tied an NCAA record with six sacrifice bunts in its 10-4 win at Jacksonville State on April 7 ... Dugas and Rutledge had an SEC-high seven at-bats at LSU on April 18 ... UA scored seven of its eight runs against Mississippi State on April 23 with two outs.
ALABAMA PITCHING NOTES: Alabama is fourth in the SEC in saves (12), fifth in strikeouts (386) and seventh in ERA (5.25) ... the Tide pitching staff also has the second-fewest hit batters (28) in the league ... in SEC play, the Tide is third in innings pitched (211.2) and fourth in strikeouts (168) ... sophomore LHP Adam Morgan leads the SEC with 13 starts on the mound ... Alabama is 16-9 in Morgan and junior RHP Jimmy Nelson's 25 combined starts this year ... Alabama has yielded an SEC-worst 61 home runs this season ... South Carolina hit nine home runs in the three-game series against Alabama, April 30-May 2 ... the Tide has yielded 15 home runs in its last six SEC road games ... LSU hit eight home runs (April 16-18) ... Auburn hit seven homers (April 2-4) ... the Tide is 16-2 when it does not allow a home run and 13-17 when it allows at least one home run ... UA opponents have hit 56 home runs in the last 31 games ... on March 24, Alabama led the SEC in fewest home runs allowed with five dingers ... the Tide has thrown two shutouts this season against the College of Charleston (4-0, March 6) and Stony Brook (5-0, March 13) ... the 4-0 win at the College of Charleston marked the first time Cougars had been shutout at home since a 6-0 loss to top-ranked Clemson on March 3, 2006 ... Alabama has 17 double-digit strikeout games this season, including eight in its last 13 games … UA pitchers recorded 25 strikeouts in the two-game series with Mississippi Valley State on April 27-28 ... the Tide recorded a season-high 16 strikeouts at College of Charleston on March 6 … Alabama had an SEC-high 12 strikeouts against Mississippi State on April 23 … the Tide has allowed four double-figure scoring games this season, including a season-high 20 by South Carolina on May 2 ... Alabama has allowed 24 double-figure hit games, including 25 hits by South Carolina on May 2 ... Nelson, Wolfe and Pilkington combined for the SEC's only one-hitter this season against Illinois-Chicago on Feb. 27 ... Alabama and LSU combined for an SEC season-high 27 1/3 innings pitched in Baton Rouge on April 18 ... Alabama recorded 12 strikeouts and no walks in its 8-5 win over Mississippi State on April 23 ... the MSU game marked the fourth time this season the Crimson Tide has not issued a walk ... the others came against Illinois-Chicago (Feb. 26), College of Charleston (March 6) and Auburn (April 4).
ALABAMA FIELDING NOTES: Alabama ranks second in the SEC and 12th nationally with .976 fielding mark ... the Tide has also committed the second-fewest erorrs (43) in the SEC ... in SEC play, Alabama is fourth in fielding (.976) and has the third-fewest errors (21) ... Alabama's third basemen have the highest fielding mark (.958) in the league ... UA catchers have third-best fielding percentage (.991) and third-fewest errors (4) in the SEC ... UA catchers have thrown out a league-best 25 base stealers this season ... Alabama's first basemen own the third-highest fielding percentage (.992) in the league and have committed the third-fewest errors (3) ... Alabama and Georgia are tied for first in the SEC with 13 outfield assists ... the 13 assists have been recorded by seven different players, including Taylor Dugas (4), Brett Booth (3), Andrew Miller (2), Cal Tinlsey (1), Jon Kelton (1), John David Smelser (1) and Kent Myer (1) ... UA outfielders lead the SEC in fielding percentage (.991) and have the second-fewest errors (3) this year ... Alabama and LSU combined for 82 putouts in the Tigers 14-inning win at Alex Box Stadium on April 18 ... Clay Jones set an Alabama record with 18 putouts at LSU on April 18 ... Alabama has played 18 errorless games this season and is 16-2 in those 18 games ... Alabama is 13-17 when committing at least one error ... Alabama is 27-12 when its opponent makes at least one error and 2-7 when opponents play errorless baseball ... UA played a season-high four straight errorless games from April 23-27, including all three games of its SEC series sweep against Mississippi State ... from April 18-28, Alabama played 46 1/3 consecutive errorless innings and handled 176 straight chances without a miscue ... the Tide played three straight errorless games from March 3-6 ... from Feb. 27-March 7, UA logged 35 2/3 consecutive errorless innings and fielded 133 consecutive chances without an error ... Alabama logged an SEC high 20 assists in its win over Stony Brook on March 12 ... Rutledge had an SEC-high eight assists in that game … Alabama did not make an error in the win over Mississippi State on April 23, snapping a streak of 11 consecutive games with at least one error.
SAMFORD SERIES: Alabama leads the all-time series with Samford, 86-13. The teams met on April 12, in Tuscaloosa with Samford posting a 7-5 win. Samford has won six of the last 11 meetings dating back to 2003, including a two-game winning streak. The Crimson Tide and Bulldogs split a pair of meetings last season with both teams winning at home. Alabama claimed an 11-6 win in Tuscaloosa on March 11, 2009, while Samford rebounded with a 14-13 win in 10 innings on April 15, 2009. The Alabama-Samford series dates back to the 1894 season. One of the Tide's most lopsided wins in school history was a 36-2 win over then-Howard College in 1894. The Crimson Tide posted a 46-game series winning streak from 1896-1962. Samford snapped that streak with a 5-2 win in Tuscaloosa in 1963. Alabama owns a 71-8 record against Samford in Tuscaloosa, including a 45-game winning streak from 1894-1962. Alabama holds a 15-5 series lead in games played in Birmingham. Alabama head coach Mitch Gaspard is 0-1 against Samford. Samford head coach Casey Dunn is 4-5 in his head coaching career against Alabama.
SAMFORD SCOUTING REPORT: Samford (26-20, 14-9 SoCon) has dropped nine of its 15 games since beating Alabama 7-5 in Tuscaloosa on April 12. The Bulldogs have lost three of their last four Southern Conference series, including a series at Wofford this past weekend.
Samford is hitting .317 (512-for-1,643) as a team with 60 home runs and 330 RBI in 46 games. The Bulldogs are averaging 7.8 runs and 11.3 hits per game.
The offense is paced by senior outfielder David Schulze, who is hitting .390 (69-for-177) with 12 home runs and 54 RBI. He has raised his season average 40 points since the last meeting with Alabama. Senior infielder Mason Meredith is hitting .367 (65-for-177) with 10 home runs and 44 RBI. He leads the Bulldogs with 54 runs scored.
The Bulldogs have compiled a 26-20 record on the mound with 11 saves and a 6.21 ERA. Samford pitchers are allowing 7.6 runs and 10.6 hits per game.
Samford is expected to send senior RHP Mark Lewallyn (18 G, 0-0, 4.21 ERA) to the mound against Alabama. He has worked 25 2/3 innings and allowed 19 runs (12 ER) and 28 hits with 23 strikeouts and 13 walks. He threw one scoreless inning in relief against Alabama on April 12.
The Bulldogs' ace reliever is freshman lefty Lex Rutledge (26 G, 4-0, 8 SV, 1.41 ERA) who has logged 38 1/3 innings and allowed 14 runs (6 ER) and 32 hits with 50 strikeouts and 15 walks. He struck out five of the nine batters he faced against the Tide on April 12 for his seventh save. He has only one save since.
The Bulldogs have made 90 errors (1.96 per game) this season and are fielding .950 through 46 games. Michael Johnson (17) and Meredith (15) have accounted for 32 errors.
UA PLAYER NOTES VS. SAMFORD: A number of Crimson Tide players have had success in their careers against the Samford Bulldogs. Here is a look at some of the top performers in the matchups with Samford.
Dugas - Hitting .583 (7-for-12) in three games with four runs scored and five RBI.
Kilcrease - The junior sports a 2-0 record and 1.59 ERA in four career appearances on the mound ... had a win against Samford in 2008 and 2009 ... last year, he held Samford to one run and three hits in four innings as the Tide won 11-6 in Tuscaloosa ... has 13 strikeouts in 11 1/3 career innings.
Smith - The senior is hitting .379 (11-for-29) with one home run and seven RBI in his seven-game career against the Bulldogs ... was 7-for-10 (.700) in two games last season and hit for the cycle in the Tide's 14-13 loss at Joe Lee Griffin Field on April 15.
ALL-TIME RECORD VS. IN-STATE SCHOOLS: Alabama owns a 503-249 (.669) all-time record against in-state schools. The Crimson Tide is 6-5 (.545) against in-state schools this season, with series wins over South Alabama, Auburn and Jacksonville State. Alabama's 7-3 win over Jacksonville State on March 30 was the Crimson Tide's 500th all-time win against in-state foes. The UA-UAB game on April 6 was the Tide's 750th all-time game against in-state teams.
2010 VS. IN-STATE SCHOOLS: Alabama is 6-5 against in-state schools this season with series wins over South Alabama, Auburn and Jacksonville State. The Crimson Tide is 4-3 at home, 2-1 on the road and 0-1 at neutral sites against in-state foes this season.
As a team, Alabama is hitting .305 (119-for-390) with two home runs and 57 RBI in 11 games. The Crimson Tide is averaging 6.4 runs and 10.8 hits per game this season.
Sophomore CF Taylor Dugas has had a monster year against teams from the state of Alabama, hitting .514 (18-for-35) with 15 runs scored, 15 walks and 10 RBI. He has also compiled a .657 slugging percentage and a .650 on-base percentage.
Junior DH David Kindred is hitting .462 (6-for-13) with two runs scored and three RBI in four games. Sophomore left fielder John Kelton (.394, 0 HR, 5 RBI), senior first baseman Clay Jones (.391, HR, 7 RBI) and junior shortstop Josh Rutledge (.300, 0 HR, 5 RBI) are all hitting .300 or better against in-state teams.
The pitching staff owns a 6-5 record with two saves and a 5.09 ERA against schools from Alabama. The pitchers have worked 99 innings and allowed 63 runs (56 ER) and 110 hits with 99 strikeouts and 38 walks.
Senior RHP Jake Smith has four scoreless innings in four relief appearances.
Junior RHP Nathan Kilcrease has made seven appearances and is 1-0 with 1.04 ERA. He has worked 8 2/3 innings and allowed one run and five hits with 11 strikeouts and four walks.
Alabama has made eight errors (.981) and turned eight double plays on defense.
NEXT GAME: Alabama plays its final home series of the season when the Crimson Tide hosts the Mississippi Rebels in a three-game series at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The series opener is Friday, May 14, at 6:35 p.m. (CDT) and continues Saturday, May 15, at 3:05 p.m. and Sunday, May 16, at 2:05 p.m.
