Baseball Hosts Troy on Tuesday; Battles Georgia on Wednesday
3/7/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 7, 2011
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama baseball team (7-4, 0-0 SEC) will play two midweek games, first hosting the Troy Trojans on Tuesday, before traveling to Lawrenceville, Ga., to take on the Georgia Bulldogs in a non-conference game on Wednesday. The Crimson Tide opens the week on Tuesday night at Sewell-Thomas Stadium against Troy (9-2, 0-0 Sun Belt), with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 p.m. CT. Wednesday night's game against Georgia (3-8, 0-0 SEC) will begin at 7:05 p.m. ET and will be televised on CSS with Matt Stewart and Brian Jordan calling the action from Coolray Field.
Game 12
Tuesday, March 8 - 6:05 p.m. CT
Alabama (7-4) vs. Troy (9-2)
Sewell-Thomas Stadium (6,571) • Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Chris Stewart and Lee Tracey
Stations: WFFN-FM 95.3 & WTSK-AM 790- Tuscaloosa
WJOX-FM 94.5 & WJOX-AM 690 - Birmingham
TV: None
Streaming Video/Audio: www.RollTide.com
Live Stats: www.RollTide.com
Probable Starting Pitchers W-L ERA G/GS IP H R ER BB SO
UA-Jonathan Smart (Sr., LHP) 0-0 0.00 5/0 8.0 6 1 0 2 4
Troy-Jimmy Hodgskin (Fr., LHP) 0-1 5.62 2/2 8.0 8 5 5 8 13
Game 13
Wednesday, March 9 - 7:05 p.m. ET
Alabama (7-4) vs. Georgia (3-8)
Coolray Field (10,475) • Lawrenceville, Ga.
Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Chris Stewart and Lee Tracey
Stations: WFFN-FM 95.3 & WTSK-AM 790 - Tuscaloosa
WJOX-FM 94.5 & WJOX-AM 690 - Birmingham
TV: CSS (Matt Stewart and Brian Jordan)
Streaming Audio: www.RollTide.com
Live Stats: www.RollTide.com
Probable Starting Pitchers W-L ERA G/GS IP H R ER BB SO
UA-Taylor Wolfe (So., LHP) 1-0 4.09 3/2 11.0 6 6 5 5 14
UGA-Chase Hawkins (Jr., LHP) 0-1 5.23 4/2 10.1 16 8 6 0 4
On the Radio
Both midweek baseball games will be broadcast on the radio by the Crimson Tide Sports Network. The games can be heard on WFFN-FM 95.3 and WTSK-AM 790 in Tuscaloosa and WJOX-FM 94.5 and WJOX-AM 690 in Birmingham, as well as other stations around Alabama, or on RollTide.com. Chris Stewart and Lee Tracey will call the action for the broadcast from Sewell-Thomas Stadium on Tuesday and the game from Coolray Field on Wednesday night.
Troy Trojans at a Glance
Troy comes to Sewell-Thomas Stadium with a 9-2 record after sweeping Southeast Missouri over the weekend. During the series, the Trojans allowed only three runs to the Redhawks, winning the first game 9-0, the second 2-1 (10 innings), and the final game 7-2. The Trojans are led offensively by Blake Martz, who is hitting .368 (14-for-38) with a team-best 14 RBI. Troy has four everyday players who are hitting over .300, as Martz, Tyson Workman (.343), T.J. Rivera (.324), and Adam Bryant (.318) are all key contributors to a Trojans team that is hitting .280 for the season. The Trojans have only two home runs so far this season, but thanks to 28 doubles they have collected 32 extra-base hits as a team. On the mound, the Trojans have been solid all year long with a cumulative ERA of 2.88 over 100 innings, and a 1.07 WHIP. Tuesday night's probable starter, Jimmy Hodgskin is 0-1 with a 5.62 ERA in two starts.
Series History VS. Troy
Alabama has played 23 games against the Trojans, netting a 16-7 overall record against their in-state opponents. Alabama is 6-4 the last 10 games against Troy and the two teams have split the previous four. In the last game between the two teams in 2009, the Crimson Tide hit two grand slams courtesy of Jake Smith and Kent Matthes and scored a season-high 22 runs in Tuscaloosa and dismissed the Trojans with a 22-4 loss.
Troy Head Coach Bobby Pierce
In his ninth season as head coach of the Trojans, Bobby Pierce has compiled a 291-189 record at Troy, while leading his teams to two conference titles, two NCAA Regional appearances, and has had nine All-Americans and 30 all-conference selections. Pierce was an All-SEC outfielder with the Crimson Tide from 1980-82, and is a member of the Alabama All-Century team. He then compiled a 259-95 record with Chipola Junior College (Fla.), and then returned to Alabama as an assistant coach for five (1989-94) seasons. After his stint with Alabama, Pierce was named head coach at University of Alabama-Huntsville and led the Chargers to a 276-108 record over seven seasons. He has a career record of 826-392.
Georgia Bulldogs at a Glance
Georgia is off to a 3-8 start through its first 11 games this season, after winning one of three games against No. 5 Florida State last week. The Bulldogs dealt the Seminoles their first loss of the season with a 2-1 win on Saturday. Georgia starter Michael Palazzone allowed one run through seven innings and the bullpen held strong in the last two innings to lead the Bulldogs past the previously unbeaten Seminoles. Offensively, designated hitter Chase Davidson has paced the Bulldogs in average (.350) and runs scored (9), and shortstop Kyle Farmer has been the main run-producer, leading the team in RBI with eight. The pitching staff has totaled a 5.02 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 95.0 innings for Georgia. The bullpen is paced by Patrick Boling's 1.59 ERA in four appearances, with 10 strikeouts in just 5.2 innings in relief. The other key reliever has been Blake Dietrich (1-1) who has allowed only one earned run in 5.1 innings and is only allowing opponents to hit .211 against him.
Series History VS. Georgia
The Bulldogs and the Crimson Tide have met 130 times and Alabama leads a close series 65-63-2 over its SEC rival. However, Alabama has won eight of the last 10 including a 13-2 victory over the 25th-ranked Georgia squad last season, and taking two out of three from the top-ranked Dogs in Tuscaloosa in 2009.
Georgia Head Coach David Perno
David Perno has been with the Bulldogs for nine years and has directed Georgia to more postseason appearances (five) than any other coach in school history. He took three Georgia teams to the College World Series, and the 2008 Dogs reached the CWS Finals where they fell to the Fresno State Bulldogs, 2-1 in the three-game series. Georgia was Perno's first head coaching opportunity. He has a career record of 305-245-1 with the Dogs and has two SEC championships in 2004 and 2008.
Looking Back at Last Week
Alabama (7-4, 0-0 SEC) fell to Southern Mississippi, 10-6 on Wednesday, before sweeping Northwestern State to close the week 3-1 at home. The Wednesday night game against the Golden Eagles was a tough loss for the Crimson Tide, as the Tide was beaten 10-6 at home despite a solid performance from Andrew Miller. Miller had a 3-for-4 outing, where he had a double and two singles with two RBI to lead the Tide. Alabama led 2-0 after Josh Rosecrans hit a solo home run over the right field wall in the bottom of the third. Southern Mississippi evened the score at 4-4 in the top of the fifth, and then took the lead for good when Ashley Graeter homered off of Charley Sullivan (0-1) in the sixth inning. In the Friday game, Alabama overcame a slow start, and rallied to beat the Demons 7-5, scoring four runs in the eighth inning to pull out the win. With the bases loaded, Alabama evened the score on a Taylor Dugas walk and soon after took the lead when pinch hitter Brandt Hendricks was hit by a pitch, plating the game-winning run. Brett Whitaker (1-0) earned the win for UA while Luke Irvine suffered the loss for the Demons. Following a two-hour rain delay prior to the start of Saturday's game, senior right-handed pitcher Nathan Kilcrease notched a career-high 10 strikeouts over 7.0 innings as the Alabama defeated the Northwestern State, 4-2. Kilcrease (2-0) scattered five hits and gave up two unearned runs. Jared Reaves went 2-for-3 with a run scored and third baseman Brett Booth went 2-for-4 to help the offense. Northwestern State starter Colin Bear (2-1) took the loss. Brock Bennett gave Alabama the lead for good in the fifth, rifling a one-out single up the middle, scoring James Tullidge from second, giving the Crimson Tide a 3-2 advantage. Alabama completed the sweep with a 9-0 shutout, the second of the year for the Tide on Sunday. Sophomore righty Tucker Hawley threw a complete game, three-hit shutout, racking up a career-high nine strikeouts to improve to 2-1. Hawley, who didn't allow a runner past first base, became the first Alabama pitcher to throw a complete-game shutout in nearly three years. Jon Kelton led the Tide going 3-for-4, with one run and two RBI. Freshman Austen Smith (2-for-3, three RBI), Booth (2-for-3, two runs scored, one RBI), and Reaves (2-for-2, run scored, on base five out of five times) all contributed offensively, as Alabama had a season-high 12 hits. Alabama had double-digit hits in all three games through the series, after having just one such game leading up to the weekend.
Last Week Tide Team Notes
The Alabama baseball team posted a 3-1 record on the week ... after dropping the midweek game to Southern Mississippi, Alabama lost four straight games ... the Crimson Tide snapped the four-game skid with a 7-5 come-from-behind win over Northwestern State on Friday ... the Tide used a four-run eighth inning to defeat the Demons on Friday, and never trailed again in the series ... Alabama completed its second three-game series sweep of the season with a 4-2 on Saturday and a 9-0 win on Sunday ... UA swept Alcorn State to open the season ... as a team Alabama posted a .330 average in the series versus Northwestern State, and had a .308 average in the four games last week ... Alabama is hitting .281 as a team, with 65 RBI in 11 games ... Alabama recorded a season-high 12 hits in the series finale versus NWSU, and had at least 10 hits in all three games of the series ... Alabama has collected a total of 83 free passes this season, including 64 walks and 19 hit batters.
Last Week Player Notebook
Nathan Kilcrease threw 7.0 innings with a career-high 10 strikeouts to win game two and move to 2-0 on the season ... Tucker Hawley followed Kilcrease's performance with a three-hit complete game shutout on Sunday to move to 2-1 on the year ... the bullpen for Alabama threw 5.1 innings in relief without allowing a hit ... junior RHP Nathan Kennedy picked up his first career save on Friday night and senior LHP Jonathan Smart earned his first save with 2.0 innings in relief of Kilcrease on Saturday ... Alabama held the Demons to a .188 average for the weekend, with 29 strikeouts to just five walks ... Andrew Miller led the Tide with a .500 average (6-for-12) and was one of seven players with at least 10 at-bats to hit .300 or better ... Jared Reaves hit .364 for the week, including a .571 (4-for-7) weekend versus Northwestern State, when he was 2-for-3 in game two and 2-for-2 with three walks in the series finale versus NSU ... Reaves is now batting .447 (17-for-38) for the season to lead Alabama, also leads the team with a .658 slugging percentage, a .520 on-base percentage and 16 RBI ... sophomore third baseman Brett Booth posted a .429 (6-for-14) average for the week, and is now hitting .294 for the season ... Austen Smith was 3-for-7 (.429) with two doubles and a team-high four RBI in the series versus Northwestern State ... Taylor Dugas tied Smith with four RBI in the series versus NSU ... Dugas leads the team with 13 runs scored and six doubles, and is second on the squad with 13 hits and a .333 batting average ... Brock Bennett posted a .417 average for the week, going 5-for-12 in the series against Northwestern State and is now batting .379 for the season.
On Deck for the Tide
Alabama will play Eastern Illinois in a three-game home series to close out the week, beginning on Friday, March 11 at 6:05 p.m. CT. The series from Sewell-Thomas Stadium continues on Saturday, March 12 with a 2:05 p.m. game and concludes on Sunday with a 1:05 p.m. scheduled first pitch.
