No. 24 Baseball Hosts Tennessee for Three This Weekend
4/13/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 13, 2011
#24 Alabama vs. Tennessee Game Notes
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The No. 24-ranked Alabama baseball team (23-13, 7-5 SEC) returns to Southeastern Conference action on Thursday with the first game of a three-game series against the Tennessee Volunteers (19-14, 2-10 SEC). All three games will be played at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. First pitch for game one of the series is slated for 6:30 p.m. and will be televised on ESPNU as part of the ESPNU Thursday Night SEC Baseball Game of the Week schedule. Game two of the series is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. on Friday night and the series finale will begin at 5:05 p.m. on Saturday.
NO. 24 ALABAMA (23-13, 7-5 SEC) VS. TENNESSEE (19-14, 2-10 SEC)
Sewell-Thomas Stadium (6,571) • Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Game 37 • Thursday, April 14 • 6:30 p.m. CT
Game 38 • Friday, April 15 • 6:35 p.m. CT
Game 39 • Saturday, April 16 • 5:05 p.m. CT
Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network (CTSN)
Play-by-Play: Chris Stewart and Lee Tracey
Stations: WFFN-FM 95.3, WTSK-AM 790, and CTSN Affiliates
TV: ESPNU (Thursday Only)
Broadcasters: Dave Neal and Kyle Peterson
Streaming Audio/Video: www.RollTide.com
Live Stats: www.RollTide.com
Probable Starting Pitchers
Thursday, April 14
Sr., RHP Nathan Kilcrease (4-2, 2.63 ERA) vs. Sr., LHP Rob Catapano (2-2, 3.49 ERA)
Friday, April 15
Jr., LHP Adam Morgan (4-2, 4.34 ERA) vs. Jr., LHP Steven Gruver (3-4, 2.93 ERA)
Saturday, April 16
So., RHP Trey Pilkington (1-2, 3.41 ERA) vs. TBA
Alabama on The Radio
All three games of the SEC series between No. 24 Alabama and Tennessee can be heard on the on the radio through the Crimson Tide Sports Network. The games will be aired on WFFN-FM 95.3 and WTSK-AM 790 in Tuscaloosa, as well as other stations around Alabama, or on RollTide.com. Chris Stewart and Lee Tracey will call the action for the broadcast, live from Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
Crimson Tide on TV
Only the Thursday game of the three-game series between No. 24 Alabama and Tennessee will be televised, and can be seen on ESPNU, beginning at 6:30 p.m. CT. The game is part of the ESPNU Thursday Night SEC Baseball Game of the Week schedule, with announces Dave Neal and Kyle Peterson calling the action live from Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
Tide Ranked No. 24 in Baseball America Poll
After dropping all four games last week, Alabama remained in the Baseball America Top 25, but dropped out of ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll, the NCBWA poll and the Collegiate Baseball News poll. The Crimson Tide is ranked No. 24 in this week's Baseball America Top 25 Poll, down four spots from the No. 21 position last week.
Tennessee Volunteers at a Glance
Tennessee comes to Tuscaloosa mired in an eight-game losing streak. The streak began with a sweep at the hands of No. 4 Florida two weekends ago and a midweek loss at home to Presbyterian. The following weekend, the Vols played host to the No. 3 South Carolina Gamecocks and fell in all three contests to the SEC Eastern Division co-leaders. Tuesday night, Tennessee fell to in-state rival Appalachian State to run the streak to eight games. Offensively, UT is led by three everyday starters in the infield: second baseman Khayyan Norfork (.389, three home runs, 30 RBI), third baseman Matt Duffy (.336, five home runs, 30 RBI), and shortstop Zach Osborne (.360, 15 RBI). Center fielder Andrew Toles has also been consistent offensively, hitting .299 with 19 RBI in a team-high 127 at-bats. Thursday night, the Vols will throw Rob Capatano (2-2, 3.45 ERA). The senior left-hander will be making his sixth start of the season for Coach Todd Raleigh. Friday night starter Steven Gruver (3-4, 2.93 ERA, 53 strikeouts, 11 walks) is the most prolific pitcher of the Volunteer staff. The junior lefty has thrown the Vols' only complete game this season, and has been the starter in two shutouts this season for Tennessee. Jon Reed (1-1, 4.85 ERA) is the only other pitcher on the team with more than eight starts.
Series History Versus Tennessee
Alabama and Tennessee met for the first time on the baseball diamond in 1897 and have played 96 contests over 103 baseball seasons. The Crimson Tide control the series 68-28 (.708) which is the highest winning percentage that the Tide have against any SEC team. Alabama has won seven of the last 10 meetings between the two teams, and is currently riding a six-game win streak thanks to back-to-back series sweeps in 2009 and 2010.
The Last Outing
Alabama played a pair of midweek games against Mississippi Valley State on Tuesday and Wednesday, outscoring the Delta Devils 20-1 in the two games. The Crimson Tide opened the series with a 10-1 win, as starting pitcher Charley Sullivan got the win to improve to 2-1 on the season. Adam Windsor threw five perfect innings in a starting role for the first time of his career on Wednesday night and earned his first win of the season, as the Tide posted a 10-0 win for their fifth shutout of the season. For the series, Austen Smith led UA with a .600 (3-for-5) average, with four RBI, three runs and drilled his third home run of the year on Tuesday night. Taylor Dugas was 4-for-7 with five RBI, while hitting in the three spot in the order for the first time this season. Dugas notched his 11th career triple on Wednesday, moving up to third all-time at Alabama. Brock Bennett was 3-for-3 in the leadoff spot on Wednesday and Jared Reaves was 4-for-8 with three doubles, four runs and four RBI in the two games.
Team Notes from Last Week
Alabama went 0-4 for the week, losing at home to Samford and being swept on the road by No. 1 Vanderbilt. Alabama has dropped its last five games, the longest losing streak of the season. The Tide opened the week with a 4-2 loss to the Bulldogs to drop to 19-3 at Sewell-Thomas Stadium this season. The Crimson Tide lost Friday's game in Nashville by a count of 11-3, and after being shutout 7-0 on Saturday, Vanderbilt completed the sweep win an 11-6 win on Sunday. It was the Commodores first sweep of Alabama since 1983. The Tide is now 7-5 during SEC play, and has a one-game lead over Arkansas (6-6) in the Western Division standings.
On Deck for the Tide
Alabama will play four road games next week, traveling to Birmingham to take on Samford on Tuesday before traveling to Gainesville to take on the No. 4-ranked Florida Gators. Tuesday's game against Samford, which posted a 4-2 win over the Tide in Tuscaloosa on April 5, will begin at 6 p.m. from Joe Lee Griffin Stadium. The Crimson Tide closes the week with three games against Florida, beginning Friday, April 22 at 6 p.m. CT from McKethan Stadium. Game two will begin at 5 p.m. CT and will be televised on ESPN2 and game three is slated for a noon CT start.
