Baseball to Play Mississippi State for Three This Weekend
4/29/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 29, 2011
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama baseball team (26-18, 8-10 SEC) will wrap up the week with three Southeastern Conference games at Mississippi State (24-16, 7-11), beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 30, at 2 p.m. CT. The first game of the doubleheader will be televised on SportSouth. The series wraps up with a single game on Sunday, May 1, beginning at 1:30 p.m. CT.
ALABAMA (26-16, 8-10 SEC) AT MISSISSIPPI STATE (24-16, 7-11 SEC)
POLK-DEMENT STADIUM (15,000) • STARKVILLE, MISS.
GAME 45 • SATURDAY, APRIL 30 • 2:00 P.M. CT (SPORTSOUTH)
GAME 46 • SATURDAY, APRIL 30 • APPROX. 5:30 P.M. CT
GAME 47 • SUNDAY, MAY 1 • 1:30 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- Tuscaloosa, and CTSN Affiliates
TV: SportSouth/ESPN3.com (Saturday Game 1 only)
Broadcasters: Richard Cross and Nick Belmonte
Streaming Audio: www.RollTide.com
Live Stats: www.RollTide.com
Probable Starting Pitchers
Saturday, April 30 - Game 1
RHP, Nathan Kilcrease (5-3, 2.94 ERA) vs. RHP, Chris Stratton (4-5, 5.02 ERA)
Saturday, April 30 - Game 2
LHP, Adam Morgan (4-4, 4.28 ERA) vs. LHP, Nick Routt (0-2, 4.15 ERA)
Sunday, May 1
TBA vs. TBA
Alabama on the Radio
All three games of the series between Alabama and Mississippi State can be heard 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, and on RollTide.com. Chris Stewart and Lee Tracey will call the action for the broadcast live from Polk-DeMent Stadium.
Crimson Tide on TV
Only the first game of Saturday's doubleheader at Mississippi State will be televised, and can be seen on SportSouth, beginning at 2 p.m. CT. Play-by-play will be provided by Richard Cross and the color commentator will be Nick Belmonte. The broadcast will also be available on ESPN3.com, but is subject to blackout on some areas.
Tide in the Middle of a Season-Long Road Swing
With the April 19 game at Samford, Alabama embarked on the first of eight straight road games, the longest road swing of the season. Alabama is currently 2-3 on the roadie following a 7-3 win at No. 15 Southern Mississippi on Tuesday. The Tide wraps up the road swing with three games at Mississippi State on Saturday and Sunday.
Mississippi State Bulldogs at a Glance
The Mississippi State Bulldogs enter this weekend's series with a 24-16 overall record and are fifth in the SEC Western Division standings with a 7-11 record, one game behind fourth place Alabama and two games behind division leaders Arkansas, Auburn and Mississippi. The Bulldogs are hitting .282 for the season, ranking ninth overall in the SEC. The leading hitter for MSU is Jarrod Parks, whose .409 batting average is tops in the conference, 32 points better than Vanderbilt's Aaron Westlake. Parks leads the team in doubles (11) and RBI (30), and is second in runs scored with 31. Jonathan Ogden is the team's leading home run hitter with seven round trippers. Cody Freeman and C.T. Bradford are the only other players on the roster hitting over .300, as both have .308 averages. The pitching staff is holding opposing hitters to a .256 average for the season with a 4.09 ERA. For game one of the Saturday doubleheader, MSU will start Chris Stratton, who has a 4-5 record with a 5.02 ERA in 10 starts. Stratton leads the team with 61.0 innings pitched and 58 strikeouts. Game two starter, Nick Routt, has started six games with a 4.15 ERA and a 0-2 record. Routt has 20 strikeouts in 21.2 innings pitched. The big gun out of the bullpen is Caleb Reed, who has made 17 appearances with a 0.81 ERA and a team-high seven of the squad's 10 saves.
Series History Versus Mississippi State
In a series that dates back to 1896, Alabama has played Mississippi State 376 times. Only the series with Mississippi dates back longer (1895), but UA has played MSU more than any other school. The Crimson Tide holds a 207-166-3 record all-time against the Bulldogs. Alabama has controlled the series as of late, winning eight times in the last 10 games overall. UA swept the series in Tuscaloosa last season, increasing the winning streak to seven games over MSU. Alabama took both games during the 2009 season and won the series 2-1 after winning games two and three in 2008. Alabama has also won the last five regular season series against MSU, including winning two of three games when the Bulldogs were ranked No. 1 in the country in 2006.
The Last Outing
Alabama improved to 4-9 on the road this season, following a 7-3 win over the No. 15-ranked Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles on Tuesday night from Pete Taylor Park. The Tide posted 15 hits in the game, their second highest total of the season (18 against Eastern Illinois on March 2). The Crimson Tide was paced by Jared Reaves who went 4-for-5 on the night, improving his team-leading batting average to .363. Brock Bennett was 3-for-4 with a double, and Taylor Dugas and Austen Smith had two hits each. Starting pitcher Adam Windsor improved to 3-0 on the season, throwing 3.0 innings and allowing two runs on a pair of solo home runs. Taylor Wolfe was dominant at the back end of the game, throwing the final 3.1 innings without allowing a hit, while striking out five for his first career save.
Reaves Over .500 in Last 10 Games
Over the last 10 games junior shortstop Jared Reaves leads the team with a .514 (18-for-35) average, with team-highs in doubles (6), RBI (7) and runs scored (9). He now has 15 doubles for the season to lead the Tide and rank second in the SEC. Additionally, he has a .686 slugging percentage and a .591 on-base percentage over the last 10 games. Reaves has also been stellar on the defensive side of the ball, converting 48 of his 49 chances in the field. For the season, Reaves has committed seven errors in 198 chances for a .965 fielding percentage while starting every game for the Tide.
Sanders Emerging Late In the Season
Senior second baseman Josh Sanders had his best week as a member of the Crimson Tide when he posted a .333 average (4-for-12) in four starts. All four hits came in the series against Florida, where he hit .444 (4-for-9). Sanders took over as the starting second baseman for the game at Samford on April 19, and is hitting .250 (4-for-16) with a pair of sacrifice bunts during that time.
Austen Smith Hitting His Stride
In the last 10 games, freshman first baseman Austen Smith is hitting .438 (14-for-32) with a double, a triple, and a home run. Additionally, he has five RBI and is second on the team with seven runs scored. Since taking over as the everyday first baseman on March 18, against Mississippi, Smith has seen his average climb from .235 to .291. Over the last 27 games, all as the starting first baseman, Smith is hitting .320 (31-for-97) with a team-high 18 RBI. He was 2-for-2 and reached base in all five plate appearances with three walks against Southern Mississippi on Tuesday.
Dugas Joins 200-Hit Club
When Taylor Dugas recorded his second hit against Eastern Illinois on March 13, he notched his 200th hit at Alabama, becoming the 19th player in school history to reach the 200-hit mark. With two hits on Tuesday against Southern Mississippi, he now has 232 career hits to rank 12th all-time at the Capstone. He needs two hits to pass Dustan Mohr (1995-97) for 11th all-time at Alabama. With seven more hits, Dugas will move into the top 10, passing Scott McClanahan's (1999-2002) total of 238 hits.
On Deck for the Tide
Next week, Alabama will only play three Southeastern Conference games when its hosts LSU in a three-game set. The series begins on Friday, May 6, with first pitch slated for 6:35 p.m. from Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Game two also begins at 6:35 p.m. CT and will be televised on CSS and game three starts at 1:05 p.m. on Sunday.
