Baseball Plays Mid-Week Game at Troy on Tuesday
3/19/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 19, 2012
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama returns to action on Tuesday evening, when it travels to Troy, Ala., to take on the Troy Trojans at 6 p.m. (CST) from Riddle-Pace Field. The Crimson Tide is 8-12 overall, after opening Southeastern Conference play with three losses at No. 4 Arkansas. Troy posted a 1-2 record at South Alabama last weekend to open Sun Belt Conference play, and are now 9-9 overall this season.
Tuesday's game at Troy can be heard on WFFN-FM 95.3, with Chris Stewart and Lee Tracey will provide the radio commentary for Tuesday's game. Livestats will also be available at troytrojans.com.
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
Tuesday W-L ERA G/GS IP H R ER BB SO
UA-Jon Keller (Fr., LHP) 0-0 4.15 9/0 13.0 12 6 6 5 7
Troy-Ryan Brady (Jr., RHP) 0-1 2.57 2/0 7.0 8 4 2 4 9
Offensively, freshman catcher/outfielder Ben Moore leads the Tide with a .329 average. Moore had five hits in the Arkansas series and has now hit safely in 11 straight games. Taylor Dugas is second on the team with a .315 average. Dugas' 13-game hit streak came to an end on Sunday with an 0-for-3 game against the Razorbacks. Dugas had a walk on Sunday and has reached base in all 20 games this season. Including the last 12 of the 2011 season, he's reached base safely in the last 32 games.
Alabama will start freshman left-hand pitcher Jon Keller on Tuesday. It will be the first career start for Keller and mark the 13th time this season a freshman has started on the mound for the Tide. Freshman Jake Hubbard leads the Tide with 12 appearances and a 1.10 ERA.
Troy enters Tuesday's game with a 9-9 record, following an 1-2 record to start Sun Belt Conference action at South Alabama. Troy dropped the opening game of the series to the Jaguars, 7-2, then posted a 10-6 win to even the series on Saturday. The Jaguars won the series with a 16-4 win on Sunday. The Trojans are hitting .260 as a team, while averaging 6.7 runs and 9.2 hits per game. The pitching staff is holding opponents to a .261 batting average with a 4.39 ERA. The Trojans are allowing 6.2 runs and 9.1 hits per outing.
Senior shortstop Tyler Hanna leads the team with a .369 batting average and a .528 on-base percentage. Danny Collins is hitting .329 with two home runs and 13 RBI, and is tied for the team lead with seven doubles. Logan Pierce is hitting .328 with two home runs and 13 RBI. Senior outfielder Boone Shear leads the team with three home runs and 26 RBI.
Starting pitcher Ryan Brady has two appearances this season and will make his first start of 2012 on Tuesday. Brady, a transfer from Northwest Shoals Community College, has a 0-1 record with a 2.57 ERA in 7.0 innings pitched in 2012. Brady has allowed four runs (two earned) on eight hits with four walks and nine strikeouts, and opponents are hitting .267 against him this season.
In a series that dates back to 1941, Tuesday's game between Alabama and Troy will be the 25th meeting all-time. After the Tide posted a 6-5 win in 11 innings last season in Tuscaloosa, Alabama holds a 17-7 advantage in the series. Alabama holds a 3-2 record in the last five games against the Trojans. In the last game played at Troy, the Trojans posted a 6-2 victory over the Crimson Tide in 2009. Alabama head coach Mitch Gaspard is 1-0 all-time against Troy.
Heading into this week, Alabama head coach Mitch Gaspard has coached 498 Division I games in his career. Sunday's game at Arkansas marked the 150th for Gaspard as the head coach at Alabama. In his third season at UA, Gaspard has an 85-65 record. Gaspard coached 348 games at Northwestern State (2002-07), where he posted a 210-138 record.
In 20 games this season, Alabama has started a freshman pitcher 12 times, including a three starts last week. The Tide has thrown a total of 176.2 innings this season and freshmen have accounted for 103.1 innings pitched, 58.5 percent of the innings pitched. First-year pitchers have provided an additional 14.2 innings pitched, giving the Tide 118.0 of its 176.2 innings (66.9 percent) from players that were not on the 2011 pitching staff.
The Crimson Tide returns to SEC play on Friday, with game one of a three-game series against No. 12 Mississippi. First pitch for Friday night's game is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. CST, from Sewell-Thomas Stadium. First pitch for game two is scheduled for 2:05 p.m., on Saturday, and game three will start at 1:05 p.m., on Sunday. Mississippi lost two of three games to Auburn to open SEC play, and enters this week with a 16-4 overall record.
