Baseball Travels to Mobile for Weekend Series with Lipscomb
3/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama will continue barnstorming across the state of Alabama this weekend, heading to Mobile for a three-game series with Lipscomb. The Crimson Tide and Bisons will play all three games inside Hank Aaron Stadium, home to the Double-A Mobile BayBears.
Friday and Saturday's contests are scheduled for 7:05 p.m. start time with Sunday's finale set for a 2:05 p.m. first pitch inside "The Hank".
FOLLOW THE TIDE
Fans can watch/follow this weekend's games via the below outlets:
Gametracker: RollTide.com
Listen: 99.1 FM (pending women's basketball)
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
UA - Taylor Guilbeau (Sr., LHP) vs. LU - Ian Martinez-McGraw (Sr., RHP)
UA - Will Carter (Jr., RHP) vs. LU - Nick Andros (Sr., LHP)
UA - Geoffrey Bramblett (So., RHP) vs. LU - Denton Norman (Jr., RHP)
LEADING OFF
? Alabama and Lipscomb will meet for just the third, fourth and fifth time in the history of the two programs. The Crimson Tide owns a 2-0 advantage in the two meetings. The initial matchup came in 2006, with UA claiming a 15-2 victory. The second meeting was in 2008, when the Tide came away with an 8-4 win against the Bisons.
? Lipscomb arrives in Mobile on a four-game winning streak, including a 7-1 victory on Tuesday over Tennessee Tech. Prior to the midweek contest, the Bisons swept LaSalle in weekend series this past weekend, outscoring the Explorers 28-12 across the three games.
? Alabama will hand the ball to senior left-hander Taylor Guilbeau for Friday's game. Junior Will Carter will follow for the Saturday start with Geoffrey Bramblett wrapping up the weekend as the Tide's Sunday starter.
? Lipscomb will counter with senior righty Ian Martinez-McGraw on Friday, left-handed senior Nick Andros on Saturday and junior Denton Norman, a right-hander, on Sunday.
? The trip to Mobile is the third city in the state of Alabama that the Crimson Tide has visited across the three-week old season. The 2015 team makes its home inside Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, and this past week UA traveled to Montgomery for the annual Capital City Classic with Auburn.
? The Crimson Tide features one player from Mobile, right fielder Casey Hughston. Hughston is on a tear this season, leading UA in seven offensive categories including: average (.542), hits (26), doubles (10), home runs (2), RBI (19), slugging percentage (.958) and on-base percentage (.556).
? Mobile native and former Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron will be throwing out the first pitch at Friday's series opener. The current Cincinnati Bengal won two national championships during his time with the Tide.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
? The Crimson Tide head to Mobile after falling, 5-3, to Auburn on Tuesday in the MAX Capital City Classic. Prior to the midweek matchup, Alabama went 1-2 on the weekend and 3-2 overall last week. The five-day stretch started with a doubleheader on Tuesday against Savannah State, where Alabama claimed two victories on the evening. Over the weekend, UA claimed the 6-4 victory in Friday's contest, but then fell in the final two games of the weekend set with Louisiana-Lafayette.
? Auburn got out to an early lead, but the Crimson Tide battled to narrow the gap to 5-3 in the eighth. The Tide had runners on second and third with two outs but could not knock in the game-tying runs in two opportunities.
? Alabama got ahead early in last Friday's contest, 4-0, but a four-run seventh inning for the Ragin' Cajuns evened the score. Then, in the bottom of the eighth, a J.C. Wilhite bloop-single followed by an errant throw from the ULL pitcher score two runs and put Alabama ahead 6-4, the eventual final.
? Game two saw the teams remain near even all evening, but Louisiana-Lafayette would pull ahead for the 6-5 victory. The Tide had a chance to tie it in the ninth, but came up just short.
? The final game of the weekend finished at 14-2 in favor of ULL. The Crimson Tide allowed a season-high 14 hits and 14 runs, while collecting four hits. Three of the Tide's four hits in the contest were for extra bases.
? Alabama leads the nation and SEC in doubles (34), including 10 from Casey Hughston.
? Hughston highlights the UA offense. The sophomore leads the SEC in batting average (.556), hits (26), doubles, total bases (46) and slugging percentage (.978), while tying for second in the league in RBI (19).
? Alabama is also receiving a strong offensive effort from Mikey White. The junior shortstop ranks second in the conference in runs scored (17), while leading Alabama in that category. He also leads the team with a career-high four triples, while ranking second on the 2015 squad in average (.378), hits (17) and doubles (5).
? UA kicked off the season with a record-setting weekend against the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
? Twelve of the Crimson Tide's 40 hits were for extra bases, including 10 doubles and two triples. The Tide finished the weekend batting .360 as a team and accumulating 37 total runs, the most since Alabama scored 38 against the University of Illinois-Chicago on Feb. 26-27, 2010.
? The Alabama offense put together a 19-0 performance in Sunday's finale thanks to 15 hits, including five-RBI performances from Kyle Overstreet and Hughston. Hughston and Overstreet were the first pair of UA players to each record five RBI in the same game since Clay Jones and Brett Booth did it against UIC on Feb. 27, 2010.
? Alabama's starters limited UMES to just six total hits while striking out 19 batters across 19.0 IP for the weekend.
? Alabama returns 23 letterwinners from last season's team that reached the NCAA Tallahassee Regional. The 2015 Tide also features five positional returners, and three pitchers who made five or more starts last season.
? UA's returning pitchers owned a 3.89 ERA (111 ER/257.0 IP) in 2014 and had a 16-11 record.
? This season's returners batted .263 (344-1,310) a season ago.
SCOUTING LIPSCOMB
? Lipscomb comes to Mobile riding a four-game winning streak. The Bisons last earned a midweek, 7-1 victory over Tennessee Tech. Prior to that, LU swept La Salle in a three-game set last weekend. Overall, Lipscomb owns a 7-2 record with three of their games being cancelled thus far due to weather.
? The Bisons defeated La Salle by a score of 8-2 in Friday's contest against the Explorers. Lipscomb followed that with a 13-5 blowout on Saturday, and then claimed the series sweep of La Salle, 7-5, on Sunday afternoon.
? Lipscomb has only left Nashville for one game this season, traveling to Emerson, Ga., to take on Tennessee. The Volunteers claimed a 6-0 shutout in the Friday, neutral-site contest.
? The Bisons are batting .310 as a team with six starters batting .300 or better, and four of those players above the .350 mark. The team lead for hits is shared amongst redshirt junior Adam Lee, shortstop Grant Massey and third baseman Hunter Hanks, all with 12. Lee also leads the team in runs scored (10), while tying for the team lead in RBI (9) with freshman Michael Gigliotti.
? The pitching staff owns a 3.22 ERA (29 ER/81.0 IP) with 67 strikeouts and a .265 average against. Lipscomb has a trio of relievers in Jeff Passantino, Jason Ziegler and John Pryor who have combined for 22.0 IP across 12 appearances, while striking out 21 batters and limiting the opposition to a .169 average against. Passantino and Ziegler have each recorded a save apiece as well.
? Lipscomb returns 14 letterwinners from a season ago, including seven positional players and one starting pitcher. The Bisons return 21 total players and welcome 14 newcomers to the 2015 squad.
? The Lipscomb University program is just 15 years old, getting its start in 2000.
SERIES HISTORY
? Alabama and Lipscomb will meet for the third, fourth and fifth times in the history of the two programs.
? The first time the two teams met came in 2006 at The Joe, with Alabama claiming the 15-2 victory. The Tide was led by David Ferazza, who finished the evening 4-for-5 with a double, home run, three RBI and three runs scored. UA received multi-hit efforts from five of its nine starters and finished the night with 18 total hits.
? The two teams met again in 2008, with Alabama claiming an 8-4 win in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide offense collected 11 hits, including a home run from Kent Matthes. Jake Smith contributed a team-high three hits in four at-bats and added three of the Tide's eight runs.
? This weekend's games will mark the first time the two squads have met at a neutral site.
SALEM CONTINUES HIS STEADY PACE
? Georgie Salem reached base with a single in the Capital City Classic.
? Dating back to last season, Salem has reached base safely in 16 consecutive games coming into this weekend's set with Lipscomb. The streak started on May 31, 2014, against Florida State.
? His previous streak for reaching base was 14 games and came from Feb. 15 to March 19 of 2013 in his first 14 games with the Crimson Tide.
? Salem also is a perfect 9-for-9 in stolen bases this season to rank second in the conference.
? The center fielder returns to the Capstone after a 2014 season where he finished with a .282 average while leading the team in at-bats (259) and hits (73).
? Salem started all 61 games in center field a season ago and has started 136 straight games at UA.
? He finished 2014 without committing an error to set the school record for consecutive games in a season without an error. Dating back to 2013, Salem has gone 77 games without an error. The school record is 84 games set by Jeremy Brown from 2000-02.
HOT START CONTINUES FOR HUGHSTON
? Sophomore outfielder Casey Hughston currently ranks second nationally in hits (26), fourth in RBI (19), fourth in doubles (10), seventh in average (.542) and eighth in slugging percentage (.958).
? He leads the SEC in batting average, doubles, hits, total bases (46) and is tied for the league lead in RBI.
? Hughston is the team leader in average, doubles, home runs, RBI, on-base and slugging percentage.
? From opening day until Friday's contest against ULL, Hughston maintained an eight-game hitting streak. During the streak, he batted .636 (21-33) with six doubles, a triple, two homers (1 GS), 15 RBI and 12 runs.
? The sophomore has recorded an extra-base hit in 10 contests this season and collected 14 total so far.
? He has also recorded one or more RBI in nine games during 2015.
WHITE IS WHITE-HOT
? Shortstop Mikey White looks to be in midseason form thus far, continuing the steady play he put that was on display in his previous two seasons.
? The junior has continued to score runs, leading the team with 17. He also leads the team with a career-high four triples. The four triples eclipse his previous two years combined total of three.
? White recorded two triples in Tuesday's MAX Capital City Classic, marking the first time a Crimson Tide hitter accomplished the feat since Travis Garner did it on May 17, 2003, at Mississippi State.
? He's especially hot as of late, entering this weekend with a seven-game hitting streak. Over the seven contests, White is batting .423 (11-26) with four doubles, three triples, one home run, eight RBI, 12 runs scored, one walk, three HBP and a stolen base.
COMING UP
The Crimson Tide will return home to the Hoover Met for one last tune-up before Southeastern Conference play, facing off with Alabama A&M in a Tuesday doubleheader. Alabama will then kick off SEC play with a trip to Starkville to take on the ninth-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs for a weekend series.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama will continue barnstorming across the state of Alabama this weekend, heading to Mobile for a three-game series with Lipscomb. The Crimson Tide and Bisons will play all three games inside Hank Aaron Stadium, home to the Double-A Mobile BayBears.
Friday and Saturday's contests are scheduled for 7:05 p.m. start time with Sunday's finale set for a 2:05 p.m. first pitch inside "The Hank".
FOLLOW THE TIDE
Fans can watch/follow this weekend's games via the below outlets:
Gametracker: RollTide.com
Listen: 99.1 FM (pending women's basketball)
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
UA - Taylor Guilbeau (Sr., LHP) vs. LU - Ian Martinez-McGraw (Sr., RHP)
UA - Will Carter (Jr., RHP) vs. LU - Nick Andros (Sr., LHP)
UA - Geoffrey Bramblett (So., RHP) vs. LU - Denton Norman (Jr., RHP)
LEADING OFF
? Alabama and Lipscomb will meet for just the third, fourth and fifth time in the history of the two programs. The Crimson Tide owns a 2-0 advantage in the two meetings. The initial matchup came in 2006, with UA claiming a 15-2 victory. The second meeting was in 2008, when the Tide came away with an 8-4 win against the Bisons.
? Lipscomb arrives in Mobile on a four-game winning streak, including a 7-1 victory on Tuesday over Tennessee Tech. Prior to the midweek contest, the Bisons swept LaSalle in weekend series this past weekend, outscoring the Explorers 28-12 across the three games.
? Alabama will hand the ball to senior left-hander Taylor Guilbeau for Friday's game. Junior Will Carter will follow for the Saturday start with Geoffrey Bramblett wrapping up the weekend as the Tide's Sunday starter.
? Lipscomb will counter with senior righty Ian Martinez-McGraw on Friday, left-handed senior Nick Andros on Saturday and junior Denton Norman, a right-hander, on Sunday.
? The trip to Mobile is the third city in the state of Alabama that the Crimson Tide has visited across the three-week old season. The 2015 team makes its home inside Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, and this past week UA traveled to Montgomery for the annual Capital City Classic with Auburn.
? The Crimson Tide features one player from Mobile, right fielder Casey Hughston. Hughston is on a tear this season, leading UA in seven offensive categories including: average (.542), hits (26), doubles (10), home runs (2), RBI (19), slugging percentage (.958) and on-base percentage (.556).
? Mobile native and former Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron will be throwing out the first pitch at Friday's series opener. The current Cincinnati Bengal won two national championships during his time with the Tide.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
? The Crimson Tide head to Mobile after falling, 5-3, to Auburn on Tuesday in the MAX Capital City Classic. Prior to the midweek matchup, Alabama went 1-2 on the weekend and 3-2 overall last week. The five-day stretch started with a doubleheader on Tuesday against Savannah State, where Alabama claimed two victories on the evening. Over the weekend, UA claimed the 6-4 victory in Friday's contest, but then fell in the final two games of the weekend set with Louisiana-Lafayette.
? Auburn got out to an early lead, but the Crimson Tide battled to narrow the gap to 5-3 in the eighth. The Tide had runners on second and third with two outs but could not knock in the game-tying runs in two opportunities.
? Alabama got ahead early in last Friday's contest, 4-0, but a four-run seventh inning for the Ragin' Cajuns evened the score. Then, in the bottom of the eighth, a J.C. Wilhite bloop-single followed by an errant throw from the ULL pitcher score two runs and put Alabama ahead 6-4, the eventual final.
? Game two saw the teams remain near even all evening, but Louisiana-Lafayette would pull ahead for the 6-5 victory. The Tide had a chance to tie it in the ninth, but came up just short.
? The final game of the weekend finished at 14-2 in favor of ULL. The Crimson Tide allowed a season-high 14 hits and 14 runs, while collecting four hits. Three of the Tide's four hits in the contest were for extra bases.
? Alabama leads the nation and SEC in doubles (34), including 10 from Casey Hughston.
? Hughston highlights the UA offense. The sophomore leads the SEC in batting average (.556), hits (26), doubles, total bases (46) and slugging percentage (.978), while tying for second in the league in RBI (19).
? Alabama is also receiving a strong offensive effort from Mikey White. The junior shortstop ranks second in the conference in runs scored (17), while leading Alabama in that category. He also leads the team with a career-high four triples, while ranking second on the 2015 squad in average (.378), hits (17) and doubles (5).
? UA kicked off the season with a record-setting weekend against the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
? Twelve of the Crimson Tide's 40 hits were for extra bases, including 10 doubles and two triples. The Tide finished the weekend batting .360 as a team and accumulating 37 total runs, the most since Alabama scored 38 against the University of Illinois-Chicago on Feb. 26-27, 2010.
? The Alabama offense put together a 19-0 performance in Sunday's finale thanks to 15 hits, including five-RBI performances from Kyle Overstreet and Hughston. Hughston and Overstreet were the first pair of UA players to each record five RBI in the same game since Clay Jones and Brett Booth did it against UIC on Feb. 27, 2010.
? Alabama's starters limited UMES to just six total hits while striking out 19 batters across 19.0 IP for the weekend.
? Alabama returns 23 letterwinners from last season's team that reached the NCAA Tallahassee Regional. The 2015 Tide also features five positional returners, and three pitchers who made five or more starts last season.
? UA's returning pitchers owned a 3.89 ERA (111 ER/257.0 IP) in 2014 and had a 16-11 record.
? This season's returners batted .263 (344-1,310) a season ago.
SCOUTING LIPSCOMB
? Lipscomb comes to Mobile riding a four-game winning streak. The Bisons last earned a midweek, 7-1 victory over Tennessee Tech. Prior to that, LU swept La Salle in a three-game set last weekend. Overall, Lipscomb owns a 7-2 record with three of their games being cancelled thus far due to weather.
? The Bisons defeated La Salle by a score of 8-2 in Friday's contest against the Explorers. Lipscomb followed that with a 13-5 blowout on Saturday, and then claimed the series sweep of La Salle, 7-5, on Sunday afternoon.
? Lipscomb has only left Nashville for one game this season, traveling to Emerson, Ga., to take on Tennessee. The Volunteers claimed a 6-0 shutout in the Friday, neutral-site contest.
? The Bisons are batting .310 as a team with six starters batting .300 or better, and four of those players above the .350 mark. The team lead for hits is shared amongst redshirt junior Adam Lee, shortstop Grant Massey and third baseman Hunter Hanks, all with 12. Lee also leads the team in runs scored (10), while tying for the team lead in RBI (9) with freshman Michael Gigliotti.
? The pitching staff owns a 3.22 ERA (29 ER/81.0 IP) with 67 strikeouts and a .265 average against. Lipscomb has a trio of relievers in Jeff Passantino, Jason Ziegler and John Pryor who have combined for 22.0 IP across 12 appearances, while striking out 21 batters and limiting the opposition to a .169 average against. Passantino and Ziegler have each recorded a save apiece as well.
? Lipscomb returns 14 letterwinners from a season ago, including seven positional players and one starting pitcher. The Bisons return 21 total players and welcome 14 newcomers to the 2015 squad.
? The Lipscomb University program is just 15 years old, getting its start in 2000.
SERIES HISTORY
? Alabama and Lipscomb will meet for the third, fourth and fifth times in the history of the two programs.
? The first time the two teams met came in 2006 at The Joe, with Alabama claiming the 15-2 victory. The Tide was led by David Ferazza, who finished the evening 4-for-5 with a double, home run, three RBI and three runs scored. UA received multi-hit efforts from five of its nine starters and finished the night with 18 total hits.
? The two teams met again in 2008, with Alabama claiming an 8-4 win in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide offense collected 11 hits, including a home run from Kent Matthes. Jake Smith contributed a team-high three hits in four at-bats and added three of the Tide's eight runs.
? This weekend's games will mark the first time the two squads have met at a neutral site.
SALEM CONTINUES HIS STEADY PACE
? Georgie Salem reached base with a single in the Capital City Classic.
? Dating back to last season, Salem has reached base safely in 16 consecutive games coming into this weekend's set with Lipscomb. The streak started on May 31, 2014, against Florida State.
? His previous streak for reaching base was 14 games and came from Feb. 15 to March 19 of 2013 in his first 14 games with the Crimson Tide.
? Salem also is a perfect 9-for-9 in stolen bases this season to rank second in the conference.
? The center fielder returns to the Capstone after a 2014 season where he finished with a .282 average while leading the team in at-bats (259) and hits (73).
? Salem started all 61 games in center field a season ago and has started 136 straight games at UA.
? He finished 2014 without committing an error to set the school record for consecutive games in a season without an error. Dating back to 2013, Salem has gone 77 games without an error. The school record is 84 games set by Jeremy Brown from 2000-02.
HOT START CONTINUES FOR HUGHSTON
? Sophomore outfielder Casey Hughston currently ranks second nationally in hits (26), fourth in RBI (19), fourth in doubles (10), seventh in average (.542) and eighth in slugging percentage (.958).
? He leads the SEC in batting average, doubles, hits, total bases (46) and is tied for the league lead in RBI.
? Hughston is the team leader in average, doubles, home runs, RBI, on-base and slugging percentage.
? From opening day until Friday's contest against ULL, Hughston maintained an eight-game hitting streak. During the streak, he batted .636 (21-33) with six doubles, a triple, two homers (1 GS), 15 RBI and 12 runs.
? The sophomore has recorded an extra-base hit in 10 contests this season and collected 14 total so far.
? He has also recorded one or more RBI in nine games during 2015.
WHITE IS WHITE-HOT
? Shortstop Mikey White looks to be in midseason form thus far, continuing the steady play he put that was on display in his previous two seasons.
? The junior has continued to score runs, leading the team with 17. He also leads the team with a career-high four triples. The four triples eclipse his previous two years combined total of three.
? White recorded two triples in Tuesday's MAX Capital City Classic, marking the first time a Crimson Tide hitter accomplished the feat since Travis Garner did it on May 17, 2003, at Mississippi State.
? He's especially hot as of late, entering this weekend with a seven-game hitting streak. Over the seven contests, White is batting .423 (11-26) with four doubles, three triples, one home run, eight RBI, 12 runs scored, one walk, three HBP and a stolen base.
COMING UP
The Crimson Tide will return home to the Hoover Met for one last tune-up before Southeastern Conference play, facing off with Alabama A&M in a Tuesday doubleheader. Alabama will then kick off SEC play with a trip to Starkville to take on the ninth-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs for a weekend series.
