Baseball Welcomes Alabama A&M for Tuesday Doubleheader
3/9/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama returns home for a Tuesday doubleheader with Alabama A&M. The twinbill will be the Tide's final tune-up before conference play begins this weekend in Starkville.
The first game of Tuesday's doubleheader is scheduled for a 2 p.m. first pitch. The second game of the afternoon is scheduled to start 30 minutes after the final out of game one.
FOLLOW THE TIDE
Fans can watch/follow this weekend's games via the below outlets:
Gametracker: RollTide.com
Listen: 99.1 FM (Tuscaloosa) / 690 AM (Birmingham)
Web: SEC Network+
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
Game 1: UA - Jake Walters (Fr., RHP) vs. A&M - TBD
GAME 2: UA - Alex Watkins (Fr., LHP) vs. A&M - TBD
LEADING OFF
? Alabama and A&M will meet for the fourth and fifth times in the history of the two programs. The Crimson Tide own the 3-0 all-time advantage.
? Alabama A&M comes to Tuscaloosa after taking two of three games from Alcorn State this past weekend. The Bulldogs claimed both games of Saturday's doubleheader, but fell in the series finale on Sunday.
? Alabama will toss two freshmen in Tuesday's contests. The Crimson Tide will toss righty Jake Walters in game one, and will then use left-hander Alex Watkins in the second game of the afternoon.
? Alabama A&M's starters are still to be determined.
? Tuesday's doubleheader will be the second of three for the Crimson Tide this season. Alabama already finished off a day series with Savannah State on Feb. 24. The Tide took down the Tigers by a score of 7-2 in the first game, and then claimed a 4-2 victory in the night cap. The Crimson Tide will play in its final doubleheader of the season on Tuesday, April 21, when UA welcomes Mississippi Valley State to the Hoover Met.
? All Tuesday doubleheaders are "Two for One Tuesday" -- fans can buy one general admission ticket and get one free.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
? The Crimson Tide comes into Tuesday's doubleheader after claiming two of three victories from Lipscomb this past weekend in Mobile. The two teams faced off for a three-game series at Hank Aaron Stadium, with Alabama claiming wins on Friday and Sunday to clinch the series.
? Alabama fell behind early in game one, trailing 1-0 until a five-run seventh put Alabama ahead for good. Casey Hughston finished 2-for-4 with two RBI, a run scored and a career-high three stolen bases in the 5-1 win.
? The Tide got out to an early 2-0 lead in game two, but this time the big inning came from Lipscomb. The Bisons put together a seven-run sixth inning on their way to the eventual 7-3 win.
? Game three would go in Alabama's favor, with three Tide pitchers combining for a 3-0 shutout. Geoffrey Bramblett clinched the win, with Jake Hubbard and Thomas Burrows finishing out the game for UA.
? Alabama leads the SEC in doubles (38), including 10 from Casey Hughston and eight from Mikey White.
? Hughston highlights the UA offense. The sophomore leads the SEC in batting average (.500), hits (30) and doubles, while tying for the league lead in RBI (21) through his 15 starts in right field.
? Alabama is also receiving a strong offensive effort from White. The junior shortstop is tied for the league lead in triples, and ranks second in the conference in runs scored (18), 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 (.370), hits (20) and doubles (8).
? 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 ALABAMA A&M
? Alabama A&M comes to Hoover after a weekend in which they took two of three games from Alcorn State. The Bulldogs won each game of the doubleheader on Saturday, before falling 6-5 on Sunday. Prior to the loss in the series finale, the Bulldogs had won six consecutive games.
? The Bulldogs claimed 10-8 and 15-5 wins in the Saturday doubleheader, and then came up short by a score of 6-5 in Sunday's finale. In game one of Saturday's twinbill, A&M collected its 10 runs on 10 hits, including a four-run seventh inning that was the deciding factor in the game. Game two of Saturday's doubleheader saw A&M tally a season-high tying 15 runs on 16 total hits.
? Sunday's game saw the Bulldogs gain a 5-3 advantage in the top of the fifth, but then lose it immediately after in the bottom half of the inning as Alcorn State collected three runs to go ahead 6-5, the eventual final score.
? A&M is batting .284 as a team with four starters batting .296 or better. Five players have double-digit hits this season, and four Bulldogs have collected double-digit RBI totals.
? The Bulldogs are led by senior infielder Julio Nunez. The fourth-year player has started all 15 games and sports a .382 batting average while leading the team in hits (21), doubles (7), home runs (4), total bases (40), RBI (21) and runs (18). Brandyn Crutcher and Andrew Utterback have each recorded double-digit hits, runs and RBI for the season. Crutcher also leads A&M in stolen bases with five across six attempts this year.
? The pitching staff owns a 5.44 ERA (73 ER/120.2 IP) with 113 strikeouts and a .277 average against. Utterback also pitches for the Bulldogs, leading the team in saves (2) while ranking second in appearances with five and owning a 1.50 ERA (1 ER/6.0 IP). He has recorded 10 strikeouts across 6.0 to earn his saves. Devin Smith leads the team in appearances with seven (two starts), and has recorded 18 strikeouts across 18.2 innings of work.
? A&M collected 21 wins last season, the most in the program's Division I history, and also won the first game of the SWAC Tournament for the first time since 2000.
? Alabama A&M had five players named to the Preseason All-SWAC team, including Utterback - the SWAC's Hitter of the Year in 2014, Austin Hulsey, Jordan Friend, Crtucher and Nunez.
? The Bulldogs were picked to finish second in the SWAC East and third overall in the conference in the conference's preseason poll, as voted upon by league coaches.
SERIES HISTORY
? Alabama and A&M will meet for the fourth and fifth times in program history. The only other meeting between the two teams came in a three-game series from March 17-18, 2009.
? The Crimson Tide came away with a 24-0 win in seven innings in the series opener on March 17.
? On the second day, the two teams faced off in a doubleheader. The Crimson Tide would come away with victories in both contests, but the games were closer than day one. The first game of the doubleheader resulted in a 6-1 win and the second game ended, 12-0, in favor of the Tide. Both of the doubleheader games were also seven innings apiece.
HOT START CONTINUES FOR HUGHSTON
? Sophomore outfielder Casey Hughston currently ranks second nationally in hits (30), fourth in RBI (21) and in doubles (10), seventh in average (.500) and eighth in slugging percentage (.833).
? He leads the SEC in batting average, doubles, hits (30) and total bases (50), while tying for the league lead in RBI (21) through his first 15 games of 2015.
? Hughston is the team leader in average, doubles, home runs, RBI, on-base and slugging percentage.
? He has reached base safely in all 15 games this season, the longest streak this season by a member of the Tide.
? 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 11 games during 2015, and multiple RBI in five of those contests.
? From opening day until the 2/27 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.
? Hughston is currently on another hot streak, recording at least one hit in each of his last six games. Over that time, the sophomore is batting .375 (9-24) with four doubles, a triple, five RBI and one run scored. He has also recorded four stolen bases in four attempts.
? In Friday's contest, the right fielder recorded three stolen bases in as many attempts. The three swipes marked the second time this season that a UA player has accomplished the feat with Georgie Salem being the last to do it on Feb. 24 in the first game against Savannah State.
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, ranking eighth nationally, second in the SEC and leading the team with 18. He also leads the team with a career-high four triples. The four triples eclipse his previous two years combined total of three across 124 total games.
? He entered this past weekend with a seven-game hitting streak. Over that streak, White batted .423 (11-26) with four doubles, three triples, one home run, eight RBI, 12 runs scored, one walk, three HBP and a stolen base.
? In his last 10 contests, White is batting .400 (14-35) with seven doubles, three triples, a home run, 10 RBI, 13 runs scored, three walks, a HBP and a stolen base, while reaching base safely in all those contests.
? White recorded two triples in the 2015 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.
COMING UP
Next up for Alabama is a weekend trip to Starkville to face off with Mississippi State. The three-game series will be the start of league play for both teams. Friday's game is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. CT start, with Saturday set for 2:00 p.m. and Sunday's first pitch at 1 p.m. CT. The two teams have met in 388 previous contests, with the Crimson Tide owning the all-time series, 211-174-3. Last season, the Bulldogs took two of three from Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
