Baseball Closes 2016 Regular Season with 10th-Ranked South Carolina
5/18/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 18, 2016
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama will close out its regular-season schedule with a three-game series against 10th-ranked South Carolina from Thursday until Saturday. The Crimson Tide and Gamecocks are scheduled for a 7 p.m. CT start on Thursday and Friday, with Saturday's finale set for a 2 p.m. CT first pitch. All three games will air live on SECN+ with Mick Gillispie calling all three games. Gillispie will be joined by Scott McClanahan on Thursday and Friday, and Lance Cormier for Saturday's series finale.
LEADING OFF
- South Carolina is coming off a midweek win over The Citadel by a score of 16-4. Prior to the single game against the Bulldogs, USC dropped two of three contests in its weekend series against second-ranked Texas A&M. The Aggies won the first two games to claim the series win, before the Gamecocks salvaged game three with a 10-7 win on Sunday afternoon.
- Alabama and South Carolina will meet for the 57th time in series history when the teams match up on Thursday evening. The Gamecocks own the all-time advantage, 31-25, but the Tide holds a slight lead in games played at Sewell-Thomas Stadium with a record of 13-10. USC has won eight of the last 10 including claiming the 2-1 series victory over the Crimson Tide in Columbia from April 25-27, 2014, when the two teams last met.
- The Crimson Tide will call on a pair of right-handed starters to begin the series, first with junior Geoffrey Bramblett for Thursday's opening night game. Sophomore Jake Walters will take the hill in Friday's second contest, while Alabama's starter for Saturday is still to be announced.
- The Gamecocks counter with a trio of young right-handers. SC will first throw sophomore Clarke Schmidt in Thursday's opener before sending freshman Braden Webb to the mound on Friday. South Carolina is scheduled to throw freshman Adam Hill in Saturday's season finale.
- The three-game series with the Gamecocks will be feature numerous promotions, including a celebration of the Tide's seven seniors. Thursday's game will be sponsored by Crimson Student Living and is College of Commerce Night. The second game of the series, sponsored by Holiday Inn Express, is scheduled to be Senior Day, with a ceremony honoring UA's seniors scheduled to take place before the game. Inaugural season lapel pins will also be given away to the first 250 fans through the gates on Friday night. Saturday's regular-season finale is sponsored by Southern Ale House and will be Scout Day, with all boy and girl scouts receiving a group ticket rate when they arrive wearing their uniforms. Saturday is also the final game for Baseball Bingo.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
THURSDAY: UA - Geoffrey Bramblett (Jr., RHP) vs. SC - Clarke Schmidt (So., RHP)
FRIDAY: UA - Jake Walters (So., RHP) vs. SC - Braden Webb (So., RHP)
SATURDAY: UA - TBA vs. SC - Adam Hill (Fr., RHP)
SCOUTING ALABAMA
- Alabama closes out its home and regular-season schedule with a four-game homestand that started on Tuesday evening with an 8-2 win over Samford. Prior to the midweek victory, the Crimson Tide swept the Arkansas Razorbacks on the road last weekend. The sweep was the Crimson Tide's first in Fayetteville since 2000 and Alabama's second overall series sweep across a weekend set during the 2016 campaign.
- The offense continued its hot hitting on Tuesday evening, taking down Samford, 8-2. The bats were led by the Tide's 1-2-3 hitters in Keith Holcombe, Cobie Vance and Georgie Salem, who finished a combined 8-for-13 (.615) with seven of the team's eight RBI and half of the team's runs scored with four. Salem finished 3-for-5 with a home run, four RBI and one run scored. The homer was his career-high fourth of the season and marked the first time in his four seasons at UA that he has homered in back-to-back games.
- Eight runs after four innings provided UA with enough insurance for the 8-6 win, holding off Arkansas' late comeback attempt on Friday night. Crimson Tide starter Geoffrey Bramblett picked up his fifth win of the season after throwing 6.0 innings and allowing two earned runs. Thomas Burrows ensured the victory for the Tide, locking down his 11th save of the season to tie his career-high mark, which he set as a freshman in 2014. Vance led all hitters, collecting two hits, including his second home run of the season, and added one RBI and a team-high three runs. Chandler Taylor and Will Haynie also homered on the night.
- Alabama downed the Razorbacks, 10-4, on Saturday evening to claim the series win. The victory was powered by a two home run, five-RBI night from Haynie and another standout start from Jake Walters. The sophomore starter struck out nine Hogs, a career-high mark for Walters during SEC play, across his 7.0 innings of work to collect his fifth win of the season. Haynie accumulated his five RBI thanks to a grand slam and a solo homer, while Taylor once again homered with the duo collecting roundtrippers in back-to-back games.
- Trailing by one heading into the ninth, the Tide rallied for four runs in the top of the frame to secure the 7-4 win on Sunday and complete the series sweep of the Razorbacks. Alabama fell behind in the eighth after a two-run homer put them behind, but a ninth-inning rally led to four runs and the victory. With the bases loaded and two down, Salem sent a single up the middle to score two and give UA the 5-4 lead. Haynie then delivered a two-RBI single to push the lead to 7-4, before Burrows limited Arkansas in the ninth to collect his second win of the season. Nick Eicholtz was handed the no-decision once again despite working 6.0 innings and allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits and three walks.
- The Crimson Tide offense erupted for seven home runs and 25 runs scored across the three-game series in Fayetteville, with every starter notching at least one hit on the weekend.
- Alabama's effort at the plate was led by Haynie, who finished with three home runs, and eight RBI, while Taylor added two homers and six RBI to the Tide output. Salem led UA in hitting against the Hogs, batting .455 (5-11) with a pair of doubles, one home run, five runs scored and three walks while also stealing a base.
- Including the Samford win, Alabama's 33 runs over the last four games is its highest output across any four-game stretch this season. The Tide has used the exact same batting order and lineup in those contests.
- Alabama returned home this season after spending 2015 on the road. The Tide played a total of 34 "home" games across the state of Alabama on top of the 22 road contests slotted into the schedule. Thirty of the team's home games were played at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover. The Crimson Tide also played a weekend series at Hank Aaron Stadium in Mobile and a single game inside Joe W. Davis Municipal Stadium in Huntsville.
- In addition to the "home" contests, UA also traveled to Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery for the annual MAX Capital City Classic against Auburn, and then to Regions Field in Birmingham for an away game with UAB.
- Alabama's roster features 21 letterwinners from the 2015 squad that reached the quarterfinals of the 2015 SEC Tournament. The 2016 Tide returns five positional starters, and five pitchers who made five or more career starts
SERIES HISTORY - SOUTH CAROLINA
- Alabama and South Carolina will meet for the 57th time in series history when the two teams square off on Thursday night. In a series that dates back to 1973, the Gamecocks hold the all-time advantage, 31-25, but the Crimson Tide lead when the two teams meet in Tuscaloosa, own a 13-10 record at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
- South Carolina has won eight of the last 10 meetings overall and the last four series pairings.
- The teams first met for a pair of games from March 14-15, 1973, with Alabama winning the first game, 1-0, before South Carolina took game two by a score of 6-0.
- UA and SC last met from April 25-27, 2014, in Columbia, with the Gamecocks winning the first and third games of the weekend for the series win.
- South Carolina won the last series in Tuscaloosa from May 19-21, 2011, claiming wins in the final two games of the weekend to earn the series win on the road.
ON DECK
Alabama will next head to Hoover for the 2016 SEC Tournament. An opponent, date and time will be determined by the outcome of the Tide's three-game series with South Carolina.
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