Alabama Baseball Welcomes In-State Foe Troy on Tuesday
3/6/2017 4:22:00 PM | Baseball
The Crimson Tide and Trojans will meet for the 33rd time in series history on Tuesday
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama welcomes in-state foe Troy to Sewell-Thomas Stadium on Tuesday for a single contest. The Crimson Tide and Trojans are set for a 6 p.m. CT first pitch at The Joe. Tuesday's game will air live on SEC Network+ with the duo of Eli Gold and Lance Cormier calling all the action.
FOLLOW THE TIDE
Fans can follow Tuesday's game via the below outlets:
Watch: SEC Network+
Listen: 102.9 FM / CTSN / TuneIn App
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB
Live Stats: RollTide.com
LEADING OFF
• Troy enters the midweek matchup after going 1-2 this past weekend at the 2017 Cox Diamond Invitational in Pensacola, Fla. The Trojans first defeated Seton Hall on Friday, before falling to South Alabama and Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday and Sunday. Prior to the weekend tournament, Troy defeated UAB, 4-2, at Regions Field in Birmingham in a midweek affair.
• Alabama and Troy will square off for the 33rd time in series history when the two teams meet on Tuesday night. The Crimson Tide holds a 22-10 advantage in the series, a record that improves at home where UA owns an 18-4 mark. Alabama has won eight consecutive games against Troy in Tuscaloosa with the last loss coming in 2006. The Crimson Tide is currently riding a three-game winning streak over the Trojans with wins in Tuscaloosa, at Troy and in Pensacola in 2014.
• The Crimson Tide will call on sophomore right-hander Brock Love for the Tuesday start. Love owns a 1-1 record with a 4.05 ERA (6 ER/13.1 IP) for the season, striking out 22 compared to only six walks allowed across four appearances (one start). In the starting role for his career, Love is 0-0 with a 4.12 ERA (9 ER/19.2 IP) and 28 strikeouts versus five walks issued in five total starts.
• The Trojans are set to start redshirt senior Austin Crook, a left-hander, in the midweek pairing. Crook has made one start in 2017, his lone appearance on the season, working 6.2 innings and allowing two earned runs on five hits and a walk while notching four strikeouts.
• Tuesday's game will continue the Crimson Tide's "Taco Tuesday" promotion for the 2017 season. Each Tuesday, fans can purchase a "Taco Tuesday" pass for only $10. That pass includes a game ticket along with admission to the taco and salsa bar on the Third Base Patio. Tickets to the "Taco Tuesday" promotion are limited to only 200 people, so fans are encouraged to act fast before they are all sold out. The midweek contest will also be Pike County Night, with all residents of Pike County receiving the group rate on tickets. Alabama women's tennis head coach Jenny Mainz will be throwing out the game's ceremonial first pitch and the entire 2016-17 women's tennis team will be in attendance at Tuesday's matchup with Troy.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP
UA – Brock Love (So., RHP) vs. TROY – Austin Crook (R-Sr., LHP)
SCOUTING ALABAMA
• Alabama went 3-1 across the weekend against ULM and last Tuesday against Jacksonville State. The Tide fell, 2-1, in extra-innings to the Gamecocks in the midweek game before sweeping the Warhawks in three consecutive games last weekend.
• The Crimson Tide walked it off on Friday night, claiming a 4-3 win over ULM in the series opener in front of a sold-out Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Alabama entered the ninth knotted up at 3-3 before a leadoff single from Kyle Kaufman started the UA scoring rally. Kaufman was replaced by pinch-runner Connor Wright, who moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. In the next at-bat, Hunter Alexander lined a single up the chute to score Wright and claim the victory for the Tide.
• Sophomore Brock Love earned his first career win in Friday's contest, working a career-high tying 4.1 relief innings. Love collected a career-high 10 strikeouts and retired all 13 batters he faced in consecutive order.
• A pair of three-run innings proved the difference on Saturday, as Alabama clinched the series with the Warhawks thanks to a 6-2 victory in game two of the weekend. Chandler Avant led the Tide offense, finishing 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Sam Finnerty led UA in RBI, finishing with a pair, both of which came from a two-run double in his pinch-hit effort.
• The Tide received a strong pitching effort from starter, Jake Walters. The junior secured his second win of the season with 6.0 innings of work, allowing two runs (both unearned) on six hits with no walks and four strikeouts. Walters was followed by Garrett Suchey, who totaled 3.0 innings of scoreless baseball and faced just one over the minimum to earn his first career save.
• Alabama completed the sweep of ULM with a decisive 10-3 win on Sunday afternoon. The Tide used multi-hit efforts from Chandler Taylor, Tanner DeVinny and Avant to power the offense. Taylor finished with a team-high three hits, including his fifth home run of the season, while adding two RBI and a team-leading three runs scored. DeVinny, who notched his first career home run, contributed a 2-for-3 afternoon that included two runs, one walk and a team-high four RBI. Avant tallied his sixth multi-hit game of the season, going 2-for-5 with a stolen base.
• Finnerty tallied his first win of the season on Sunday, throwing 2.1 innings of one-run baseball. Four Tide relievers worked the final 3.0 innings of shutout baseball to keep the Warhawk offense at bay.
• The Alabama bullpen maintained a 0.71 ERA (1 ER/12.2 IP) and allowed four hits, issued three walks and compiled 17 strikeouts for the weekend against ULM. The relief arms claimed two of the three wins and collected one save against the Warhawks.
• The Crimson Tide fell, 2-1, in an extra-innings affair against Jacksonville State last Tuesday. The two teams went scoreless through the first three frames before the Tide struck in the fourth with Avant leading off the inning with a single. Avant moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt before Cobie Vance scored him with a single. JSU would answer in the top of the fifth before the two teams went scoreless the remainder of regulation to send the game to extras. The Gamecocks collected the go-ahead run in the 10th to seal the midweek win.
• Avant and Vance led the Alabama offense on Tuesday, with Avant contributing a 3-for-4 night to match his career high for hits, adding a double a run scored. Vance finished 2-for-4 with one RBI to extend his hitting streak to eight straight games.
SERIES HISTORY – TROY
• Alabama and Troy will meet for the 33rd time in series history when the two teams square off on Tuesday evening. The Crimson Tide holds a 22-10 advantage in the series, including an 18-4 mark in home games against the Trojans.
• The Crimson Tide is currently riding a three-game winning streak in the series and has won seven of the last 10 pairings between the two Alabama schools.
• Troy's last win in Tuscaloosa came in 2007, when the Trojans came away with a 7-5 win in 12 innings on Feb. 14.
• Alabama and Troy met twice in 2016 with Alabama taking both of the games in the home-and-home series. UA first traveled to Troy, claiming a 2-1 win on March 1, before welcoming the Trojans to Tuscaloosa, with Alabama winning 5-3 on its home turf on April 19.
• Head coach Greg Goff has never faced Troy during his career.
ON DECK
Alabama will follow Tuesday's matchup with a four-game set against Arkansas-Pine Bluff from Thursday, March 9 through Sunday, March 12. The Crimson Tide owns a 3-0 mark against the Golden Lions with the lone meetings coming as part of a three-game series in 2012. Alabama defeated UAPB, 14-0, in the series opener, before a 7-0 win on Saturday and a 9-3 victory in the series finale on Sunday. Crimson Tide head coach Greg Goff owns a 2-1 mark against the Golden Lions for his career.
