Baseball Welcomes Missouri to Tuscaloosa for Graduation Weekend
4/29/2021 9:07:00 AM | Baseball
The Crimson Tide and Tigers will meet for the 14th time in history when the series opens on Friday
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama welcomes the Missouri Tigers to Sewell-Thomas Stadium this weekend for a three-game series. The two teams are scheduled for 6 p.m. CT on Friday followed by a 2 p.m. first pitch on Saturday. The series wraps up on Sunday with an 11 a.m. start. Games one and two of the series will air on SEC Network+ with the series finale getting a national audience on SEC Network.
A reminder to fans, the University's annual Spring Commencement ceremonies will be taking place Friday through Sunday. Fans are encouraged to park in the Capstone Parking Deck adjacent to Sewell-Thomas Stadium. There will be no charge to use the Capstone Deck. All fans with ADA hangtags can continue to use the Bryant Drive Lot while access to the main Coleman Coliseum D Lot will be restricted to only those with designated parking passes or gameday staff.
Follow the Tide
Fans can follow this weekend's series via the below outlets:
Watch: SEC Network+ (Friday and Saturday) | SEC Network (Sunday)
Listen: 100.9 FM / CTSN / TuneIn App
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB
Live Stats: StatBroadcast.com
Probable Starting Pitching Matchups
FRIDAY: UA – Tyler Ras (Jr., RHP) vs. MU – Seth Halvorsen (R-So., RHP)
SATURDAY: UA – Dylan Smith (Jr., RHP) vs. MU – Spencer Miles (So., RHP)
SUNDAY: UA – TBA vs. MU – Zach Hise (Fr., RHP)
Leading Off
- Alabama and Missouri will meet for the 14th time in series history when the two teams square off on Friday evening at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The Tigers hold a slight advantage in the series, 7-6, and are 4-2 in games played in Tuscaloosa.
- The two teams last met from April 6-7, 2018, in Columbia, with Alabama securing the series win in game two of Saturday's doubleheader. The Tide opened the series on Friday with a 2-1 win before splitting the twinbill on Saturday. Missouri came away with a 1-0 win in game one before UA bounced back for a 5-1 series-clinching win.
- Missouri swept the last series in Tuscaloosa between the two schools from March 17-19, 2017. Mizzou took game one, 3-0, before clinching the series the next day with a 7-4 win. The Tigers completed the sweep on Sunday with a 9-5 victory.
- Alabama's regular weekend duo of right-handers Tyler Ras and Dylan Smith begin the series for the Crimson Tide. Ras will get the start on Friday followed by Smith on Saturday. The Tide's Sunday starter has yet to be announced.
- Missouri will send three righties to the mound to counter the Crimson Tide. The Tigers will first look to Seth Halvorsen in the series opener before Spencer Miles takes the mound on Saturday with Zach Hise starting on Sunday.
About Alabama
- Alabama enters the weekend with Missouri having gone 2-2 across the last four games. The Crimson Tide spent last weekend in Lexington, going 1-2 against UK, before traveling to Regions Field on Tuesday for a 9-3 win over UAB.
- The Crimson Tide put together a complete effort on Tuesday evening at Regions Field, taking down UAB, 9-3.
- Jake Eddington picked up his first career win in a spot start. After finding out he would get the nod just minutes before first pitch, Eddington came out and worked 3.0 innings of two-run baseball with four strikeouts.
- The right-hander then turned it over to the bullpen with the duo of Eli Giles and Hunter Ruth working the final 6.0 frames. Ruth earned the save with 3.0 scoreless that featured four strikeouts.
- Alabama's offense put together an equally impressive performance, posting nine runs on 12 hits with eight of the nine starters recording at least one base knock. Six of those hits were doubles, a new season-high total for UA.
- The offense on Tuesday was led by Caden Rose with the freshman finishing 3-for-4 and a triple short of the cycle. Rose added a team-high three runs to go with two RBI.
- Tyler Ras was dominant last Friday as the junior's impressive start helped Alabama to a 10-1 win over Kentucky in the series opener.
- Ras picked up his team-high tying sixth win with 7.0 innings of one-run baseball. He worked a career-high 99 pitches, striking out six and allowing only three hits while issuing zero walks. He was followed by Ruth, with the Tide reliever tossing 2.0 scoreless frames with three punchouts to secure the win.
- Alabama's bats totaled six extra-base hits – none of which were a home run – racking up four doubles and two triples on the way to 10 runs.
- The Crimson Tide's effort at the plate was led by Owen Diodati who finished 3-for-4 with a double, two RBI and one run scored. Matching Diodati in RBI were William Hamiter and Sam Praytor. Hamiter tripled and added a team-high tying two runs to go with his RBI while Praytor finished 1-for-4.
- Alabama suffered a pair of losses in Sunday's doubleheader with Kentucky.
- The Crimson Tide fell, 5-2, in game one of the twinbill. Kentucky got on the board first with a pair of runs in the third. The Wildcats then added three more in the bottom of the fifth to make it a 5-0 ballgame. Alabama posted a pair of runs in the top of the sixth on a two-run home run from Diodati but would get no closer, falling in the day's first game.
- Dylan Smith suffered the loss, allowing four runs on 11 hits with six strikeouts.
- The Crimson Tide then fell, 11-0, in game two on Sunday. Kentucky used seven home runs to secure the series-clinching win.
About Missouri
- Missouri finished the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign at 11-5 overall. Missouri was en route to Tuscaloosa to open SEC play at The Joe when the announcement was made that the season was officially canceled.
- Steve Bieser is in his fifth season at Missouri in 2021 and entered the new campaign with a record of 115-72-1 in Columbia and a 253-169-1 overall mark across his eight total years as a collegiate head coach. Bieser is joined on his staff by assistants Fred Corral and Jason Hagerty along with volunteer assistant Tyler Packanik.
- Missouri was selected to finish sixth in the East and 13th overall in the SEC in the league's preseason poll, as voted on by the conference's head coaches.
Getting that Degree
- The University of Alabama will hold its annual Spring Commencement ceremonies this weekend. The graduation ceremonies will include seven current and former Alabama baseball players.
- The group of current players getting their degree following Saturday's game includes Brock Guffey (consumer sciences), Chase Lee (aerospace engineering), Sam Praytor (consumer sciences) and Jackson Tate (kinesiology).
- In addition to the current guys, three former players will return to walk across the stage. That group includes Casey Hughston (finance), Justin Kamplain (human performance exercise science) and Deacon Medders (consumer sciences).
- Under head coach Brad Bohannon, Alabama has had 30 players graduate with a total of 32 degrees, including four master's degrees.
On Deck
Alabama will begin a four-game roadtrip on Tuesday, May 4, with a trip to the Hoover Met to take on Samford. First pitch between the Crimson Tide and Bulldogs is set for 6 p.m.
