Double Midweek for Baseball Pits the Tide against Middle Tennessee, North Alabama

Double Midweek for Baseball Pits the Tide against Middle Tennessee, North Alabama

3/7/2022 3:58:00 PM | Baseball

Game Notes Live Stats Watch: Tuesday Watch: Wednesday

The Crimson Tide and Blue Raiders will meet on Tuesday with the Lions coming to The Joe on Wednesday

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama baseball is set to host a pair of midweek matchups at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The Crimson Tide will first welcome Middle Tennessee to town on Tuesday with North Alabama making the trip to Tuscaloosa the following day on Wednesday. Both contests can be seen live on SEC Network+.

The Tuesday matchup with Middle Tennessee will resume the Crimson Tide's '$2 Tuesday' promotion sponsored by Zeigler Meats. The deal is one of Alabama's season-long promotions at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Tuesday's contest will feature $2 reserved tickets for all fans. Once inside The Joe, those in attendance can take advantage of $2 hot dogs at all concession stands.

Follow the Tide

Fans can follow the midweek games via the below outlets:
Watch: SEC Network+
Listen: 100.9 FM / CTSN / The Varsity App
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB
Live Stats: RollTide.com

Probable Starting Pitching Matchups

TUESDAY: UA – Jacob McNairy (Sr., RHP) vs. MT – Jaden Hamm (So., RHP)
WEDNESDAY: UA – Ben Hess (Fr., RHP) vs. UNA – Austin Nichols (Sr., RHP)

Leading Off

Alabama and Middle Tennessee will meet for the 30th time in series history when the two teams meet at Sewell-Thomas Stadium on Tuesday. The Tide holds a 20-9 advantage in the series, including a 16-7 mark in Tuscaloosa.
The two teams last met for a midweek game on Feb. 26, 2020, with Alabama coming out on top 12-6.
Alabama and North Alabama will meet for the 25th time in series history when the two teams square off for a midweek matchup on Wednesday afternoon at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The Crimson Tide holds the all-time series advantage, 22-2, including a 20-1 mark in Tuscaloosa.
The two teams last met on April 20, 2021 in Tuscaloosa, with Alabama coming out on top, 8-6. The win extended UA's winning streak over North to eight games.
Alabama will look to senior right-hander Jacob McNairy for the Tuesday start against the Blue Raiders. Ben Hess will then make his Alabama debut on Wednesday, getting the starting nod against the Lions.
Middle Tennessee will send sophomore right-hander Jaden Hamm to the hill on Tuesday.
North Alabama is scheduled to start senior Austin Nichols, a righty, in the Wednesday contest.

About Alabama

Alabama heads into the new week riding a four-game winning streak. The Crimson Tide fell to UT-Martin on Tuesday before downing Troy on Wednesday and sweeping Murray State across three games on the weekend.
The story of the week was the Tide's pitching staff, more specifically the starters. Alabama's five starters combined for a 2-0 record and 0.81 ERA (2 ER/22.1 IP). The group struck out 25 compared to just three total walks and limited opposing hitters to a lowly .143 average.
UA suffered a 7-6 loss to UT-Martin on Tuesday afternoon. The two teams traded runs all game, including in the final frame. The ninth saw UT-Martin go in front thanks to a two-run home run, sending the game to the final half inning. Alabama managed one run in the bottom of the ninth and reached the tying run with two down, but a groundout ended things in favor of the Skyhawks, 7-6.
Alabama used a dominant pitching performance and steady offense to cruise to an 8-1 win over Troy on Wednesday.
Tide starter Jacob McNairy was near-perfect in his second start of the season. The senior maintained a perfect game through 6.1 frames and finished with a career-high 7.0 innings of work for the win. McNairy did not issue a walk and struck out a career-high seven batters before exiting.
The Crimson Tide's offense scored in six of the eight innings on Wednesday, including the first four frames, to provide McNairy with plenty of run support. Eight of the nine Alabama starters registered a hit on the afternoon with Zane Denton and Jim Jarvis each contributing a three-hit performance. Denton finished a triple short of the cycle, going 3-for-4 with a single, double and homer to pair with two RBI and two runs. Jarvis went 3-for-5 with a triple and one run.
Alabama came away with a 5-1 win over Murray State on Friday.
Garrett McMillan was brilliant in his third start of the season, picking up the win. McMillan struck out a career-high and Tide season-high tying seven across 6.0 innings of work. The junior scattered three hits and did not issue a walk before handing it over to Dylan Ray. The Tide reliever entered for the final 3.0 frames, allowing one run on one hit while striking seven of the 10 batters he faced for the save.
Alabama's bats produced 11 hits on the way to five runs of support for McMillan and Ray. Tommy Seidl and Andrew Pinckney led the offense, each contributing 3-for-4 efforts. Seidl homered and added an RBI to go with a pair of runs, while Pinckney recorded his first triple of the season and led the Tide with a career-high tying three runs scored.
The Tide leaned on the pitching staff for a second straight game to secure a 6-1 series-clinching win over Murray State on Saturday. Antoine Jean was solid in the start, contributing 4.1 innings of work for the Tide. Jean allowed one run on three hits and two walks with a season-high five strikeouts.
UA's bullpen then took over, retiring 15 in a row across the final 4.2 innings. That number included a pair of strikeouts from Hunter Furtado with the bases loaded in the fifth to shut down the Murray State rally in what was a 2-1 ballgame at that point. Furtado proceeded to throw 3.2 scoreless, hitless frames with three strikeouts for the win. Hunter Hoopes was next, retiring three straight in the ninth to send the Tide home with the win.
Eight of the nine starters on offense recorded at least one hit, led by Jarvis' 3-for-3 effort. The shortstop added a team-high two runs, a walk and a pair of stolen bases to his line.
The Crimson Tide stalled a late rally by the Racers to secure the 5-4 win on Sunday for the series sweep. Alabama got on the board early with two in the first. The Racers came right back with three runs in the third to gain the lead before the Tide matched them at three apiece with one run in the home half of the fourth.
Alabama added a pair in the bottom of the sixth thanks to an Eric Foggo two-run home run. Both teams then went scoreless until the ninth. Murray State was able to cut the lead to one and had the tying and go-ahead runners on base with two down, but Hoopes got a flyout to end the ballgame in Alabama's favor.
Hoopes picked up his second save of the season with 0.2 an inning that included a huge strikeout after entering from the bullpen with a 3-0 count on the batter. The right-hander battled back for the K before getting the final out one batter later. Brock Guffey earned the win on Sunday, tossing 3.0 scoreless, hitless innings with one strikeout.

About Middle Tennessee

Jim Toman is now in his fourth season in Murfreesboro and his 13th season overall as a collegiate head coach. Entering the 2022 campaign, Toman owned a 49-76-1 mark at Middle Tennessee and a career record of 378-281-1, which includes his nine seasons at Liberty. A 1985 graduate of NC State, Toman is joined on staff by associate head coach Jerry Meyers along with assistant coach Jordan Getzelman and volunteer assistant coach Forrest Arnold.
Middle Tennessee finished the 2021 season with a 24-29-1 record, including a 12-19-1 mark in Conference USA.
The Blue Raiders were selected to finish sixth in Conference USA in the league's preseason poll.

About North Alabama

Mike Keehn is in his 14th season at North Alabama in 2022 and has been a part of the Lions' baseball program for 33 years. Entering the 2022 campaign, Keehn owned a 334-292-1 career record, all at UNA. Keehn is joined on his staff by assistants Anthony De Cicco and Chris Blakey.
North Alabama finished the 2021 season with a 7-40 record, including a 6-15 mark in ASUN action.
The Lions were selected to finish 12th in the ASUN Conference in the league's preseason poll.

On Deck

After a break on Thursday, the Crimson Tide will return to the diamond for a weekend series with Binghamton to close out the current 10-game homestand. The series is scheduled to open on Friday with a 6 p.m. first pitch followed by a 2 p.m. start in game two. Sunday's series finale is slated for 1 p.m. with all three games airing live on SEC Network+.