SEC Opening Weekend – Baseball Hosts Sixth-Ranked Tennessee
3/14/2024 1:20:00 PM | Baseball
The Crimson Tide and Volunteers will meet for the 123rd time in series history on Friday
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama baseball will officially open Southeastern Conference play this weekend as the 12th-ranked Crimson Tide hosts the sixth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The opener on Friday is set for a 6 p.m. CT first pitch followed by a 7 p.m. start on Saturday and a 1 p.m. open in the series finale. Game one of the series will air on SEC Network+ with the final two matchups receiving national attention on SEC Network.
The series will feature numerous promotions at The Joe as Alabama opens conference play. The theme for this weekend will be 'SEC Opening Weekend at The Joe' with the Right Field Terrace open to all fans for each of the three games with the Vols.
Sunday's series finale will feature free Alabama baseball Saint Patrick's Day T-shirts for fans. Game three will also begin 'Kids' Day at The Joe'. All kids 12-and-under can purchase a $5 general admission ticket. Children will also have the chance to run the bases postgame. Additionally, Sunday will be the Tide's first baseball card giveaway of the season. The giveaway part is part of a season-long promotion highlighting the 2024 roster. Kids can get their pack of cards and stay after the game to get autographs from the group of players featured on this Sunday's set of cards.
Follow the Tide
Fans can follow the series via the below outlets:
Watch: SEC Network+ (Friday) / SEC Network (Saturday | Sunday)
Listen: 100.9 FM / CTSN / The Varsity App
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB
Live Stats: RollTide.com
Probable Starting Pitching Matchups
FRIDAY: UA – Ben Hess (Jr., RHP) vs. UT – AJ Causey (Jr., RHP)
SATURDAY: UA – Greg Farone (Sr., LHP) vs. UT – Drew Beam (Jr., RHP)
SUNDAY: UA – Hagan Banks (Jr., RHP) vs. UT – TBA
Leading Off
• Alabama and Tennessee will meet for the 123rd time in series history when the two teams square off on Friday night at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The Crimson Tide holds the all-time series advantage at 78-44, including a 46-18 mark at home in Tuscaloosa.
• The two teams are set to become permanent opponents in Southeastern Conference play starting in 2025. Alabama's other permanent opponent will be Auburn.
• The last series between the current cross-divisional foes came from April 15-17, 2022, in Knoxville. Alabama earned a 6-3 win in game one to knock off the top-ranked Volunteers. Tennessee returned the favor with a 9-2 victory on Saturday followed by a series-clinching 15-2 win for UT on Sunday.
• Alabama last hosted Tennessee in Tuscaloosa from April 2-4, 2021. The Crimson Tide also took game one of that series, 7-4, before falling in the final two contests. The Vols won game two, 11-4, in 11 innings, followed by a 9-8 win for UT on getaway day.
About Alabama
• Alabama enters SEC Opening Weekend having gone 3-1 across the last four contests. The Crimson Tide swept Lipscomb at Sewell-Thomas Stadium last weekend before falling to Southern Miss in Hattiesburg on Tuesday.
• The Crimson Tide's late comeback came up just short in a 9-7 loss to Southern Miss on Tuesday at Pete Taylor Park.
• USM gained a four-run advantage after two innings before Bryce Eblin got the Tide on the board in the third with a solo homer. The Golden Eagles added one more in the fifth before a solo shot from Evan Sleight made it a 5-2 affair.
• Southern Miss came right back with two in the home half of the sixth and added another pair of runs in the seventh to set the score at 9-2 headed to the ninth.
• Alabama's ninth saw Eblin and Gage Miller each reach to start the inning. One out later, a single loaded the bases before a Sleight triple cleared them. Kade Snell homered in the next at-bat to cut the lead to two before a Mac Guscette single forced a pitching change. The new arm was able to get out of the jam with a groundout and a lineout.
• A long day for Alabama finished with a pair of wins over the Lipscomb Bisons last Saturday at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The Crimson Tide took game one of the doubleheader, 20-13, before a 10-1 victory in the nightcap.
• The offense totaled 27 hits across the two games, including seven doubles and five homers, on to the way to 30 runs.
• Miller led the way with a 7-for-10 day that included three doubles, two home runs, four RBI five runs and one walk. Close behind was Will Hodo, who finished 3-for-5 with two home runs – including a grand slam – seven RBI, five runs scored and five walks.
• Alabama and Lipscomb traded runs in a high-scoring affair for game one of last Saturday's doubleheader, with the Crimson Tide coming out on top in the end, 20-13.
• Seven of the nine starters recorded at least one hit in game one, led by Miller's 3-for-4 effort. The junior recorded two homers, three RBI, three runs and a walk. Hodo joined Miller with a two-homer outing and finished 2-for-2 in game one. Hodo recorded a grand slam to go with three runs and his team-high four walks and seven RBI. Sleight led in runs with four as part of a 2-for-4 effort that also included a double and two walks.
• Tyler Fay picked up the win with 2.0 relief innings and was followed by Alton Davis II, who tossed the final 1.1 frames with two strikeouts for his third save of the year.
• The highly productive offense carried over to the nightcap on Saturday, with the Crimson Tide earning a 10-1 victory to secure the doubleheader sweep.
• Alabama racked up 13 total hits in game two with eight of the nine starters contributing at least one knock. The offense was led by Miller, who went 4-for-6 with two doubles, an RBI and two runs scored. Close behind was Eblin, who put together a 3-for-5 game two that included one RBI and a pair of runs.
• Greg Farone was solid in his start, tossing 5.0 scoreless innings and allowing only three hits while striking out six.
• Alabama completed the sweep of Lipscomb last Sunday with a 10-5 victory at The Joe.
• UA scored in each of the first five innings, plating two apiece in the first and second, single tallies in the third and fourth and adding four in the fifth to put the game out of reach. Lipscomb was able to answer with one in the second, two in the third and one apiece again in the fourth and sixth but went scoreless the rest of the way for the 10-5 final.
• The Crimson Tide offense produced 11 hits on the day, led by Ian Petrutz who went 3-for-4 with a double, three RBI and three runs scored. Sleight matched him in RBI as part of his 1-for-3 showing that included one walk as well.
• Coulson Buchanan picked up the Sunday win with 1.1 scoreless frames that included two hits and two strikeouts.
About Tennessee
• Tony Vitello is in his seventh year at the helm of the Tennessee program and entered 2024 with a career record of 235-99, all while with the Volunteers. A 2002 graduate of Missouri, Vitello is joined on staff by associate head coach Josh Elander along with assistants Frank Anderson and Richard Jackson.
• Tennessee is coming off a trip to Omaha in 2023 that saw the Volunteers finish 44-22. UT first claimed the NCAA Clemson Regional crown before traveling to Hattiesburg to face Southern Miss. The weekend in Hattiesburg came down to Sunday's championship game where the Vols secured a 5-0 shutout to advance to the College World Series. UT won one game against Stanford and suffered a pair of losses to LSU while at the CWS.
• The Volunteers were selected to finish second in the Eastern Division and fourth overall in the Southeastern Conference in the league's preseason poll, as voted on by the conference's head coaches.
On Deck
Alabama will take to the road on Tuesday, March 19, to embark on a stretch of five games away from Tuscaloosa. The week will begin in Montgomery against Alabama State. First pitch on Tuesday between the Crimson Tide and Hornets is set for 6 p.m. at the Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex. Fans can listen in on the action through the Crimson Tide Sports Network.
