2/21/21 MBA vs McNeese State
Alabama's Drew Williamson (18)
Photo by Evan Pilat
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama baseball hosts the Samford Bulldogs this Tuesday, April 13 at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The midweek matchup is set for a 6 p.m. CT first pitch on SEC Network+.
Follow the Tide
Fans can follow Tuesday’s game via the below outlets:
Watch: SEC Network+
Listen: 100.9 FM / CTSN / TuneIn App
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB
Live Stats: StatBroadcast.com
Probable Starting Pitching Matchup
TUESDAY: UA – Grayson Hitt (Fr., LHP) vs. SAM – Jacob Cravey (Fr., RHP)
Leading Off
- Alabama and Samford will meet for the 109th time in series history when the two in-state programs square off on Tuesday evening at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The Crimson Tide holds a 93-15 overall record against the Bulldogs, including a 74-9 mark at home.
- The two teams last met during the 2019 season. The first matchup came in Birmingham, with UA putting together a record-setting performance in a 21-2 win. Game two of the home-and-home series finished with a 4-2 victory in Tuscaloosa for Alabama.
- Alabama looks to left-hander Grayson Hitt for the Tuesday start. It will be the freshman’s second start of the season and ninth appearance overall.
- Samford will send right-hander Jacob Cravey to the mound for his third start of the year. Cravey, also a freshman, has appeared in 10 games and owns a 2.60 ERA (5 ER/17.1 IP).
About Alabama
- Alabama went 3-1 across four games last week. The Crimson Tide suffered a 5-3 loss to ULM on Tuesday evening in Tuscaloosa before traveling to Bryan-College Station to sweep the Texas A&M Aggies in a three-game weekend series.
- The Crimson Tide’s sweep of Texas A&M was UA’s first road sweep against an SEC opponent since May 6-7, 2017, at Auburn. Even more impressive was the fact that Alabama was able to hand A&M a series sweep at Blue Bell Park for the first time since March 17-19, 2017, when the Aggies fell to Kentucky.
- Alabama’s bats came alive at A&M and posted some impressive numbers during the week’s four games with Zane Denton, Peyton Wilson, T.J. Reeves and Owen Diodati leading the charge.
- Denton led UA in average (.474), hits (9), RBI (7) and total bases (10) while Wilson finished close behind with a .471 average that included eight hits. Wilson wrapped up his four games as the Tide’s leader in runs (6), stolen bases (2-2-) and on-base percentage (.550).
- Wilson’s big week extended his hitting streak to an Alabama season-high tying 11 games overall and a season-long nine games in SEC play.
- Alabama fielded a late comeback but came up short against ULM, 5-3, on Wednesday. ULM got out front early, using a two-out, three-run home run to take a 3-0 lead after one inning of play. The Crimson Tide answered with two in the bottom of the third to make it a one-run affair before both teams went scoreless until the eighth.
- That eighth saw the Warhawks plate a pair to widen the gap to three. Alabama was able to fight for one in the ninth thanks to a Denton RBI-single but would come no closer as a flyout ended the game with the tying runs on base.
- Tyler Ras gave Alabama 7.1 innings of three-run baseball to lead the Crimson Tide to a 5-3 win over Texas A&M on Friday evening at Blue Bell Park. Ras picked up his team-high fifth win with Friday night’s standout start. The junior tossed 7.1 frames, allowing three runs on eight hits and a walk with four strikeouts.
- Ras then handed the ball over to Chase Lee. Alabama’s closer earned the save with 1.2 innings of scoreless baseball. • The offensive effort was led by Wilson and his 4-for-5 showing. He added two RBI, a run scored and one stolen base to his stat line. Diodati also posted a multi-hit game, finishing 3-for-4 with a run scored and one RBI, which was the go-ahead RBI on Friday.
- Alabama earned a 6-3 win over Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon to clinch the series. The Tide got on top early with a four-run rally in the third and added one more in the fourth for the 5-0 advantage. The Aggies cut the lead to two with a three-run fourth, but UA answered with one insurance run in the sixth on the way to the 6-3 victory.
- The Crimson Tide was able to secure the win thanks to the bullpen, with the duo of Connor Shamblin and Landon Green combining for the final 4.2 scoreless frames. Shamblin got the win while Green picked up his first career save. Green tossed the final 3.0 innings and added three strikeouts.
- The Alabama offense delivered some clutch hits, finishing 3-for-5 with the bases loaded – all coming in that three-run fourth to put the game away early. Alabama’s effort at the plate was highlighted by a pair of three-hit games from Denton and Reeves. Denton finished 3-for-5 with a team-high tying two RBI and two runs scored while Reeves went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a hit-by-pitch.
- Diodati’s three-run home run in the seventh powered Alabama to a 7-4 win over Texas A&M on Sunday afternoon. The Aggies moved out front in the second with one run, but Alabama answered with a three-spot in the top of the third.
- Texas A&M evened things up with two in the home half of that third before the two teams went scoreless until the sixth. That frame saw each team post one run to keep things knotted up heading to the seventh. Alabama broke the tie for good in the seventh thanks to a three-run home run from Diodati to clinch the series sweep.
- Jacob McNairy picked up the win, contributing 3.2 innings that saw the junior allow just one run on four hits with three strikeouts. McNairy was followed by William Freeman and Lee with the duo closing out the final third of the game with a combined 3.0 scoreless frames. Lee picked up his fourth save of the season and second of the weekend with a 1-2-3 ninth that featured two punchouts.
- UA was led at the plate by Denton once again, with the sophomore finishing 3-for-5 with two RBI. Also posting a multi-RBI game was Diodati, who recorded a 2-for-3 day with the homer, a walk, two runs and a team-high three RBI.
About Samford
- Samford finished the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign at 13-2 overall. The Bulldogs were set to host North Alabama on Wednesday, March 11, and then travel to Jacksonville State for a weekend series before the season was officially canceled.
- Casey Dunn is in his 17th season as a collegiate head coach. Dunn entered 2021 with a career record of 498-398, all coming at Samford. A 1999 graduate of Auburn, Dunn’s staff includes associate head coach Tony David and assistant coach Tyler Shrout along with volunteer assistant Brad Moss.
- The Bulldogs were selected to finish as the Southern Conference champion in the league’s preseason poll, as voted on by both the conference’s head coaches and local media.
On Deck
Alabama welcomes in-state rival Auburn to The Joe for a three-game series from Thursday through Saturday. Things open up with a 6 p.m. first pitch on both Thursday and Friday before a 4 p.m. first pitch in Saturday’s series finale. The opener will air nationally on SEC Network with the final two games being broadcast on SEC Network+.
