Alabama Baseball Opens Season with Presbyterian College for Weekend Series
2/16/2017 1:43:00 PM | Baseball
The Crimson Tide and Blue Hose will meet for the first time in series history on Friday evening
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama will begin its 2017 season with a three-game set against Presbyterian College, Friday through Sunday. The trio of games begins the Tide's 21-game homestand to start the new season with Friday's matchup marking the official start of the Greg Goff era of Alabama baseball. The Crimson Tide and Blue Hose are set for a 5 p.m. CT start on Friday and Saturday. The series finale is slated to begin at 1 p.m. CT to close out the weekend. All three games will air live on SECN+. The Friday and Sunday games will be called by the duo of Eli Gold (play-by-play) and Lance Cormier (color), while Saturday's matchup will feature the Tide radio feed.
FOLLOW THE TIDE
Fans can follow this weekend's games via the below outlets:
Watch: SEC Network+
Listen: 102.9 FM / CTSN / TuneIn App
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB
Live Stats: RollTide.com
LEADING OFF
• Presbyterian enters the new season after finishing 27-30 in 2016. The Blue Hose are led by 13th-year head coach Elton Pollock, who sports a 242-417-1 career record at the helm of the PC program.
• Alabama and Presbyterian will meet for the first time in history when two teams meet on Friday evening. The Blue Hose are a familiar opponent to the Crimson Tide's new head coach Greg Goff, as Goff owns an 8-1 overall mark for his career against PC.Â
• The Crimson Tide will call on its familiar weekend pairing of Nick Eicholtz and Jake Walters for the first two games, and close out the weekend with sophomore Dylan Duarte. Eicholtz, a senior right-hander, is slated for the Friday opener, while Walters, the Tide's junior righty, is set to follow on Saturday. Duarte will close out the weekend on Sunday, making his first career start after spending 2016 in a reliever role.
• The Blue Hose counter with right-hander Tanner Chock on Friday, followed by a pair of lefty seniors in Brian Kehner on Saturday followed by Hayden Deal in Sunday's finale.
• The three-game, season-opening series with the Blue Hose will feature numerous promotions, highlighted by Opening Weekend festivities at The Joe across all three days. Friday's season opener will feature a commemorative pin to recognize head coach Greg Goff's first game at UA (first 500 fans). The series finale on Sunday will feature the first of many "Sunday Brunch" promotions. Fans can pay $25 for a game ticket and take part in a brunch buffet that features fruit bowls, scrambled eggs, sausage links, biscuits and homemade jams (limited to 200 fans). Sunday will also be Kid's Day at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Those in attendance will be able to play on inflatables during the game, while postgame festivities will include running the bases and autographs from five select Alabama baseball players.
• On Friday, Director of Athletics Bill Battle will throw out a ceremonial first pitch. Hired on March 22, 2013, Battle has not only maintained Alabama's unparalleled athletics success, but also has placed increased focus on the primary mission of Alabama Athletics: to recruit and develop student-athletes to compete at the highest levels in intercollegiate athletics, to educate and prepare student-athletes to compete at the highest levels in life after graduation, and to accomplish both with honor and integrity. Battle has played a significant role in the recent history of the Alabama Baseball program, overseeing the renovation and reopening of Sewell-Thomas Stadium and also making the hire of first-year head coach Greg Goff.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
FRIDAY: UA – Nick Eicholtz (Sr., RHP) vs. PC – Tanner Chock (Jr., RHP)
SATURDAY: UA – Jake Walters (Jr., RHP) vs. PC – Brian Kehner (Sr., LHP)
SUNDAY: UA – Dylan Duarte (So., LHP) vs. PC – Hayden Deal (Sr., LHP)
SCOUTING ALABAMA
• Alabama closed out the 2016 campaign with a 32-26 overall record, reaching the SEC Tournament and winning one game before falling back-to-back contests to end the Tide's season.
• The Crimson Tide enters the 2017 season with two-thirds of its weekend rotation intact from last year, including senior Nick Eicholtz and junior Jake Walters, both right-handers.
• Eicholtz, who passed up a professional career after being drafted in the 2016 MLB First-Year Player Draft, begins his senior season as the leader of the Tide pitching staff. The right-hander closed out 2016 near the top of every pitching statistic in the league, finishing with a team-low 2.30 ERA (17 ER/66.2 IP) that ranked second in the SEC. He also led the conference with 17 earned runs allowed and tied for third with 27 total runs given up, not allowing more than one earned run in seven of his nine SEC outings.
• Walters wrapped up his sophomore season with a 5-4 record and a 2.67 ERA (25 ER/84.1 IP) while leading the Tide in strikeouts with 84. In SEC play, he maintained a league-low 1.93 ERA (13 ER/60.2 IP), registering 51 strikeouts compared to 21 walks, while limiting the opposition to two or fewer earned runs in nine of his 10 SEC starts. He also allowed 25 earned runs overall to tie for the fourth-fewest in the SEC and his final 2.67 ERA ranked seventh among league arms.
• Alabama returns all four of its regular starters on the infield, highlighted by the duo of shortstop Chandler Avant and second baseman Cobie Vance.
• Avant's 2016 campaign was cut short by a broken ankle that he suffered at Texas A&M on April 23. The team's primary shortstop a season ago, Avant led the team in runs scored (25) and doubles (15) while ranking second on the squad in RBI (22) before his injury. He excelled in the month leading up to his injury, batting .351 in April with nine doubles, one triple, 31 total bases and a slugging percentage of .544 despite playing in only 15 games.
• Vance was one of only two players to start all 58 games in 2016 and finished his freshman season ranked second on the team in hits (58) and walks (25) while finishing fourth in average at .258 (58-225). Against SEC opponents, Vance tied for the team lead in hits with 32. He also finished as the team leader in defensive assists at 161.
• The Alabama outfield is headlined by SEC All-Freshman Team honoree Chandler Taylor. Taylor finished his rookie season in Tuscaloosa as the only member of the Tide to homer in back-to-back games (April 22-23 at Texas A&M and May 13-14 at Arkansas) and led the team in walks with 40, 24 of which came during Southeastern Conference play. He also finished his first collegiate campaign ranked second on the team in home runs with nine.
• The Crimson Tide returned to its home at Sewell-Thomas Stadium in 2016 after spending 2015 on the road while the Tide's home stadium was undergoing renovations. Alabama finished with a 19-12 home record at the new Joe compared to a 13-14 record in road and neutral-site contests.
• Alabama's roster features 20 letterwinners from the 2016 squad that reached the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala. The 2017 Tide returns five positional starters and three starting pitchers while welcoming 16 newcomers.
SERIES HISTORY - PRESBYTERIAN COLLEGE
• Alabama and Presbyterian will meet for the first time in the history of the two programs when they square off on Friday night for the season opener.
• The Crimson Tide has met with three of the 10 teams from the Big South Conference, including Radford (5-0), UNC-Asheville (3-0) and Winthrop (6-4). Most recently, the Tide hosted Winthrop to kick off the 2006 season from Feb. 11-13 with the 26th-ranked Eagles taking the series, 2-1.
• Head coach Greg Goff owns an 8-1 overall mark for his career against Presbyterian. For his career, Goff holds a 64-29 mark against the Big South Conference, with a majority of the matchups coming during his time at Campbell University (2008-14).
HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE
• Alabama took advantage of games played at home in Tuscaloosa at the newly renovated Sewell-Thomas Stadium in 2016.
• The Crimson Tide owned a 19-12 mark at home compared to a 13-14 record in games away from the Joe.
• At home, Alabama batted .271 (273-1,008) compared to a .226 (207-917) mark away from Tuscaloosa. The Tide also scored 152 runs at home as opposed to 104 at an opposing park or neutral site.
• On the pitching side of things, the Crimson Tide arms owned a 3.05 ERA (94 ER/277.0 IP) at Sewell-Thomas Stadium, compared to a 3.94 ERA (104 ER/237.1 IP) away from The Joe.
• Alabama's pitchers used the new park to their advantage a season ago, limiting opposing hitters to a .229 (233-1,017) average at home as opposed to a .273 (251-920) mark on the road.
STAYING AT THE HOUSE
• Alabama will kick off the 2017 schedule with 21 consecutive home games at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
• Dating back to 1946 (post World War II era), the 21 straight home contests are the second-most to start a single season in Alabama baseball history.
• UA played 28 straight games in Tuscaloosa to start the 1974 campaign, the longest home stretch to start a new season in program annals. The 28-game stretch included six games played in Tuscaloosa as part of the Joe Sewell Classic, hosted by the Tide at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Alabama finished 21-7 over that stretch in 1974.
• Alabama's third-most straight games at home to start a season came in 1946 when the Tide played 20 in a row.
• The 21 consecutive home games make up a portion of the Crimson Tide's 37 total home contests this season.
RETURNING FOR 2017
• The 2017 roster returns 20 letterwinners from a season ago, including five positional starters and three starting pitchers. The Tide also welcomes back eight arms who made at least one appearance out of the bullpen in 2016.
• Alabama's offense returns 267 hits (56 percent), including 28 doubles (64 percent), five triples (83 percent) and 14 home runs (47 percent) from a season ago.
• The Tide offense also welcomes back 130 RBI and 145 runs, both 56 percent of their respective categories from the 2016 final totals. UA will also have 69 percent of its walk totals (141) and 63 percent of last year's stolen bases (27).
• From the starting rotation, Alabama returns 183.2 total innings across 35 starts from its five players who began at least one game on the hill in 2016. The returning starters maintained a combined 3.09 ERA (63 ER) and posted 10 wins.
• Alabama's bullpen features eight arms that made at least one appearance in 2016, tossing 103.2 combined innings across 74 appearances. The eight relievers added 71 strikeouts to the team totals.
ANCHORS OF THE STAFF: EICHOLTZ AND WALTERS
• Last season's Saturday and Sunday starters in Jake Walters and Nick Eicholtz return as two of the main keys to the Crimson Tide's success this season.
• Eicholtz, who passed up a professional career to return for his senior season, closed out 2016 near the top of the conference in every pitching statistic. He finished with a team-low 2.30 ERA (17 ER/66.2 IP) to rank second in the SEC and led the conference with only 17 earned runs allowed during the season.
• Walters finished 2016 tied for the team lead in wins with five, including a team-high tying four in SEC play, and was the Tide's leader in strikeouts with 84 compared to only 35 walks. Walters maintained a 2.67 ERA (25 ER/84.1 IP), a total that finished as seventh-best among SEC arms.
• The duo combined for nine wins and maintained a 2.50 ERA (42 ER/151.0 IP) across 27 starts a season ago. Eicholtz and Walters also contributed 122 strikeouts to the Tide totals, or more than a quarter of the team's strikeout total (27.0 percent).
ON DECK
Alabama's weekend series with Presbyterian will be followed by a single midweek contest against Southern Miss on Tuesday, Feb. 21, at 6 p.m. CT. The Crimson Tide and Golden Eagles have met 103 times in the history of the two programs with Alabama owning a 72-31 advantage including a 45-13 mark against USM in Tuscaloosa.
