Alabama Baseball Heads to Columbia for Weekend Series at No. 7 South Carolina
3/23/2017 10:53:00 AM | Baseball
The Crimson Tide and Gamecocks will meet for the 60th time on Friday night at Founders Park
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama continues its roadtrip with a three-game Southeastern Conference series in Columbia this weekend against No. 7 South Carolina. The Crimson Tide and Gamecocks are scheduled for a 6 p.m. CT start on Friday evening followed by a 3 p.m. CT first pitch in Saturday's second contest. Sunday's series finale is set for a 12:30 p.m. CT start at Founders Park. All three games can be seen live on SEC Network+.
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: GamecocksOnline.com
LEADING OFF
• South Carolina welcomes the Tide to Columbia on a three-game SEC winning streak and an eight-game streak overall. The Gamecocks came away with a 3-0, shutout victory on Wednesday evening over Charleston Southern in the team's most recent contest. South Carolina swept Tennessee in Knoxville last weekend to begin conference play. Overall, SC holds an 11-4 record at home in 2017.
• Alabama and South Carolina will meet for the 60th time in series history on Friday evening. The Gamecocks hold a 34-25 all-time advantage in the series, including a 19-8 mark in Columbia. The last 10 contests favor SC, 9-1, with the Gamecocks currently riding a four-game winning streak over the Crimson Tide. The two teams met in the final regular-season SEC series of the 2016 season, with SC sweeping Alabama at home in Tuscaloosa. The most recent meetings in Columbia came from April 25-27, 2014, with South Carolina winning games one and three in the series for the series victory at Founders Park.
• The Crimson Tide will once again use its trio of starters in sophomore left-hander Dylan Duarte, and righties Nick Eicholtz and Jake Walters this weekend. The rotation will remain the same as last weekend, with Walters, a junior, taking the hill on Friday. Duarte will follow on Saturday with senior Nick Eicholtz rounding out the weekend on getaway day.
• The Gamecocks are scheduled to use a trio of right-handers in this weekend's series. Starting on Friday will be sophomore Adam Hill, with junior Wil Crowe following him on Saturday. The Sunday starter for SC is Clarke Schmidt.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
FRIDAY: UA – Jake Walters (Jr., RHP) vs. SC – Adam Hill (So., RHP)
SATURDAY: UA – Dylan Duarte (So., LHP) vs. SC – Wil Crowe (Jr., RHP)
SUNDAY: UA – Nick Eicholtz (Sr., RHP) vs. SC – Clarke Schmidt (Jr., RHP)
SCOUTING ALABAMA
• Alabama took down UAB on Tuesday evening with a 4-1 victory at Regions Park in Birmingham to begin the week. Prior to the midweek contest against the Blazers, the Tide fell, 3-0, on SEC opening weekend against Missouri in Tuscaloosa.
• Three freshmen in Deacon Medders, Garret Rukes and Davis Vainer combined to limit the Blazers to only one unearned run on Tuesday evening, helping Alabama earn the 4-1 over UAB in Birmingham. Medders made his first career start, tossing 4.0 scoreless innings and allowing three hits and two walks while striking out three batters across his 53 pitches of work. Rukes followed with 3.1 scoreless frames to earn his second win of the season. The Tide's closer in Vainer entered for the final 1.2 innings to earn his third save of the year.
• UA's offense was led by Gene Wood's perfect 3-for-3 night that included one walk, an RBI and one run scored. Another multi-hit performance for the Tide came from Hunter Alexander, who finished 2-for-4 with a double and a team-leading two RBI. Connor Short extended his hitting streak to six games with a 1-for-3 night, collecting his second home run of the season, and contributing one RBI and a run scored.
• Alabama and Missouri squared off in a pitcher's duel to start the Southeastern Conference slate on Friday evening, with the Tigers claiming a 3-0 win. Tide starter Jake Walters tossed a career-high 125 pitches across his 5.0 innings of work and struck out eight Tiger hitters. Walters gave up just one hit but issued eight walks and allowed two runs by the end of his night, both of which were unearned.
• The Crimson Tide fell, 7-4, to Missouri as the Tigers' three-run sixth proved the difference in Saturday's matchup. Missouri jumped out to a two-run lead after the first inning, but Alabama answered with one run of its own in the bottom of the second. The two teams matched with two runs apiece in the top and bottom of the fourth before the Tigers' three-run sixth pushed MU out front for the win. The Tide plated one in the bottom of the eighth, but three hard-hit balls to the outfield could not find open space and ended the UA comeback effort.
• Alabama suffered a 9-5 loss to Missouri in a back-and-forth contest on Sunday afternoon. The Crimson Tide and Tigers traded runs through the early innings. MU got out to an early 3-0 lead after the first, but the Tide answered with three runs of its own across the first two frames. Both teams added one run in the fourth before a three-run fifth by Missouri and one more in the ninth sent the Tigers home with the victory.
• The Crimson Tide returned Tuscaloosa in 2016 after spending 2015 on the road while Sewell-Thomas Stadium was undergoing renovations. Alabama finished with a 19-12 home record at The Joe compared to a 13-14 record in road and neutral-site contests in the first year of the new stadium.
• 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 – SOUTH CAROLINA
• Alabama and South Carolina will meet for the 60th time in series history on Friday night when the two teams square off for the series opener.
• The Gamecocks holds a 34-25 advantage in the all-time series, including a 19-8 mark in Columbia. The last 10 contests favor SC, 9-1, with the South Carolina currently riding a four-game winning streak over UA.
• The two teams last met in the final series of the SEC regular season in 2016 from May 19-21. All three games were decided by two runs, with the Gamecocks earning the 3-0 sweep over the Tide. Thursday's opener was a 6-4 contest with SC earning the series on Friday with a 4-2 win. The Crimson Tide then decided to withhold game-three starter Nick Eicholtz for the SEC Tournament, eventually falling 9-7 in a high-scoring affair to close out the regular season slate.
• The most recent meetings in Columbia came from April 25-27, 2014, with South Carolina winning games one and three in the series for the series victory at Founders Park.
• Alabama head coach Greg Goff is 0-2 for his career against South Carolina.
ON DECK
Next up for Alabama is the annual non-conference matchup with in-state rival Auburn in the MAX Capital City Classic at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery, Ala. The single matchup between the Tide and Tigers is set for a 7 p.m. CT first pitch on ESPNU. The midweek contest will close out the Crimson Tide's five-game roadtrip, as Alabama will return to Sewell-Thomas Stadium next weekend for a three-game series against Arkansas from March 31-April 2. The first game of the weekend is set for a 6 p.m. CT first pitch and will be followed by a 7 p.m. CT start on Saturday. The series finale between the Crimson Tide and Razorbacks is scheduled for a 3 p.m. CT first pitch. The first game of the weekend can be seen on SEC Network+ with the final two contests airing nationally on SEC Network.
