Alabama Baseball Welcomes Grambling to Tuscaloosa for the Tide’s Final Non-Conference Matchup of 2017

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama welcomes Grambling to Sewell-Thomas Stadium on Wednesday for the Tide's final non-conference pairing of the 2017 season. The Crimson Tide and Tigers are scheduled for a 6 p.m. CT first pitch at The Joe with the game airing live on SEC Network+. The duo of Eli Gold and Lance Cormier will call all the action in the midweek meeting.

Follow the Tide

Fans can follow Wednesday's game via the below outlets:

Watch: SEC Network+
Listen: 102.9 FM / CTSN / TuneIn App
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB
Live Stats: RollTide.com

Leading Off

Alabama and Grambling will meet for the first time ever when the two teams square off on Wednesday evening. Grambling is one of only three of the 10 member schools in the SWAC that the Crimson Tide has never faced in program history.
Grambling travels to Tuscaloosa with a 22-27 overall record and sits atop the SWAC at 15-9 in conference play. The Tigers have won seven of their last 10 games and are coming off a road sweep of Prairie View A&M this past weekend, beating the Panthers by a combined score of 36-10 with double-digit run totals in all three contests. GSU is 7-18 in non-conference matchups this season.
The Crimson Tide have yet to determine a starter
The Tigers have not named a starter for Wednesday night.
Wednesday will be the Tide's final "$5 Wednesday" promotional night of the season. Fans can get general admission seats to the midweek matchup for only $5.

Probable Pitching Matchup

UA – TBA vs. GSU – TBA

Scouting Alabama

Alabama sat out the midweek due to exams, but came back with a weekend sweep of fourth-ranked Auburn on the Plains, earning victories in all three games against the Tigers.
UA's three wins this past weekend marks the third time Alabama has swept the Tigers in Auburn in consecutive weekend series in program history and the first time UA has completed back-to-back three-game series sweeps of AU in Auburn. Alabama has also won seven straight games at Auburn to tie for the longest winning streak over the Tigers in Auburn, which came from May 6, 1955-April 21, 1958 - the only other time the Crimson Tide has accomplished the feat.
The Alabama offense was led by SEC Player of the Week Chandler Taylor, who finished at a .500 (7-14) pace to earn the conference's weekly award. Taylor contributed two doubles, three home runs, three RBI, five runs scored and three walks to lead the UA offense in every statistical category. He finished with a team-high 1.286 slugging percentage for the three-game series, tallying five extra-base hits, and totaled 16 bases across the weekend.
Alabama secured the series win on Saturday with a sweep of the Tigers with a pair of one-run victories in doubleheader action. The Tide came away with a 4-3 win in the series opener before holding off a late Tiger rally for the 7-6 victory in the day's second game. Taylor highlighted the UA offense, finishing 3-for-8 on the day with two home runs, a pair of RBI, two runs scored and a walk. Davis Vainer nabbed a save in each game and combined for five strikeouts. Game one starter Jake Walters picked up the win in the series opener while reliever Zac Rogers earned the victory in the nightcap.
The Crimson Tide claimed a 4-3 win in the series opener with the Tigers. UA received a strong combined pitching effort from the trio of Walters, Garrett Suchey and Vainer for the victory. Walters got the win with 5.0 innings of one-run baseball, allowing five hits, walking four and striking out one batter in the starting effort. He was followed by Suchey, who tossed 3.2 innings and allowed two runs on three hits before exiting with two down in the ninth. Vainer collected his fourth save of the season, striking out the final batter of the game to strand the tying run at first and secure the victory for UA.
Taylor paced the Alabama offense in game one, tying his season high for hits with a 3-for-4 day that included two home runs - both solo shots - two RBI, two runs scored and one walk. The multi-homer game was the second of Taylor's career. Also contributing a multi-hit effort was Alex Webb, who finished 2-for-3.
Alabama held off a late rally from the Tigers, as the Tide secured the 7-6 win in the day's second game. Alabama and Auburn traded runs throughout the first six frames before UA put up two in both the seventh and eighth innings for needed insurance. Auburn rallied for two in the bottom of the eighth and one in the ninth with the tying and winning runs on base, but Vainer shut the door for his fifth save of the season and his second on the day. Rogers claimed the win with 1.0 inning of relief.
Seven of the nine Alabama starters recorded at least one hit in game two with seven registering at least one run scored. The Tide offense was paced by Kyle Kaufman, who finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Kaufman's bases-loaded single in the eighth plated both his RBI and would eventually prove the difference in the one-run evening affair.
In the longest game in Alabama baseball history by minutes at 6:36, the Crimson Tide took down Auburn on the Plains to complete the weekend sweep. Sunday's series finale saw seven lead changes, including three different times in extra innings where Alabama scored and Auburn matched to extend the game up until the 15th inning. In that 15th, the Crimson Tide was able to score two on a Sam Finnerty RBI-single and sacrifice fly from Connor Short to take the decisive lead. The Tide then brought in Suchey with a runner aboard, but the junior shut the door with a lineout to center for the game's final out to secure the UA sweep.
Alabama used eight total pitchers and 20 players saw time at the plate, including three who did both - Finnerty, Rogers and Sonny Potter. The Crimson Tide's seventh pitcher of the night, Potter, got his first career win with 0.1 of an inning worked. Suchey followed him with 1.0 inning of scoreless baseball for his third save of the season.
Offensively, Taylor led the Tide once again, finishing 4-for-6 with two doubles, a home run, one RBI, a team-high three runs scored and two walks. Also homering was Hunter Alexander as part of his 2-for-6 night that included a team-high tying two RBI, two runs scored and a pair of walks.
The Crimson Tide returned to 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 - Grambling

Alabama and Grambling will meet for the first time in the history of the two programs.
Grambling is one of only three of the 10 SWAC schools the Crimson Tide has never faced off against. UA has also never faced Prairie View A&M and Texas Southern.
The Crimson Tide holds a 79-6 mark all-time against SWAC schools with perfect records against Alabama A&M (5-0), Alabama State (6-0) and Southern (4-0). Alabama against the other league opponents is as follows: Alcorn State (21-1), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (6-1), Jackson State (15-3) and Mississippi Valley State (22-1).
Alabama head coach Greg Goff is 4-0 for his career against Grambling.

On Deck

Following the midweek matchup, Alabama will welcome seventh-ranked Florida to Sewell-Thomas Stadium for the Crimson Tide's final home series of 2017. The Tide and Gators are scheduled for a pair of 6 p.m. CT starts on Friday and Saturday evening before closing out the weekend with a 3 p.m. CT first pitch in Sunday's series finale. The first two games of the series will air on SEC Network+ with Sunday's matchup broadcasting nationally on SEC Network.

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