Baseball Welcomes Washington State to Tuscaloosa this Weekend
2/22/2018 2:32:00 PM | Baseball
The Crimson Tide and Cougars will meet for the second time in the history of the two programs when the two square off on Friday for game one
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama baseball will welcome Washington State to Sewell-Thomas Stadium this weekend for a three-game series divided up between Friday and Saturday. Friday will feature a doubleheader, with the opener set for a 2 p.m. CT first pitch and game two of the day scheduled to begin approximately 45 minutes after the final out of game one. Saturday's now-series finale remains as originally scheduled for a 1 p.m. CT start. The two teams were originally signed up to play a traditional weekend series, but the threat of bad weather on Sunday forced the doubleheader Friday afternoon. All three games of the series can be seen live on SEC Network+ with Roger Hoover and Lance Cormier on the call.
FOLLOW THE TIDE
Fans can follow this weekend's matchups via the below outlets:
Watch: SEC Network+
Listen: 102.9 FM / CTSN / TuneIn App
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB
Live Stats: RollTide.com
LEADING OFF
• Alabama and Washington State will meet for the second, third and fourth times in series history when the two teams square off this weekend.
• The lone meeting between the Crimson Tide and Cougars came in Omaha at the 1950 College World Series. Washington State would hand UA its first loss of the CWS, 9-1, on June 18. The Tide was eliminated one day later by Wisconsin in a 3-1 game.
• Washington State comes to Tuscaloosa with a 2-3 overall record on the young season. The Cougars began the year with a four-game stretch in Tempe, Ariz., at Tempe Diablo Stadium, the Spring Training stadium of the Los Angeles Angels. While in Arizona, WSU went 1-3 with losses to U.C. Riverside to open the season followed by back-to-back defeats to Nebraska. The Cougars wrapped up the weekend with a 7-6 win over Riverside for their first victory of 2018.
• Most recently, Washington State came away with a 5-4 win at Grand Canyon on Tuesday evening in Phoenix. This weekend's three-game series with the Crimson Tide will wrap up State's eight-game roadtrip to start the 2018 season.
• The Crimson Tide will return to its rotation from a weekend ago that featured three right-handers, with juniors Sam Finnerty and Sam Gardner scheduled for the start in games one and three, respectively. Sandwiched in between is senior Jake Walters, who will start Friday's second game for Alabama.
• The Cougars will counter with three lefties on the hill. Friday's first game will feature redshirt sophomore Isaac Mullins followed by senior Cody Anderson in game two of the doubleheader. Fellow senior Scott Sunitsch will close out the weekend for WSU, getting the start in Saturday's contest.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
FRIDAY (GM1): UA – Sam Finnerty (Jr., RHP) vs. WSU – Isaac Mullins (So., LHP)
FRIDAY (GM2): UA – Jake Walters (Sr., RHP) vs. WSU – Cody Anderson (Sr., LHP)
SATURDAY: UA – Sam Gardner (Jr., RHP) vs. WSU – Scott Sunitsch (Sr., LHP)
SCOUTING ALABAMA
• Alabama enters this weekend with a perfect 4-0 record, the best start for the Tide since the 2013 season when UA began 6-0. Most recently, the Crimson Tide shut out Middle Tennessee on Tuesday, 4-0. Prior to the midweek meeting, the Tide recorded a perfect opening weekend to start the 2018 campaign, sweeping Valparaiso across a three-game series in Tuscaloosa.
• The bullpen has played a crucial role during the current streak, tossing 18.2 scoreless innings of work after giving up a two-out run in the first relief inning of the year. The relievers have collected three of the Tide's four wins and registered one save in the process.
• The Crimson Tide used a combination of seven arms in the 4-0 shutout win over Middle Tennessee on Tuesday afternoon. Alabama starter Garret Rukes worked 2.0 innings and was followed by Brock Love, who added 2.0 innings of his own. Both players were making their first appearance since having season-ending elbow surgeries early in the season during the 2017 campaign. Tyler Adams earned his first win to highlight the effort from the other five arms.
• Friday's season opener featured a 16-2 win. The Crimson Tide used 17 hits to score 16 runs with each of the starters scoring at least one run and eight of the nine starters collecting at least one hit.
• Alabama's 16 runs were its most in a season-opening game since 1958 when UA took down Tulane, 20-1, in New Orleans on March 28, and the run total was also the highest for the Crimson Tide in home opener since 1968 when UA defeated Livingston on March 18 by a score of 17-2.
• The 16 runs under the direction of Bohannon were the third most in a head coaching debut in program history and the most since Joseph Black's 1898 team defeated Massey's Business College, 20-3.
• Alabama's offense on Opening Day was highlighted by three-hit efforts from Cobie Vance, who went 3-for-4 with a double, RBI, walk and two runs scored, and Jett Manning, with the shortstop finishing a perfect 3-for-3 including a home run, a team-high three RBI and two runs scored. Sam Finnerty earned his first win of the season behind a strong outing that saw the junior go a career-long 6.0 innings, allowing one earned run on five hits with no walks and two strikeouts.
• With runners on first and second and two down, Joe Breaux lined a single to right field to plate the winning run and walk it off, 6-5, for Alabama on Saturday. The Crimson Tide entered the ninth with the score even at 5-5 before a hit-by-pitch and bunt single put two on for the Tide. Two outs later, a single through the right side from Breaux brought in the winning run.
• The duo of Kyle Cameron and Dylan Duarte shut down the Valpo offense over the final four frames after an early exit from the UA starter, holding the Crusaders scoreless. Duarte earned his first victory of the season with 1.1 frames of hitless work that included a strikeout.
• Alabama secured the series sweep with a 12-6 win on Sunday. The offense provided some late insurance runs after the Tide was forced to call on its bullpen early in the winning effort. Holcombe paced the offense, finishing a perfect 4-for-4 with a walk, coming up a double short of the cycle.
• The Crimson Tide bullpen dominated after an early exit from the starter once again, with Davis Vainer and Brock Guffey working the final 5.1 innings and allowing only two hits while striking out seven. Vainer tossed a career-high tying 3.2 frames, giving up two hits and issuing one walk while adding four strikeouts for his first career win. Guffey followed with 1.2 innings of no-hit baseball, finishing the game with three of his five outs coming by way of the strikeout for the save.
• Across the first three games of 2018, the Crimson Tide accumulated 41 hits, 16 of which went for extra bases, and added 34 runs on the way to the series sweep. The 41 hits were the most across a three-game stretch by the Crimson Tide since May 8-10, 2015, when Alabama totaled 43 hits in the weekend sweep of Auburn on the Plains. The 16 extra-base hits were the most for a Tide offense spanning a three-game stretch since March 18-21, 2014, when the Tide also had 16 in two games vs. Alcorn State and the series-opener with Arkansas.
• Alabama returns 21 letterwinners while losing 11 from the 2017 squad. The 2018 Crimson Tide welcomes back eight positional starters and three starting pitchers while hosting 11 newcomers (including transfers who sat out last season).
SCOUTING WASHINGTON STATE
• Washington State returns 18 letterwinners, including eight positional starters and two starting pitchers, from the 2017 team that finished 24-29 overall and 10-20 in the Pac-12. The 2018 roster is without nine letterwinners from a season ago, a number that is comprised of one positional starter and one pitcher, while WSU welcomes 16 newcomers.
• The Cougars were selected to finish 10th overall in the Pac-12 in the conference's preseason poll, as voted on by the league coaches
• Marty Lees is now in his third season as a head coach, all with Washington State. Over his first two seasons, the Cougars were 43-64. WSU comes to Tuscaloosa with a 2-3 mark in the 2018 campaign. A 1994 graduate of Western Oregon, Lees is joined by assistant coaches Dan Spencer and Jim Homer, both in their third seasons with the Cougar baseball team.
• Washington State University is a public university located in Pullman, Wash., and boasts an enrollment of 19,556 students. It was founded on March 28, 1890 as Washington State College, less than five months after Washington gained statehood. The school's name was changed to Washington State University in 1959.
ALABAMA VS. THE PAC-12
• The Crimson Tide welcomes Washington State for the second, third and fourth meetings ever in the history of the two teams. The lone matchup came on June 18, 1950 at the College World Series, with WSU winning, 9-1, in Omaha.
• Alabama has faced off with just four of the current 11 member teams and has never hosted a Pac-12 opponent for a three-game series in Tuscaloosa. The Tide is 4-3 all-time against the current conference teams.
• Stanford and Alabama have met the most of any current Pac-12 participant, with the Cardinal owning a 2-1 advantage in the series. Alabama holds a perfect mark against Arizona State (2-0) and USC (1-0).
• The last time the Tide squared off with a Pac-12 opponent was Stanford in 2000 in the Palo Alto Regional. The Cardinal won the first of three contests, 8-6, on May 27, before the two played a doubleheader a day later. Alabama claimed a 14-9 win in game one to send it to a final deciding game where Stanford would eliminate the Tide from postseason play with a 16-6 win.
ON DECK
The Crimson Tide will take to the road for the first time during the 2018 season in its next game, heading to Birmingham to take on in-state foe Samford on Tuesday evening. The two teams are set for a 6 p.m. CT first pitch at Joe Lee Griffin Field with the game airing on the SoCon Sports Network.
