Josh Rutledge Class: Sophomore Hometown: Cullman, Ala. High School: Cullman Height / Weight: 6-0 / 185 Position: INF Experience: 1L B/T: R/R

Coming off one of the most prolific seasons in Crimson Tide history ... Rutledge earned Freshman All-American and Freshman All-SEC honors after a stellar rookie season in 2008 ... played and started 61 games and recorded the second-highest batting average by a freshman in Tide history ... Rutledge hit .369 last season and led the SEC with 91 hits in the regular season ... his .369 average is second only to David Magadan's freshman school-record .393 average in 1981 ... set UA record with 23-game SEC hitting streak from March 21-May 10 ... also recorded third-longest hitting streak in school history with 28-game hitting streak from March 26-May 10 ... led all SEC freshmen in hitting (.369), total hits (99) and multi-hit games (31) last season ... led UA with 31 multi-hit games ... also added seven multi-RBI games ... he was 1-for-10 (.100) with the bases loaded and added four RBI ... named SEC Freshman of the Week on April 27 after an 8-for-11 performance against arch-rival Auburn as the Tide captured the weekend SEC series ... honed his skills this summer in the prestigious wooden-bat Cape Cod League, where he played for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox ... played in 41 games for the Red Sox and earned starts at shortstop (23), outfield (19), second base (6) and third base (3) ... hit .294 (48 for 163) with one home run and 10 RBI ... wrapped up the summer with 13 extra base hits, including nine doubles and three triples, and scored a team-high 26 runs ... also paced the Red Sox with 48 hits ... shown improvement in all phases of his game this fall and should have increased power this season.

CUBA FRIENDSHIP TOURNAMENT:
Rutledge was the Tide's starting shortstop and hit third in the batting order in all three games against Cuba ... hit .250 (3 for 12) in the series and had one hit in all three games ... he tripled and scored the Tide's first run in game two of the series ... added an RBI single in the Tide's 5-run fifth inning in the series finale.

CAREER Postseason NOTES:
Rutledge started all seven postseason games for the Tide in 2008 ... he batted .286 (8 for 28) with seven runs scored, two doubles, four RBI ... he also added four stolen bases, five walks and a .417 on-base percentage ... as the starting shortstop, Rutledge made only one error in (.950) in 21 postseason chances ... in four SEC Tournament games, Rutledge hit .313 (5 for 16) with five runs scored, two doubles and two RBI ... he went 2 for 3 with one double and two runs scored in win over Georgia on May 22 ... added two RBI against LSU on May 24 ... started all three games at NCAA Conway (S.C.) Regional and hit .250 (3 for 12) with two runs scored and two RBI ... in his NCAA Tournament debut, Rutledge went 3 for 6 with one run scored and one RBI against East Carolina on May 30.

FRESHMAN (2008):
Recorded a phenomenal freshman season ... played and started 61 games for the Crimson Tide and led the team with a .369 (99 for 268) batting average ... second freshman in school history to lead the team in hitting ... David Magadan (.389) led the team as a rookie in 1981 ... Rutledge's .369 average is also the second-highest batting average by an Alabama freshman ... recorded 99 hits, the most by an Alabama freshman and the 10th highest-total in school history ... led UA in hitting (.369), runs scored (62), hits (99), stolen bases (16) and multi-hit games (31) ... also led all SEC hitters with 91 hits during the regular season and paced the league with 56 hits in 30 conference games ... led UA with .406 (54 for 133) batting average in 30 SEC games ... led the Tide in SEC play in hitting (.406), hits (54), on-base percentage (.452), multi-hit games (17) and stolen bases (3) ... his .406 conference batting average was second only South Carolina All-American and first-round draft pick, Justin Smoak ... 2008 Freshman All-American selection by Collegiate Baseball newspaper ... Freshman All-SEC selection by SEC head coaches ... hit safely in 53 of 61 games ... went hitless in back-to-back games only once against Coastal Carolina (May 31) and East Carolina (June 1) in the final two games of the season ... also hit safely in 28 of 30 SEC games ... UA's leading hitter against Ole Miss (.636) and Auburn (.727) ... also leading hitter in February (.391), March (.363) and April (.422) ... after going hitless in his UA debut against Cal Poly on Feb. 22, Rutledge rebounded to hit safely in his next eight games ... batted .500 (18 for 36) in those eight games and scored 11 runs ... posted six multi-hit games in eight-game stretch from Feb. 23-March 5 ... posted back-to-back four-hit games against Nevada (Feb. 29) and Dallas Baptist (March 1) at the 2008 Southwest Diamond Classic in Frisco, Texas ... named to the Southwest Diamond Classic All-Tournament team, after hitting .693 (9 for 13) and six runs scored helping UA to the championship ... batted .444 (4 for 9) in two-game series with Troy (March 4-5) with back-to-back two-hit games ... Hit .538 (7 for 13) with four runs and three multi-hit games against No. 4 Vanderbilt (March 21-23) ... leading hitter against No. 15 Ole Miss with a .636 (7 for 11) average, including back-to-back three-hit games on March 28-29 ... went 3 for 4 with three runs and season-high three RBI vs. Mississippi Valley State (April 8) ... hit .467 (7 for 15) in three-game series at Tennessee (April 12-13), with two, three-hit games ... hit .412 (5 for 12) against Mississippi State (April 19-20), including back-to-back two hit games in the April 19 double header ... scored a season-high three runs in UA's 21-7 win in series opener ... named SEC Freshman of the Week after hitting .727 (8 for 11) against arch-rival Auburn (April 25-27) with two RBI and four runs scored ... tied season high with four hits and two RBI in UA's 17-7 series-clinching win over the Tigers ... hit .357 (5 for 14) in the Tide's first road series win at Arkansas on May 2-4, including back-to-back two-hit games to open the series ... posted Alabama freshman record 28-game hitting streak (March 26-May 10), where he batted .430 (52 for 121) with 27 runs, five doubles, one triple and 19 RBI ... the 28-game hitting streak broke the freshman record of 27 games set by David Magadan in 1981 ... the 28-game streak was the third longest in school history ... logged 15 multi-hit games during the streak ... posted school record 23-game SEC hitting streak from March 21-April 11, where he batted .459 (45 for 98) with 22 runs, four doubles, one triple and 10 RBI ... tallied 13 multi-hit games during his SEC hitting streak ... posted 15-game hitting streak at the Joe from March 21-May 11, where he batted .525 (31 for 59) with 19 runs, five doubles, one triple and 13 RBI ... had 10 multi-hit games during the home hitting streak ... capped an incredible regular-season by going 6 for 16 (.375) against No. 7 Georgia with five runs scored and two RBI ... had two hits and scored two runs in UA's 17-13 series-opening win on May 16 ... added three hits and two runs scored in series-clinching win on May 17 ... Rutledge singled and scored winning run in ninth inning off Georgia's All-American closer Joshua Fields in the series finale ... He was 5 for 16 (.313) at SEC Tournament with two doubles, two RBI and five runs scored ... He was 2 for 3 with two runs scored against No. 1 seed Georgia.

HIGH SCHOOL:
A 2007 graduate of Cullman High School where he was a four-year starter for Coach Bryan Bowen ... hit .445 with 17 home runs and 102 RBI during his junior and senior seasons ... was a two-time All-State selection (2006 and 2007) ... played in consecutive Class 5A state championship series (2006 and 2007) at Montgomery's Riverwalk Stadium ... hit .454 with 12 home runs and 69 RBI as a senior ... a 2007 First-Team All-State selection by The Birmingham News and the Alabama Sports Writers Association ... the 2007 Class 5A Player of the Year by The Birmingham News and the ASWA ... a member of the 2007 Birmingham News Super All-State Team ... led the Bearcats to a 48-7 record and a Top 20 national ranking by USA Today and Baseball America in 2007 ... helped the team to the Class 5A State Championship with a two-game sweep against Bibb County High School, Cullman's first state title since 2002 ... went 3-for-7 (.429) at the plate in the championship series with one run scored, two RBI and three walks ... earned a save (0.1/3 IP) in Cullman's 5-4 win in game one ... as a junior in 2006, he hit .436 with five home runs and 33 RBI, a .602 slugging percentage and a .497 on-base mark ... led the Bearcats to a 37-13 overall record that season ... collected four hits and two RBI in the 2006 Class 5A state championship series as Cullman finished as the runner-up to Stanhope Elmore ... named the 2006 Cullman High School Offensive Player of the Year ... was selected to play in the 2006 Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) North-South All-Star game ... played in the Alabama Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-Star Showcase in Troy, Ala. ... a three-time National Honor Society selection ... a member of Cullman HS Key Club ... played summer ball for American Legion Post 15 under coaches Nathan Brownlow and Alan Lang.

PERSONAL:
Full name is Joshua Alan Rutledge ... son of Tony and Cheryl Rutledge ... has one older brother, Michael, who played baseball at Mississippi State (2005-07) and Samford (2008) ... both Josh (2007) and Michael (2002) won state championships at Cullman High School.