Baseball Set For The Second Series Of The Season Against Stephen F. Austin (Preview)

Beginning with the night game on Friday and then wrapping on Saturday and Sunday, The Crimson Tide baseball team will take on the Lumberjacks of Stephen F. Austin at Sewell Thomas Stadium for their second series of the 2014 season. First pitch times are scheduled for Friday night at 6:05, Saturday at 2:05 and on Sunday at 1:05.

Alabama Notes From The Beginning of the Season

Tide Position Player Notes
The Crimson Tide returns five of its top six hitters from last season by batting average and their leader in hits, doubles, triples, home runs, RBI and stolen bases. Alabama returns three starting infielders in Austen Smith (1B), Kyle Overstreet(2B) and Mikey White (SS). UA also returns a pair of starting outfielder in Georgie Salem (CF) and Ben Moore (RF). In 2013, Smith led the Tide with seven home runs and 15 doubles and was second with 40 RBI. Ben Moore paced the 2013 squad with 41 RBI, 16 stolen bases and four triples, while adding four home runs for a team best .416 slugging percentage. After hitting .350 in 29 SEC games, Mikey White finished second on the team with a .287 batting average in 2013. Kyle Overstreet started all 63 games at second base in 2013, and finished the year with a .271 average and was fourth on the team with 37 RBI. Georgie Salem started every game in center field in 2013. He led the team in hits (71) and at-bats (264) as the leadoff and two-hole hitter. Salem was second in walks (27) and stolen bases (9) while posting a .269 average in his first season at Alabama. Chance Vincent appeared in 32 games with 28 starts as a freshman, starting 22 times as the designated hitter. He finished the 2013 season as the team’s DH and will look to replace Kenny Roberts as the starting third baseman this season.

Tide Pitching Notes
Alabama returns 10 pitchers from last year’s staff, including four starters and six relievers. The Tide returns 436 of its 574 innings pitched from last season, bringing back 76 percent of its innings pitched from a year ago. Charley Sullivan, who graduated following the 2013 season and led the team in innings pitched last year, accounted for 94.1 of the 138 innings lost from last year’s pitching staff. Alabama returns six players that made at least five starts on the mound last season: Spencer Turnbull (15), Jon Keller (9), Taylor Guilbeau (7), Justin Kamplain (6), Tucker Hawley (5) and Mike Oczypok (5). Spencer Turnbull returns as the team’s leader in innings pitched (90.0) and starts (15) from last season. LHP Jon Keller recorded 56 strikeouts in 53.1 innings pitched in 2013, and returns as the team leader in strikeouts from last season. Jay Shaw held opponents to a team-low .215 batting average in 2013, while Ray Castillo allowed a .220 average and Justin Kamplain held opponents to a .223 average last season. In 10 relief appearances in 2013, LHPTaylor Guilbeau posted a 2-0 record with a 1.02 ERA, allowing just three earned runs in 26.1 innings.

The Tide took the  series 2-1 against Saint Louis during opening weekend. Bama dropped a 2-1 decision opening night that ended after a one hour and 41 minute rain delay. The Tide’s only run of opening night came in the third inning just before the rain delay. Ben Moore with an RBI double brought Georgie Salem across for the Tide. The Tide picked up 3 hits and a pair of walks after the delay but could not add anything else to the total. Bama starting pitcher Spencer Turnbull fanned 4 batters through three innings and allowed no runs. Geoffrey Bramblett pitched 4 scoreless innings in his Bama debut giving up three hits but struck out 3. Tucker Hawley got the loss after allowing a run in both innings that he pitched. The Tide had a chance to tie the game in the eighth innings but Mikey White was thrown out at home after the Kyle Overstreet single.

During the Tide’s second game with the Billikens, Saint Louis got on the board early after Justin Kamplain hit the lead off batter and then a sacrifice fly plus a 2 run home run gave Saint Louis a 3-0 lead in the top of the first. Daniel Cucjen started the comeback off with a lead off home run in the third inning. Mikey White also tripled the same inning and scored off of a Ben Moore sacrifice fly. Bama tied it up in the fifth after Moore scored from a 2 out double from Ben Moore. Kamplain looked sharp on the mound and settled down after the 3 run first inning. He only allowed 2 base runners on walks, gave up three hits and struck out 5. Wade Wass saved the day with the 2 out walk off RBI to bring Mikey White in for the winning run.

For the Sunday game, Ray Castillo got the start and gave up 2 runs in his first start for Bama. Jon Keller came in for relief going 4 innings of scoreless pitching, giving up only one hit and retiring the last 9 batters that stepped up to the plate. Bama’s first runs came in the second after the first 2 batters were walked to open the inning. An Overstreet sacrifice bunt followed by Austen Smith’s 2 run single to center. The Billikens loaded the bases in the top of the next inning and a single from  Braxton Martinez tied the game at 2. Bama opened things up in the seventh inning, scoring 7 runs.

About Stephen F. Austin (Some Notes Taken From Stephen F. Austin Athletic Site)

Sixth-year head coach Johnny Cardenas has the ‘Jacks coming off a 28-29 season and fifth place finish in the Southland Conference. SFA appeared in the 2013 SLC Tournament as a six-seed, the fifth-straight postseason appearance for Cardenas in his tenure. Cardenas enters the 2014 season with a 148-137 career record with the ‘Jacks.

SFA returns 16 letterman and five position starters from last season, highlighted by outfielder Ricardo Sanchez. The senior out of Houston, Texas, is coming off a breakout 2013 campaign in which he garnered second-team all-conference honors. The 2014 preseason first-team All-SLC selection, finished fourth in the conference with his .358 batting average as a junior. With the departure of the three SLC players ahead of him last season, Sanchez is the league’s top returning hitter.

The ‘Jacks also return in catcher Joe Olson, infielder Brett Thornell, and outfielders Mackenzie Handel, and Matthew Dickey. Senior Zach Marberry also has starting experience, making 12 starts in 2013.

On the mound, SFA returns seven pitchers from last season, including weekend staple Kyle Cross. The senior from Pearland, Texas, started in all but one of his 14 appearances in 2013, finishing 5-6 with a 4.18 ERA. Cross tossed 79.2 innings, including a complete-game shutout against Arlington Baptist (3/9/13), while fanning 39 hitters.

Other ‘Jacks on the mound are junior Cameron Gann, who will take the mound for SFA’s opening game, seniors Fabian Arcizo, Kevin Bishop, Garrett Powell and Justin Hunsaker and sophomore Chris Hassold. Junior Sam Johnson is also back for the ‘Jacks after suffering an injury in the beginning of last season.

Stephen F. Austin opened this past weekend going 2-1 in their slate of games. The Lumberjacks lost 3-1 to Number 18 Oklahoma State and won games against UT Arlington 14-9 and Incarnate World 12-5. The Jacks jumped out to an early 13-0 lead through 5 innings of the game versus UT Arlington. Junior Cameron Gann registered 5 innings to get the win. He allowed 2 runs, both earned,  and one walk. The Lumberjacks used 5 out of the bull pen to finish it out. The Jacks’ bats were almost ineffective with the match up with number 18 Oklahoma St. OSU freshman Thomas Hatch fanned 8 batters through 6 innings and only gave up 2 hits to give the Pokes the win. Lumberjack pitcher Dillon Mangham gave up one run in the first inning but blanked the lineup though his next four. SFA scored three runs in the second, two in the third and three in the fourth, as the sticks for the ‘Jacks caught fire, sparked by Brett Thornell’s single with one out in the top of the second. After Thornell’s single, Vest followed suit with his first double on the afternoon to put runners at the corners, before a walk loaded the bases for a sac fly from senior Ricardo Sanchez to tie it 1-1. Olson then added a single down the left field line to plate the next two in the frame.

Photo Credit: AL.com/ Vasha Hunt