Tuesday’s Annual MAX Capital City Classic Pits Baseball against No. 12 Auburn in Montgomery - Alabama Athletics
Alabama baseball travels to Montgomery on Tuesday for the annual MAX Capital City Classic against in-state rival Auburn. The Crimson Tide and 12 th -ranked T...
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama baseball travels to Montgomery on Tuesday for the annual MAX Capital City Classic against in-state rival Auburn. The Crimson Tide and 12th-ranked Tigers will meet for the non-conference matchup at Riverwalk Stadium, home of the Double-A Montgomery Biscuits, at 6 p.m. CT with the game airing live on SEC Network. The duo of Clay Matvick and Todd Walker will call all the action for the national broadcast.
FOLLOW THE TIDE
Fans can follow Tuesday's game via the below outlets:
Watch: SEC Network
Listen: 102.9 FM / CTSN / TuneIn App
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB
Live Stats: RollTide.com
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP
TUESDAY: UA – Tyler Ras (Fr., RHP) vs. AU – Garrett Wade (Fr., RHP)
LEADING OFF
• Alabama and Auburn will meet for the 296th time in series history when the two teams square off on Tuesday night. The contest in Montgomery will be the 11th all-time meeting in the MAX Capital City Classic at Riverwalk Stadium, with the Tigers holding a 9-1 advantage in the non-conference series.
• The two teams last met from April 20-21, 2018, in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide suffered a series sweep at the hands of 25th-ranked Auburn across Friday night and a Saturday doubleheader. Alabama and Auburn's last MAX Capital City Classic pairing saw the Tigers come away with a 5-2 win on March 27, 2018.
• Alabama will send right-hander Tyler Ras to the hill in the non-conference matchup. The freshman has made six appearances on the season, including five starts, and maintains a 1-1 record with a 3.06 ERA across 17.2 innings of work.
• Auburn counters with a freshman right-hander in Garrett Wade. The first-year pitcher has made three starts and appeared in six total games, accumulating 15.2 frames during that time. Wade is 3-0 and maintains a 3.45 ERA.
ABOUT ALABAMA
• Alabama closed out the week at 2-2 once again, pitching two shutouts across the Tide's four games at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The first blanking came against Maine on Tuesday by a score of 16-0. UA's second shutout win of the week came on Saturday, as the Crimson Tide held ninth-ranked Arkansas off the board for a 10-0 victory.
• The Tide recorded a season high for runs in the 16-0 shutout win over the Maine Black Bears on Tuesday. Alabama's bats collected 16 hits and 11 walks on the way to a season-high 16 runs.
• UA saw eight of its nine starters record at least one hit, led by three-hit performances from sophomore Tyler Gentryand freshman Drew Williamson. Gentry closed out his night at 3-for-5, just a triple short of the cycle, and added two RBI and a team-high tying three runs scored. Williamson was a perfect 3-for-3 and contributed two runs scored, with his three-hit performance setting a new season-high total for the first-year starter.
• Joining Gentry with a home run was junior Morgan McCullough and freshman T.J. Reeves. McCullough's home run was a solo shot, his first of the season, while Reeves kept his in the park for the Tide's first inside-the-park home run since 2015. The freshman also contributed three RBI, a pair of walks and three runs.
• On the hill, the Tide used five arms to secure the shutout victory. In total, the Alabama pitchers struck out 13 while walking only four with each arm collecting at least one strikeout by night's end. Freshman Tyler Ras led the way, earning the win with a career-long 5.0 innings of three-hit baseball. The right-hander walked only one while striking out five before handing it over to the bullpen.
• Alabama suffered a 12-3 loss at the hands of ninth-ranked Arkansas on Friday. The Razorbacks scored one in the first before putting up six in the second and another single tally in the third to put the game out of reach. Arkansas widened their lead with two apiece in both the eighth and the ninth to end their scoring at 12. Alabama was able to post three runs in the ninth, but the late rally was not enough in the end.
• The Crimson Tide turned the tables on Saturday, blanking the Razorbacks by a score of 10-0. Alabama excelled on both sides of the ball, posting 10 runs while shutting out the high-powered Razorback offense. All nine Crimson Tide starters reached base safely, with eight of the nine collecting at least one RBI and seven of the starters recording one or more runs scored.
• Keith Holcombe finished his day at 2-for-5 with a double and his third home run of the season. The senior added one RBI and a team-high tying two runs scored. Also recording two hits was Kolby Robinson, with the junior going 2-for-5 and crossing a team-high three RBI to go with his one run scored.
• On the mound, redshirt junior Brock Love earned his third win of the season thanks to a career-long 5.1 scoreless frames. The right-hander allowed two hits and three walks while striking out one across his 83 pitches before turning it over to the bullpen. Brock Guffey followed, with the sophomore matching his career-long for innings at 2.2 before freshman Connor Shamblin closed things out with a scoreless ninth.
• The Crimson Tide fell to Arkansas by a score of 10-2 on Sunday afternoon. The Razorbacks got on the board first with two runs apiece in the first and third frames. Alabama cut the early lead in half with a two-run fourth, but four runs in the fifth and another pair in the eighth secured the series-clinching win for the Hogs.
ABOUT AUBURN
• Butch Thompson is in his fourth year leading the Auburn program, sporting a 103-82 record entering the 2019 campaign, and is in his fifth season overall as a head coach, coming into the new year with a 142-94 career mark. A graduate of Birmingham-Southern, Thompson is assisted by Karl Nonemaker and Gabe Gross along with volunteer assistant Steve Smith.
• Auburn returns 15 letterwinners, including six positional starters and nine pitchers, from the 2018 team that finished 43-23 overall and 15-15 in SEC action to finish third in the West. AU advanced to an NCAA Super Regional a season ago, falling to the Florida Gators, 2-1, in Gainesville The 2019 roster is without 14 lettermen from last year's squad, a number that includes four positional starters and five pitchers. The 2019 Tigers roster features 19 newcomers.
• The Tigers were selected to finish fourth in the West and seventh overall in the SEC in the league's preseason poll, as voted on by the conference's head coaches.
ON DECK
Alabama continues its roadtrip this weekend, traveling to Gainesville for a three-game series with the 15th-ranked Florida Gators. The two teams are slated for a 5:30 p.m. CT start on both Friday and Saturday followed by a 12 p.m. CT first pitch in the series finale on Sunday. All three games will air live on SEC Network+.
