BOL Round Table

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama will play its fifth straight road game on Tuesday night at South Alabama. First pitch for the mid-week game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT, from Stanky Field in Mobile, Ala. Alabama is 9-19 overall, after losing three games at Tennessee last weekend. South Alabama has an 11-17 overall record, and is coming off a series loss to Middle Tennessee State.

All games for the 2012 season will be broadcast on the Crimson Tide Sports Network. Tuesday’s game against South Alabama can be heard on WFFN-FM 95.3. Chris Stewart and Lee Tracey will provide the radio commentary for the game at Stanky Field. Audio and live stats will be available at RollTide.com.

Probable Starting Pitchers

Tuesday W-L ERA G/GS IP H R ER BB SO

UA-Spencer Turnbull (Fr., RHP) 0-2 6.87 8/3 18.1 23 14 14 11 18
USA-Dillon Buhrkuhl (Soph., RHP) 1-3 6.29 5/5 24.1 26 20 17 9 15

After going 6-for-10 in the Tennessee series, freshman catcher Ben Moore is now hitting .354 to lead the team, while hitting .429 during SEC play. Moore is second on the team with 16 runs scored, six doubles and 35 hits, and is third on the team with 14 RBI. Following an 8-for-14 showing against Tennessee, shortstop Jared Reaves is now hitting .342 for the season. Reaves leads the team with 39 hits, is tied for the team lead with two home runs and is second on the club with 16 RBI. Taylor Dugas collected four hits against the Vols and is now hitting .320 for the season. Dugas leads the team with eight doubles and 15 walks, and is third with 11 RBI. Dugas has a .462 on-base percentage, while reaching base safely in all 28 games this season. Including the last 12 of the 2011 season, he’s reached base in 40 straight games.

South Alabama enters Tuesday night’s game with an 11-17 overall record. The Jaguars have a team batting average of .264, while averaging 5.9 runs and 9.1 hits per game. The USA pitching staff has a 5.44 ERA, while allowing the opponents to hit .301 for the season. The Jaguars are allowing 6.5 runs and 10.6 hits per game. The Jaguars are coming off a series loss to Middle Tennessee State. USA posted a 7-5 win to open the series, before losing game two, 12-3, and game three, 17-1.

Nick Zaharion leads the team with a .350 batting average, while starting 25 of 28 games this season. Zaharion is the team leader with 28 RBI and is second on the team with four home runs and two doubles. Catcher Whitt Dorsey is second on the team with a .326 average. Jordan Patterson leads the team with five home runs, eight doubles and 23 runs scored, and is second on the squad with 25 RBI. Dustin Dalkin is the fourth regular player on the roster with a .300-plus average, as he’s hitting .304 for the year.

South Alabama will start sophomore right-hander Dillon Buhrkuhl on Tuesday. Buhrkuhl will be making his sixth start of the season, and has a 1-3 record with a 6.29 ERA. Buhrkuhl has allowed 20 runs (17 earned) on 26 hits, with nine walks and 15 strikeouts in 24.1 innings.

Tuesday’s game between Alabama and South Alabama will mark the 104th meeting all-time between the two schools. When the teams met on Feb. 28, Alabama posted a 4-3 win over the Jaguars at Sewell-Thomas Stadium Following the win this season. Alabama leads the series 55-48. Alabama and South Alabama split two games during the 2011 season, with each team winning on their home field. When the teams played in Mobile last season, the Jaguars posted a 10-9 walk-off win over the Tide on Feb. 26. UA head coach Mitch Gaspard is 5-1 all-time against South Alabama, including a 4-1 mark as the Alabama head coach.

In the final game of a three-game series at Tennessee, the Crimson Tide fell 5-3, to lose its fifth straight game. Alabama trailed 3-0, but got three runs in the fourth inning on a solo home run by Jared Reaves and a two-run single by Hunter Gregory to tie the game. Tennessee plated two runs on a single by Zach Osborne in the sixth inning of a scheduled seven-inning game. Alabama had just five hits in the game, with one hit coming from five different players. UA left nine runners on base and was 1-for-7 at the plate with runners in scoring position. Starting pitcher Jon Keller took the loss after throwing 5.1 innings, allowing five earned runs on five hits with three walks and a strikeout.

The Crimson Ride returns to Sewell-Thomas Stadium to take on the No. 23-ranked Auburn Tigers in a three-game weekend SEC series, beginning on Friday. First pitch on Friday night is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT, with the game televised on Fox SportsNet. Saturday’s game will be televised by CSS and will begin at 3 p.m. CT, and the series finale on Sunday’s begins at 1:05 p.m.