Notes From Alabama Baseball Success

Here are notes from Alabama's three-game sweep in the Whataburger College Classic as the Crimson Tide of Coach Jim Wells captured that championship.

*Alabama won all three games to capture the 2009 Whataburger College Classic championship. The Tide outscored Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Texas Pan-American, 40-5, in the three games. It is the school’s ninth regular-season tournament title and second in a row. Last year, Alabama posted a 2-1 record en route to the winning the Southwest Diamond Classic in Frisco, Texas.

*The 2009 Whataburger Classic will conclude on Sunday at 1 p.m. CDT, with Texas Pan-American and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi meeting in game five of the tournament. The 2009 Whataburger All-Tournament Team will also be announced on Sunday.

*Alabama has scored 60 runs in its last four wins against Illinois-Chicago (20-4), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (10-2 and 16-2) and Texas Pan American (14-2).

*The top four hitters in UA’s lineup – Josh Rutledge, Brandon May, Clay Jones and Kent Matthes - went 12-for-22 with nine runs scored and 11 RBI. The quartet also added four doubles, one triple and two home runs in the win. All nine starters had at least one hit in the game.

*May tied the Whataburger Classic record with four hits in the win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. He was 4-for-5 on Saturday, with four runs scored, two doubles and two RBI. He has scored eight runs in the last two games.

*Matthes extended his hitting streak to 11 games with an RBI double in the first inning. He is the only UA player to hit safely in every game this year.

*Jones had three hits and three RBI in Saturday’s win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, including a two-run triple in the second inning and an RBI double in the fourth.

*Alabama’s five-game errorless streak ended on Saturday with a throwing error by Josh Rutledge in the second inning. The five-game errorless streak equaled the longest in the Wells’ era. The Tide also played five errorless games from Feb. 16-23, 1996 and May 23-31, 1996. The 1996 UA team set school records for fewest errors (78) and highest fielding percentage (.971) in a season.