After dropping the final two games of a weekend series with Louisiana-Lafayette, Alabama baseball will head to Montgomery for a non-conference game with in-state rival Auburn. The teams will face off Tuesday in the annual Capital City Classic, which takes place at Riverwalk Stadium, the home of the Montgomery Biscuits, the Tampa Bay Rays Double-A affiliate.
“This game has gotten bigger and bigger, I think, each year,” coach Mitch Gaspard said. “It’s such a big production by city of Montgomery and they do such a great job with the game. It’s also your first SEC game, even though it is a non-conference game. Both teams are one weekend away from starting SEC play. I think it kind of lets you know where you’re at after a few weekends of non-conference play.”
Alabama enters the game with a 7-4 record and is looking to rebound after losing to ULL in the final game of the series 14-2.
“We have to be on our game all the time,” junior shortstop Mikey White said. “Whenever you are facing good opponents like that, you have to be on your game or they are going to embarrass you, kind of like Louisiana-Lafayette did this weekend.”
Auburn comes into the game with a record of 9-3 having just beat No. 16 Oklahoma State and splitting two games with Jacksonville State over the weekend. The Tigers will start hard-throwing sophomore Keegan Thompson. In three starts this season, Thompson is 2-1 with a 3.31 ERA.
“He is really good. He was a highly-recruited kid out of high school,” Gaspard said. “He’s got a really big arm, a good three-pitch mix and really good mound presence. He’s a very confident pitcher. We have a lot of respect for him and what he’s done.”
Alabama will start junior right-hander Jake Hubbard against the Tigers. This will be Hubbard’s second start of the year. He started game two of a doubleheader with Savannah State last week and pitched six innings while giving up just one run on three hits.
Through 11 games, sophomore right fielder Casey Hughston is hitting .556 with nine doubles, two triples and two home runs. Hughston also has 18 RBIs on the year, seven away from last season’s total of 25.
After facing Auburn, the Crimson Tide will travel to Mobile for a three-game weekend series with Lipscomb at Hank Aaron Stadium.
