Alabama Baseball Looks to Protect Perfect Home Record

After suffering the first losses of the season against Oklahoma, the Alabama Crimson Tide have bounced back nicely leading into a weekend series against the New Mexico State Aggies in Tuscaloosa.

Following the two losses in Norman, the Tide dominated the Sooners in the series finale before returning to The Joe and shutting out #15 Southern Miss 3-0 on Wednesday. With these two wins, the Crimson Tide currently sit at 11-2 overall, including a flawless 9-0 record at home.

New Mexico State enters the weekend with an overall record of 8-6, but that includes an 0-4 mark when playing on the road. Offensively, the Aggies have gotten off to a great start by averaging just over 12 runs per game and batting .353 as a team heading into the weekend. Senior catcher Mason Fishback has been a crucial part of this offensive success for the Aggies by hitting .475 with three home runs and a team-leading 26 RBIs this season.

For the Crimson Tide, Keith Holcombe continues to play stellar baseball and now leads the team with a .452 batting average, while also being second among qualified batters with a .521 OBP. Also standing out offensively are first baseman Cody Henry, who is currently leading the team with 17 RBIs, and second baseman Chandler Avant, who is hitting .407 with a team-leading 22 hits.

On the mound, the Crimson Tide have elected for a committee-like approach, often using four or more pitchers to finish out a game. Wednesday's Southern Miss game is a great example, as Alabama used five pitchers to combine for the shutout, with no single pitcher going for more than three innings. In fact, Sam Finnerty is the only Crimson Tide pitcher to make it through 6 or more innings of work at this point in the season (he has done so twice). While this heavy dependance on the bullpen may hurt down the stretch, you can't argue with the results so far.

Alabama and New Mexico State will kick the series off at 6 p.m. on Friday, followed by Saturday's matchup at 2 p.m. and Sunday's series finale at 1 p.m. The series will be played at Thomas-Sewell Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

You can watch the entire series live on SEC Network+ or you can stream the Crimson Tide Network broadcast on Tide 102.9/100.9 or the all-new Tide 102.9 app.