Baseball Preview: Alabama Hosts Savannah State in Tuesday Night Doubleheader

Alabama saw its fair share of struggles over the weekend in a three-game series with Houston.

A three-run home run helped give the Cougars a 3-1 win in the first game. The Crimson Tide blew a 9-5 lead in game two of the series. Mitch Gaspard used eight different pitchers in route to the 14-9 loss. Alabama took game three of the series by a final score of 8-3. The Sunday afternoon win was the program's 2,500th victory.

Now, the Tide returns home (or at least their temporary home) to Hoover to take Savannah State in a doubleheader. The one and only previous meeting between the two teams was in the 2013 Tallahassee Regional where Alabama defeated the Tigers 3-2.

Savannah State's (3-4) weekend struggles made Alabama's seem minor in comparison. The Tigers were swept by UAB in a three game series, which included a 20-0 loss to the Blazers on Saturday. Savannah State started off the year with back-to-back wins against Alcorn State, but have just one win since then.

The Tigers do not seem dangerous, but they have enough overall talent to give Alabama's pitching rotation a run for their money. First baseman Charles Sikes, a Louisville pre-season All-American, led the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in home runs (10) last season. He already has two home runs this season and will look to add to that total on Tuesday. Third baseman Zachary Brigham, a MEAC pre-season All-American, is just as lethal. Brigham is tied for most hits and doubles so far in the Tigers' young season.

Alabama will bring in its very own firepower to the plate and a lot of it will come from right fielder Casey Hughston. Hughston currently leads the SEC in batting average (.720), hits (18), and doubles (6). Veterans Mikey White and Kyle Overstreet have complimented Hughston's hot streak by adding 19 combined hits.

The first pitch of the doubleheader will be at 2:00 pm CT at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.