MONTEVALLO, Ala. – The University of Montevallo baseball team is set for its final Gulf South Conference road series beginning, Friday, April 19, against Union in Jackson, Tennessee.
The Falcons enter the weekend slate with a 24-18 record and a 14-10 mark inside the Gulf South Conference. Montevallo is coming off a series win against West Florida where they won the first two games by scores of 4-1 and 10-8, along with a 13-8 midweek victory over West Alabama.
Head Coach Chandler Rose's starting rotation remains the same with Adiel Melendez in game one, Gino Cozzi starting game two and Logan Samuels getting the nod in the seven-inning game three.
GAME INFORMATION
WHO: Montevallo 24-18 (14-10) | Union 15-24 (9-15)
WHEN: Friday, April 19
WHERE: Jackson, Tennessee
WHO: Montevallo 24-18 (14-10) | Union 15-24 (9-15)
WHEN: Saturday, April 20 (DH)
WHERE: Jackson, Tennessee
Scouting Montevallo:
With just two weekend series remaining in the conference season, the Falcons currently sit in sixth place. The standings are tight with just three games separating second and sixth. Montevallo enters the road series following a series win over West Florida who is currently in fourth.
Montevallo's offense has dropped in the conference rankings but remains in the top five across a few statistical categories. Most notably, UM has continued to connect with the long ball and is third across the league with 47 homers. In addition, the Falcons' 632 total bases is also third. With 96 hit-by-pitches on the year, Montevallo leads the league.
On the mound, the pitching staff has fired more strikes recently as they have walked five or fewer opposing batters in 13 of their last 16 games. As a team, the Falcons have the sixth-lowest opposing batting average at .287 and they have struck out the second most batters in the conference with 319 punch outs.
Scouting Union:
The Bulldogs welcome Montevallo with a 15-24 record overall and a 9-15 record in GSC play this season. Union is currently tied for 10th in the GSC standings and are one game back of the eight and final spot in the conference tournament. They are coming off a midweek loss to Harding, 2-1, and a series loss to Lee, 2-1. Union did take game two from Lee, the top-ranked team in the league, 7-6.
Union has the second-lowest team batting average in the GSC at .283 and has the least amount of walks with 123. The Bulldog's run production has come primarily from homers this season as the team has logged 24.
On the mound, the Bulldogs have struggled this year with a 7.53 ERA and just 213 strikeouts.
The bright spot for Union this season has been its defense which is tied for first with a .973 fielding percentage and just 37 errors.
Series History Against Union:
Montevallo is 10-5 against Union since 2018 and holds a 4-2 advantage in Jackson, Tennessee. The Falcons have won three straight in the series with a sweep in 2022. The two sides did not meet in 2023. Montevallo will make its first trip to Jackson since 2019. The Falcons swept Union during that meeting as Tyler Krabbe hit for the cycle.
Player Highlights Montevallo:
The trio of
Ethan Huddleston,
Connor Crowson and
Logan Harbin each have made an important impact at the plate for the Falcons, each holding the team lead in homers with seven.
Over the past 14 games, however,
Jake O'Connell has emerged as a key offensive threat, carrying a 14-game reached base streak. During that stretch, O'Connell is batting .354 with four homers and 12 runs batted in.
The rotation remains the same this weekend for the Falcons with
Adiel Melendez (3-2),
Gino Cozzi (5-2) and
Logan Samuels (3-4). Despite recent struggles, Cozzi holds the third-best opponents batting average in the league at .234. Samuels' 58 K's keeps him top-five in the GSC.
