TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The 2019 Alabama baseball season is set to begin this Friday as the Crimson Tide welcomes the Presbyterian Blue Hose to Sewell-Thomas Stadium for a three-game series. The first two games of the weekend are scheduled for a 3 p.m. CT first pitch with the series finale on Sunday set to begin at 1 p.m. All three games can be seen live on SEC Network+.

The season-opening series against Presbyterian will feature numerous promotions for fans of all ages. On Friday, the Crimson Tide will kick off the new season with Opening Day festivities. In addition, Big Al will be at the game and available for photos from 2:30-3:30 p.m. CT. The Friday sponsor will be The Grand at Rum Creek, with free T-shirts and food along with raffle prizes for students. Saturday's matchup will be Kid's Day at The Joe. All kids (18 and under) can purchase a $5 general admission seat for the game. Following the final out, kids 12 and under can run the bases.

FOLLOW THE TIDE

Fans can follow this weekend's games via the below outlets:

Watch: SEC Network+

Listen: 102.9 FM / CTSN / TuneIn App

Twitter: @AlabamaBSB

Live Stats: RollTide.com

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS

FRIDAY: UA – Sam Finnerty (Sr., RHP) vs. PC – Andrew Durden (So., RHP)

SATURDAY: UA – Tyler Ras (Fr., RHP) vs. PC – Jake Rice (Jr., LHP)

SUNDAY: UA – TBA vs. PC – TBA

LEADING OFF

• Alabama and Presbyterian will meet for the fourth time in series history when the two teams open the season on Friday night. The only other matchups came during the 2017 season when UA and PC squared off to begin that year.

• The Crimson Tide leads the all-time series, 2-1. Alabama came away with victories in each of the first two games during that 2017 three-game set, with Presbyterian avoiding the sweep on getaway day that year.

• Last time the teams met, Alabama won game one, 4-3, before clinching the series with a convincing 8-1 win on Saturday. The series finale on Sunday went to the Blue Hose, 4-3.

• Presbyterian comes to Tuscaloosa following a 15-39 campaign a season ago. The Blue Hose also compiled an 8-19 mark in Big South play.

• Alabama will begin the season with a pair of right-handers to start the series and a TBA for Sunday's finale. Senior Sam Finnerty resumes his role from a season ago as the series-opening starter and will be followed by freshman Tyler Ras on Saturday.

• Presbyterian will open the series with sophomore right-hander Andrew Durden on the hill followed by junior Jake Rice, a lefty. The starter for getaway day is also TBA for the Blue Hose.

ABOUT ALABAMA

• Alabama enters 2019 after finishing at 27-29 a season ago with an 8-22 mark in Southeastern Conference play. The Crimson Tide finished 14th overall in the SEC regular-season standings. The Tide went 6-9-3 in its series, bettering the 2017 mark of 5-11-0.

• The 2019 campaign will be head coach Brad Bohannon 's second season at the helm of the Crimson Tide. In his first year as a collegiate head coach, Bohannon led the Crimson Tide to a 9-0 start to match Wallace Wade (1924) for the second-best start to a head coaching career at Alabama. The 9-0 record was also the Tide's best mark to begin a season since 2002 when Jim Wells' team started 10-0.

• Under Bohannon, the 2018 Tide claimed series victories over two top-25 teams in SEC play, including one on the road. The Crimson Tide first took down then-No. 7 Kentucky at home from March 30-April 1, earning wins in the first two games of the weekend to clinch the series. One weekend later from April 6-7, UA traveled to Columbia, Mo., to win two-of-three from then-22nd ranked Missouri.

• The 2018 team also regained a home field advantage at Sewell-Thomas Stadium, winning 22 of 35 games for a .629 winning percentage. That record improved significantly from the 2017 squad's 14-22 (.389) mark at The Joe.

• Fourteen of the Crimson Tide's 29 total losses in 2018 came by two runs or less, including five of UA's six losses in May. Over that May stretch, the Tide squared off with Mississippi State, traveled to LSU and hosted eventual SEC Western Division and Tournament Champion Ole Miss.

• The Crimson Tide pitching staff sported a 4.10 ERA (224 ER/491.1 IP) in 2018, good for seventh in the SEC regular-season ranks. Alabama arms struck out 370 compared to 195 walks and limited opposing hitters to a .267 average. The Tide's ERA dropped by 0.83 from the season prior while the team's walk total was 65 fewer than the 2017 staff.

• On offense, Alabama finished with a .256 (483-1,889) average and totaled 156 extra-base hits (104 doubles, eight triples, 44 home runs). The Tide hitters contributed 310 runs and walked 270 times. UA improved in nearly every offensive category, increasing its totals in: extra-base hits (+14), doubles (+14), triples (+2), runs (+30), walks (+63) and stolen bases (+7).

• Against SEC foes, the Crimson Tide batted .237 (241-1,019) and collected nearly half of its extra-base hits with 71 (46 percent). The bats produced 45 doubles, four triples and 22 home runs while plating 127 runs. The Tide also walked 131 times and stole 20 of its 34 bases against league opponents. UA's walk totals rose by 26 from the 2017 squad while the '18 Tide doubled its stolen base numbers from a season ago against league opposition.

• Defensively, the Tide fielded at a .969 rate, making 65 total errors, 42 of which came against SEC competition. In nine games, Alabama miscues on defense resulted in one or more unearned runs that secured the win for the opposition. In theory, on five occasions, UA would have been even with its opponent had they not committed an error, and in four games, the Tide's errors cost a potential win. Eight of the contests affected by a Tide mistake came in SEC play.

• Alabama returns 13 letterwinners while losing 18 from the 2018 squad. The 2019 Crimson Tide welcomes back three positional starters and two starting pitchers while hosting 22 newcomers.

ABOUT PRESBYTERIAN

• Presbyterian returns 17 letterwinners, including three positional starters and a pair of starting pitchers, from the 2018 team that finished 15-39 overall and 8-19 in BSC play to wrap up the season at ninth in the conference. The 2019 roster is without 16 lettermen from a season ago, a number that includes six positional starters and one starting pitcher.

• The Blue Hose were selected to finish seventh overall in the Big South in the league's preseason poll, as voted on by the conference's head coaches.

• Elton Pollock is in his 15th year as a collegiate head coach, all at Presbyterian. A 2002 graduate of Presbyterian, Pollock is assisted by Blake Miller and Gil Walker along with volunteer assistant coach John O'Neil.

• Founded in 1988, the Presbyterian baseball program begins the 2019 season with an all-time record of 715-907-3. The Blue Hose last claimed a conference title in 2003, when they were part of the South Atlantic Conference. Presbyterian joined the Big South in 2009 and holds a 95-160 mark in conference play.

• Presbyterian College is a liberal arts college located in Clinton, S.C., and boasts an enrollment of 1,200 students. Founded by the Reverend William Pulmer Jacobs in 1880, PC was originally called Clinton College and had its first class graduate in 1883. It is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church of the United States.

ON DECK

The Crimson Tide will remain at home for a pair of midweek matchups with instate foes. Alabama will first host Jacksonville State on Tuesday, Feb. 19, followed by a pairing with Alabama State on Wednesday, Feb. 20. Both contests are slated for a 3 p.m. CT first pitch on SEC Network+.