After an 11-inning slugfest against Jacksonville State Wednesday night, the Alabama men’s baseball team advanced to a 20-9 record on the season and tacked on a final non-conference victory before heading back into the meat of its SEC schedule.

“I thought we played well on Wednesday night at Jacksonville State and played with a lot of energy,” said head coach Mitch Gaspard. “This is an important weekend in the SEC, and we need to play well on the road to have success.”

The Crimson Tide now prepares for a three-game SEC series against Kentucky. The series opener begins Friday at 5:30 p.m. in Lexington, Ky., where the team plans to improve on its 4-5 SEC record. Alabama has been solid at home against conference foes, holding a 4-2 record, but was swept by Arkansas in its lone SEC series away from the Joe.

Sophomore infielder Taylor Dugas has been a key asset to the team’s offensive play this season with a .443 batting average, while junior shortstop Josh Rutledge and sophomore leftfielder Jon Kelton have added some firepower with their neck-to-neck battling averages of .384 and .371.

Sacrifice bunting might also be a major factor in the Tide’s strategies for their Kentucky series after the team set a UA record with six sacrifice bunts in its win over Jacksonville State.

Although Alabama’s offense has been an asset to the team this season, playing against one of the country’s top pitchers will be a challenge.

“Their pitching staff may be one of the best in the country,” Gaspard said.  “They have a lot of power arms.  The starters have good numbers, and they have a very deep bullpen.”

On the mound, junior right-handed pitcher Nathan Kilcrease carries a 4-0 record, tied for tops on the team, holding opponents to a meager .200 batting average. Junior right-handed pitcher Jimmy Nelson has also turned in a 4-0 record in 39 1/3 innings of work.

“Kentucky is a very good team with a lot of talented players,” Gaspard said. “They have a real good offense and put up some really good numbers.  They have home run power and they steal a lot of bases so that will be a challenge for us on the mound.”

Alabama holds a 52-31 lead in the series against Kentucky, dating back to 1925 when the two had their first meeting during the college baseball season. Although the two teams played together for the first time in the 1920s, they didn’t start playing on an annual basis until 1986.

The Tide leads the series 20-13 in Lexington, holds a 28-15 advantage in Tuscaloosa and is 4-3 at neutral sites against the Wildcats. This game will also be Gaspard’s first against UK as head coach, while the Wildcats’ head coach, Gary Henderson, is 1-2 against Alabama.

Kentucky enters the series with a 19-11 record (2-7 SEC).