Kent Matthes
9/13/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
A veteran outfielder with power, size and speed ... returns for his third season as the Tide’s starting right fielder ... has played in 82 career games with 62 starts in the outfield or as a designated hitter ... has posted a .283 (72-for-254) career batting average with nine home runs and 53 RBI ... is 2-for-5 (.400) in his career as a pinch-hitter with one home run and two RBI ... enters 2008 hitting .400 (4-for-10) with 10 RBI in his career with the bases loaded ... has appeared in 35 career SEC games and has compiled a .241 (27-for-112) batting average with two home runs and 19 RBI ... homered against LSU in his first career SEC Tournament at-bat in 2006 ... coming off his best season offensively where he hit over .300 and added a career-best eight home runs ... played last summer for the Harwich (Mass.) Mariners in the Cape Cod League ... played on the same team with Tide teammates Alex Avila and Miers Quigley ... played in 22 games and hit .200 (15-for-75) with one home run and eight RBI ... also added five doubles and scored eight runs ... played on the same summer league team with future UA opponents Evan Crawford (Auburn), Cole Figueroa (Florida), Johnny Giavotella (New Orleans) and Brett Jacobson (Vanderbilt).
CAREER POST-SEASON NOTES:
Appeared in 11 post-season games with seven starts ... is hitting .300 (9-for-30) in post-season career with seven runs scored, one home run and six RBI ... played in six SEC Tournament games with five starts ... is hitting .286 (6-for-21) in SEC Tourney games with four runs scored, one home run and three RBI ... slugged a pinch-hit, two-run home run in first career post-season at-bat against LSU on May 24, 2006 ... went 3-for-13 (.231) with one home run and three RBI at the 2006 SEC Tournament ... went 3-for-8 (.375) at the 2007 SEC Tournament, including a three-hit game against Florida (3-for-4) on May 24 ... has played in five NCAA Tournament games, including four starts ... is hitting .333 (3-for-9) in NCAA post-season action with three runs scored and three RBI ... made his NCAA Tournament debut against Jacksonville State on June 2, 2006 ... made his first start against Troy on June 3, 2006 ... went 2-for-4 and scored two runs against North Carolina at the NCAA Super Regional on June 9, 2006.
SOPHOMORE (2007):
Played in 51 games for the Tide ... started 50 games at three different positions, including right field (43), left field (6) and designated hitter (1) ... had his best season at the plate with a .307 (61-for-199) average, eight home runs and 45 RBI ... compiled a .452 slugging percentage and a .350 on-base percentage ... had seven stolen bases in eight attempts ... ranked third on the team with 19 multi-hit games ... was second on the team with 10 multi-RBI games ... reached base in 42 of 51 games ... hit safely in 40 of 52 games ... went 4-for-9 (.444) with the bases loaded ... opened the season with an 11-game RBI streak (Feb. 11-28), the second-longest in school history (Sam Bozanich had a 13-game RBI streak in 2000) ... also opened the year with seven-game hitting streak, batting .414 (12-for-29) from Feb. 10-18 ... recorded an inside-the-park home against Troy on Feb. 14, the Tide’s first since 1995 ... was the team’s leading hitter against Canisius (Feb. 16-18), hitting .500 (6-for-12) with three home runs and nine RBI in a three-game sweep ... homered in back-to-back games against the Golden Griffiths on the way to hitting three home runs with seven RBI in the final two games ... named the SEC Player of the Week, earned a spot on the College Baseball Foundation National Honor Roll and was named the CollegeBaseballInsider.com Southeast Regional Player of the Week following the Canisius series ... the leading hitter against Villanova (Feb. 23-24), going 5-for-11 (.455) with three runs scored and three RBI, including a 3-for-4 outing with one RBI and one outfield assist in UA’s 5-3 win on Feb. 24 ... led UA with four home runs and 19 RBI in February ... slugged a two-run home run vs. Tennessee Tech (1-for-4, HR, 3 RBI) on March 7 ... swatted a solo home run against Mississippi Valley State on March 21 ... posted a season-high nine-game hitting streak from March 14-30, hitting .300 (12-for-40) with six runs scored, one home run and eight RBI over that stretch ... hit safely in seven straight SEC games (March 16-30) and had an eight-game (March 16-30) RBI streak in league play ...
stroked a solo home run in the ninth inning vs. Georgia (April 13) as UA avoided its first home SEC shutout since 1992 (211 games) ... hit .417 (5-for-12) with six RBI against South Carolina (April 27-29), his best SEC series of the 2007 season ... went 2-for-4 with double and two RBI in a win over Mississippi Valley State on May 1 ... missed six of the last nine regular-season games with a strained oblique muscle ... closed the season with three hits in an SEC Tournament loss to Florida on May 24 ... played in the summer of 2006 for the Winter Pines (Fla.) Warthogs in the Florida Collegiate Summer League ... named the Warthogs’ Most Valuable Player after starting 27 games at third base and hitting .274 (29-for-106) with seven home runs and 15 RBI ... led the league with seven home runs and ranked fifth with a .519 slugging percentage ... in addition to power numbers, he was 8-for-8 in stolen bases and posted a .905 fielding mark ... also earned FCSL Player of the Week accolades after going 4-for-9 (.444) with two home runs and three RBI in late June.
FRESHMAN (2006):
Played in 31 games as a true freshman ... made 14 starts ... hit .200 (11-for-55) with one home run and eight RBI ... hit .286 (6-for-21) in his last eight games with one home run and five RBI ... in 11 SEC games, he was 2-for-15 (.133) with one RBI ... collected first career hit at No. 6 Nebraska on March 12 ... went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI in 13-3 win over No. 20 Southern Mississippi on March 15 ... collected two hits and one RBI at No. 23 Georgia on March 19 ... slugged a pinch-hit, two-run home run against LSU in the first round of the SEC Tournament on May 24 ... tallied one hit and one RBI against Troy in the championship game of NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional on June 4 ... went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and one RBI against No. 5 North Carolina in the NCAA Super Regional on June 10.
HIGH SCHOOL:
A 2005 graduate of Edgewater High School in Orlando, Fla., where he played for Coach Chip Gierke ... in his final two seasons, he hit .431 with 15 home runs and 47 RBI ... a 2005 First-Team All-State, All-Central Florida and All-County selection ... hit .409 with 10 home runs and 39 RBI in 23 games as a senior in 2005 ... played in the 2005 Florida High School All-Star Game in Jacksonville ... hit .446 with five home runs and 18 RBI as a junior in 2004 ... named a 2004 AFLAC High School All-American ... played in the 2004 AFLAC High School All-American All-Star Game in Aberdeen, Md. ... recognized as the best AAU player in the nation when he was awarded the Disney and Sears Excellence Achievement and Recognition Award for sportsmanship, commitment, teamwork and academic achievement in 2000 ... participated in the 2004 Baseball America World Wood Bat Association Championships (Ft. Myers, Fla.), the 2004 Perfect Game Championships (East Cobb, Ga.) and Perfect Game and Team One national showcases ... also played football.
PERSONAL:
Full name is Kent Richard Matthes ... son of Dieter and Connie Matthes ... one sister, Crista ... his father, Dieter, played football at the University of Miami ... his uncle, Chuck Richard, also played football for the Hurricanes.
