⚾ 🥎 Baseball Sweeps Doubleheader, Series at South Alabama

[UAgrad93]

Coach Bohannon carries his club down to Mobile tonight to open a 3 game series against the South Alabama Jags. Good guys came out on top 7-3. BAMA improves to 8-3 on the season and will play a DH tomorrow starting at 1pm.

 

[UA Press Release]

Three-Run Eighth Ensures Baseball’s 7-3 Win at South Alabama on Friday - University of Alabama Athletics

A three-run eighth put the game out of reach, as Alabama baseball came away with a 7-3 win over South Alabama on Friday night at Stanky Field. The Crimson Tide's

rolltide.com

Tide blew the game open in the eighth after taking a one-run lead an inning earlier


MOBILE, Ala. – A three-run eighth put the game out of reach, as Alabama baseball came away with a 7-3 win over South Alabama on Friday night at Stanky Field. The Crimson Tide's first road victory of the season improves the team's overall record to 8-2.

"This was a really good win for us all around," said head coach Brad Bohannon. "(Sam) Finnerty and (Casey) Cobb were awesome on the mound, really pounded the strike zone. (South Alabama) did help us a little bit with the walks, but, to our credit, we took advantage of it. This was a really impressive win against a good team on the road."

Alabama was able to jump out to an early two-run advantage, but a three-run homer by South Alabama in the third gave the Jaguars the lead. The Crimson Tide answered back three innings later, plating one run in both the sixth and seventh innings followed by the huge three-run eighth to blow things open.

The Crimson Tide offense was patient at the plate, drawing a season-high 10 walks in addition to the nine hits. All nine starters on offense reached base safely with eight of the nine recording a hit. Sophomore Tyler Gentry and freshman Drew Williamson each recorded three base-on-balls, while junior Justin King led the team in hits with a 2-for-4 night that included a double, an RBI and one of the team's walks.

On the mound, Sam Finnerty (3-0) tossed another quality start for UA. The senior worked 6.0 innings, allowing three runs on four hits and a walk with four punchouts. He ended his night by retiring seven straight before handing the ball over to Casey Cobb. The junior right-hander notched his first save of the season with 3.0 scoreless frames that included three punchouts and only one hit allowed.

Both teams went scoreless in the first before Alabama made its mark in the second with a pair of runs for the 2-0 lead. Two walks began the frame before King found space in the left field corner for an RBI-double to cross the game's first run. Another walk loaded the bases for Kolby Robinson, with the junior sending a liner to right for a sacrifice fly and an RBI, giving UA the early advantage.

In the third, South Alabama singled to lead off the inning before drawing a one-out walk to put two aboard. The next hitter sent a 1-2 pitch over the wall in right to put the Jaguars in front, 3-2, through three full. Alabama did not allow USA to hold the lead for long, putting up the tying run in the top of the sixth. A walk with one down to Gentry followed by a single and a walk loaded the bases for the Crimson Tide, forcing a call to the pen for the Jaguars. The new reliever got a flyout deep to left from Robinson, but just deep enough to let Gentry tag from third and make it a 3-3 contest.

Alabama followed up with another run in the seventh to regain the lead. A two-out walk to Morgan McCullough gave the Tide life before senior Keith Holcombe brought the junior second baseman home on an RBI-triple, giving UA a one-run lead at 4-3.

The one run would not be the end for Alabama, as the Tide blew things open with a three-run eighth. Williamson reached once again, doubling in his fourth plate appearance of the night to lead things off in the inning. One out later, junior Kobe Morris blooped a single just behind the Jaguar first baseman to allow Williamson to score. Another single, this one from senior Joe Breaux, forced a USA pitching change.

The swap did not put an end to the Tide's hot hitting. Junior Brett Auerbach greeted the new arm with an RBI single and good baserunning from Breaux placed runners on the corners, still with one down. A fourth single followed, with McCullough crossing Breaux to end the scoring and set things at 7-3, the eventual final, as Cobb shut the door on the Jaguars.

The two teams return to the diamond on Saturday for a doubleheader at Stanky Field. Game one of the day will begin at 2 p.m. as originally scheduled with the second contest set to start 45 minutes after the final out of the first matchup. The Crimson Tide will look to freshman right-hander Connor Shamblin to start the afternoon followed by another righty in redshirt junior Brock Love for game two. The Jaguars will send JoJo Booker, a sophomore righty, to the hill to start the day and then redshirt junior southpaw Caleb Yarbrough will get the nod in game two.

 

[UA Press Release]

Baseball Sweeps Doubleheader, Series at South Alabama - Alabama Athletics

Alabama baseball claimed a pair of victories over South Alabama on Saturday at Stanky Field. The Crimson Tide won game one of the doubleheader, 10-5, and fol...

rolltide.com

MOBILE, Ala. – Alabama baseball claimed a pair of victories over South Alabama on Saturday at Stanky Field. The Crimson Tide won game one of the doubleheader, 10-5, and followed with a 6-1 victory in the nightcap to claim the series sweep. After the 3-0 weekend in Mobile, UA improves to 10-2 overall on the season.

"To win a doubleheader, after going to the bullpen in the first inning of the first game, is very impressive," said head coach Brad Bohannon. "I just can't say enough positive things about these guys. It's hard to win on the road and even harder to sweep. Our team really grew this week."

Alabama showed out on both the mound and at the plate on Saturday. The Crimson Tide arms totaled 27 strikeouts and limited the South Alabama hitters to a .215 average across the doubleheader to help secure the pair of wins. The hitters wrapped up the two games batting .338 with 13 extra-base hits and eight walks while going a perfect 6-for-6 on stolen bases.

The Crimson Tide will return home this week to kick off a six-game homestand at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The stretch will begin with a pair of single midweek matchups, first against UAB on Tuesday, March 5 at 5 p.m. CT. Alabama will return to the diamond the very next day for a 6 p.m. contest against South Dakota State at The Joe. Both games will air live on SEC Network+.

Get all the latest information on the team by following @AlabamaBSB on Twitter and Instagram and on Facebook at Alabama Baseball. General athletic news can be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.

GAME ONE
Alabama recorded a season-high 15 hits en route to a 10-5 victory in game one of the doubleheader.

The Crimson Tide offense featured three players with three-plus hits, led by Tyler Gentry's 4-for-5 day that saw the sophomore fall just a triple short of the cycle. Gentry contributed two doubles and a home run to go with a team-leading two runs and three RBI. Morgan McCullough finished his afternoon 3-for-6, just a home run short of the cycle. The junior doubled and tripled while adding two RBI, one run scored and a stolen base. Rounding out the trio was junior Kolby Robinson. The Tide shortstop finished a perfect 3-for-3 with one run scored.

The Tide used five pitchers to secure the win, led by Deacon Medders (1-1), who earned the win thanks to 3.2 innings of work that included six strikeouts. Medders retired 11 straight to start his afternoon and allowed just two hits and a walk.

South Alabama struck first in Saturday's first game, scoring one in the first. The Crimson Tide evened things up in the next inning, making it a 1-1 affair. Gentry singled to start the inning and advanced to second on a wild pitch. One out later, Robinson sent a dying liner to right that fell in front of the defender. An errant throw back to the infield went into no-man's land and an alert Gentry took home to score the Tide's first run.

The Jaguars regained the lead in the bottom of the third with a leadoff double followed by a single for the 2-1 advantage. Alabama answered once again, using a solo home run from junior Justin King in the top of the fourth to tie the game at two apiece. The lead would go to UA for the first time on the day in the fifth. Junior Brett Auerbach led off with a double and a single from McCullough brought in the go-ahead run in the very next at-bat for a 3-2 Alabama advantage.

In the seventh, the Tide would add a pair of runs to the lead thanks to a Gentry two-run home run. Alabama continued to pile on with three in the eighth. Senior Joe Breaux led things off with a four-pitch walk before McCullough crossed him one out later with an RBI-triple. Walker McCleney walked in the next at-bat to put men on the corners before the duo of McCullough and McCleney pulled off the perfect double steal to score one more and put Walker in scoring position. Gentry followed with a double to score the inning's final run and set it at 8-2.

South Alabama rallied for two in the eighth to cut the lead to four, but the Tide answered again, this time with two runs in the top of the ninth. A single by Robinson started the inning before junior Johnny Hawk belted his first home run of the season, a two-run shot to move the UA lead back to six at 10-4.

The Jaguars did not go quietly, rallying for one in the ninth but the comeback fell short as two runners were stranded with a game-ending strikeout.

GAME TWO
Brock Love (1-0) put together a dominant performance in his first true start of the season to help the Crimson Tide to a 6-1 win in the series finale with South Alabama. The redshirt junior tossed 4.2 frames of scoreless baseball, allowing just one hit and walking a batter while striking out a career-high 11 batters in the winning effort.

At the plate, seven of the Tide hitters recorded at least one hit on the night, led by Breaux. The senior finished 3-for-5 with a double, an RBI and one run scored. Also putting together a multi-hit night was freshman Drew Williamson and Robinson, with each batter totaling a pair of hits, one RBI and one run apiece.

Alabama struck for four runs in the second to begin the game two scoring. With runners on the corners and one down, Robinson doubled up the middle to cross one. A sacrifice fly in the next at-bat from redshirt junior Gene Wood crossed one more and Wood came across in the next at-bat thanks to an RBI-double from Breaux. Auerbach matched Breaux with a double of his own, scoring the inning's fourth run for a 4-0 lead early.

 

[TerryP]

USA has historically been a tough place to play. While last season was a down year and they're rebuilding, to a degree, getting the series sweep is a bragging point. Good series win for the Tide!

Brock Love (1-0) put together a dominant performance in his first true start of the season to help the Crimson Tide to a 6-1 win in the series finale with South Alabama. The redshirt junior tossed 4.2 frames of scoreless baseball, allowing just one hit and walking a batter while striking out a career-high 11 batters in the winning effort.

Has Love nailed down the Sunday start?

(As a side note, I wonder if UA would allow him to play "Love Hurts" as his walk-up music?)