| FTBL No. 28 Alabama Baseball Defeats Arkansas 17-9 to open SEC Series—Tide have won 11 of last 12 games

[BAMANEWSBOT]

The No. 28 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide opened its Southeastern Conference series at Arkansas with a 17-9 victory from Baum Stadium on Friday night. The Tide collected 15 hits in the game, while scoring the most runs ever against the Razorbacks, in 74 games of the all-time series. Alabama (15-6, 3-1 SEC) and Arkansas (11-8, 1-3 SEC) return to Baum Stadium on Saturday with game two of the series, with first pitch scheduled for 2:05 p.m. CT. The Tide will start junior LHP Justin Kamplain (2-2, 3.67) and the Razorbacks will counter with sophomore RHP Trey Killian (0-3, 3.06).

The Tide pounded out 15 hits as Austen Smith, Georgie Salem, Ben Moore, Wade Wass, Mikey White, Kyle Overstreet and Chance Vincent all had multiple hits in the game. Smith finished the night with two more hits, including a double, a three-run home run, four RBI and two runs scored. Salem was 3-for-6 with a double, two RBI and two runs scored, Overstreet had three RBI and scored twice and Wass was 2-for-3 with a double a three-run homer, a career-high four RBI and three runs scored.

Jay Shaw (1-1) came out of the bullpen to throw four scoreless innings to record his first win of the season. Shaw got the final three outs in the fifth inning, before holding the Razorbacks off the scoreboard for the next three innings. Shaw went four innings, allowing two hits with a walk and a strikeout.

After three scoreless innings, Alabama took a 1-0 lead on an RBI double by Wass, driving in Moore who singled to lead off the fourth. Smith walked on four pitches then a weather delay stalled the game for 53 minutes. After the delay, Arkansas went to freshman RHP Zack Jackson, who struck out Will Haynie, before giving up a 2-run double to the left field corner to Vincent that put the Tide ahead 3-0.

Geoffrey Bramblett replaced UA starter Spencer Turnbull (3 IP, 3H, 0R, 3BB, 1K) in the bottom of the fourth and gave up a two-out grand slam to Tyler Spoon. The Razorbacks loaded the bases on a one-out single and a walk then with two outs Bramblett hit Brian Anderson to load the bases. Spoon hit the next pitch over the 365 marker in right center.

Bama responded in the top of the next inning, scoring five times in the inning. With the bases loaded and one out, Overstreet hit a sharp grounder that Arkansas shortstop Michael Bernal couldn't handle, which allowed Hughston and Salem to score. With runners on the corners, Wass hit a towering shot over the 375-foot sign in left center field to give the Tide an 8-4 lead.

After Arkansas cut the Tide lead to 8-6 with two runs in the bottom of the fifth of Bramblett, Alabama answered with two more runs on a triple by Overstreet, making the score 10-6. After scoring two more runs on a Salem double to the right field corner, Smith connected for a 3-run home run to center field to make the score 15-6, capping a 7-run sixth inning for the Tide.

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Game Notes
*Alabama is now 43-31 all-time against Arkansas and 14-20 when playing in Fayetteville.
*Head coach Mitch Gaspard is now 5-10 when coaching against Arkansas.
*The 17 runs against Arkansas are the most runs ever scored against the Razorbacks, topping the 15 runs the Tide scored against the Hogs in a 15-8 victory in Tuscaloosa on April 24, 1999.
*The 17 runs by the Tide are the most ever scored in the series between either team.
*With three scoreless innings against Arkansas, Spencer Turnbull has now thrown 17.1 scoreless innings while going 26.1 innings without allowing an earned run.
*In his last 12 games, Austen Smith is 19-for-36 (.528) with three home runs, five doubles, 18 RBI and 15 runs scored.
*With his 9^th inning home run against Kentucky, Smith is 8-for-10 with 3 home runs, 2 doubles, 8 RBI, 7 runs scored and has reached base in 11 of 13 plate appearances
*Wade Wass hit his first career home run, a three-run shot in the fifth inning.
*Alabama ranks fourth in the SEC with 14 home runs this season, with seven coming in the last four games.
*Wass notched his sixth multi-hit game of the season with a double and a home run.
*Georgie Salem had two singles and a double for his third game this season with at least three hits.
*Salem's multi-hit game was his team-leading of the season, for the 27th of his career
*Kyle Overstreet notched his first triple of the season and second on his career, with a 2-run triple in the 6^th.
*Casey Hughston's hitting streak ended at five games after going 0-for-2 with two runs scored after coming off the bench.


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[TerryP]

Impressive streak the guys are on right now.

After dropping the first two against ULL at the end of Feb and first day of March they've won 11 of their last 12 games.

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Casagrande on a team "heart to heart meeting" leads to the success...

Things were getting out of hand.

So, in that Lafayette, La., hotel, they hashed things out. The Alabama baseball team, ranked 21st in the preseason, had just lost its third straight game. It wasn't hitting the ball and confidence was sagging.

Something needed to change.

That team meeting got emotional, several players said. And it worked.

Alabama went out and won 10 of the next 11 games as the mojo returned and the mental state improved. It takes that streak to Arkansas (11-7, 1-2 SEC) where the Razorbacks have won nine of 11 games. The Crimson Tide (14-6, 2-1 SEC) lost only to then-No. 20 Kentucky since that meeting in Lafayette.

Pitcher Tucker Hawley called it a "heart to heart" in which coaches opened the floor to players to speak their minds.

"You hear the stuff from coaches over and over again," Hawley said. "But it's different when you hear it from the guys who are right beside you in the dugout. It really touched a lot of the guys and really turned the team around for the better."

Catcher Wade Wass was one of the more vocal team members in the meeting, Hawley said, along with Taylor Guilbeau and pitcher Jay Shaw.

"Ever since then, there's been a different feeling around the park," right fielder Ben Moore said. "Guys are being more positive and more confident. I don't know, we're letting the game come us and we decided we were going to start attacking the game. And it's made a world of difference."

Coach Mitch Gaspard sees the difference.

"I think we're in a much better place right now," he said. "I think with a lot of teams, you know, you kind of have turning points where they kind of really grow into the team that they are. For us, I think it happened that Sunday at Lafayette."

That was the day after the meeting. Alabama beat the then-No. 10 Ragin' Cajuns 12-6 after being shutout 2-0, and 6-0 in the first two games.

"Since that point, you're still going to have some games where you don't perform as well, but I think we've really released some of the tension that we had early in the season. Now, I think we're starting to become the team that we thought we would be."