Alabama Baseball Improves to 4-0

The Alabama Crimson Tide baseball team improved to 4-0 on Tuesday with a 6-3 win over the Jacksonville State Gamecocks. The game was scheduled for 3 p.m. but due to the threat of rain the game was moved to a noon first pitch. The Tide is scheduled to play Alabama State on Wednesday at 3 p.m.

Jacob McNairy started on the mound for the Tide and used two double plays through the first three innings to keep the Cocks off the board. Bama scored in the bottom of the first after Drew Williamson led off with a single, advanced on a walk to Domnic Tamez and ground out by Zane Denton, then scored on a ground ball out off the bat of William Hamiter. The Tide added two in the second. Tommy Seidl singled to start the inning, stole second, and advanced to third on a single by Jim Jarvis. Seidl raced home when a pitch bounced a few feet away from the catcher, just beating the tag with a nifty head first slide. Jarvis raced home on a RBI ground out from Bryce Eblin for a 3-0 lead. Bama pushed the lead to 4-0 in the third after Denton doubled and scored on a single by Owen Diodati.

JSU finally got on the scoreboard in the fourth when Tuscaloosa native Carson Crowe blasted a long home run in the right field plaza off of McNairy. The Tide got that run back in the bottom half when Eblin singled and scored on a double by Williamson. McNairy finished his day after five innings, allowing five hits with two walks, three strikeouts, and one run allowed. Freshman Braylon Myers made his Alabama debut in the sixth and was touched for two runs on a home run by designated hitter Alex Strachan. Bama got one of the runs back in the sixth on an RBI single by Pinckney over a drawn in infield. Jarvis reached ahead of Pinckney and moved up on a stolen base and wild pitch.

Myers tossed a scoreless seventh before being replaced by Hunter Hoopes to close out the game. Hoopes allowed a leadoff single in the 8th but got a double play and strikeout to end the frame. In the 9th Hoopes allowed one single but got a strikeout and two pop outs to end it.

The Tide finished 9-32 in the game, drew one walk, had one hit batter, two strikeouts, and left four runners on base. Alabama’s defense turned five double plays to help out the pitching staff. JSU finished 9-31, had two walks, one hit batter, struck out seven times, and left four runners on base.

McNairy earned the victory, his first, and Hoopes got his first save. Offensively Williamson was 2-4 with a double, RBI, and run. Diodati finished 2-4 with and RBI and stolen base. Pinckney, Eblin, and Hamiter drove in one run each. Jarvis scored two runs to lead the team.

This was a crisp, clean, game, played in two hours and 25 minutes. The Tide turning five double plays helped keep pitch counts down and runners off the base paths. Offensively the team only had two extra base hits, but aggressiveness on the bases led to runs on more than one occasion. Coach Brad Bohannon was happy to have the defense show up and show out after some sloppy play over the weekend.

The Tide will take the field at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, weather permitting, to play Alabama State. On Thursday the team will depart for Austin, Texas for a weekend series with the number one Texas Longhorns.

Roll Tide

Bama Baseball Fever, Catch It

#GVT