Alabama Baseball Defeats Troy 10-2

The Alabama Crimson Tide remained undefeated in midweek (Tuesday and Wednesday) games by defeating Troy 10-2 on Tuesday night in a home game. Alabama improved to 22-8 while Troy fell to 20-10. The Tide will continue an eight game home stand on Thursday night at 6 p.m. when a three game series with Mississippi State starts.

Super senior Jacob McNairy drew the starting assignment for Bama against Ryan Pettys for the Trojans. McNairy was sharp out of the shoot, striking out one and retiring the side in the top of the first on only eight pitches. Will Hodo led off the bottom of the first for Bama and walked but could not advance any further.

A Crimson Tide error put the Trojan leadoff man on in the second, but McNairy got a ground out, a fly out, and a strikeout from the next three batters and used only 11 pitches in the frame. Bama scored twice in the second off of Pettys. William Hamiter led off the inning with a walk but was forced out at second on a ground ball by Ed Johnson. Johnson stole second and advanced to third on a single by the red hot Tommy Seidl. Bryce Eblin put down a perfect squeeze bunt to score Johnson and also reached base on the play. Mac Guscette then singled Seidl in for the 2-0 lead. With the bases loaded Jim Jarvis hit into a double play on a sharply hit ball up the middle.

Bama added one run in the third when Andrew Pinckney singled and advanced on a walk to Drew Williamson before scoring on a single by Seidl. The Tide put the game away in the fourth inning with five runs. Hodo reached for the third time with a one out walk and moved to second on another walk to Jarvis. A balk moved both runners up and Hodo scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by Pinckney. In addition the right fielder dropped the ball to allow Pinckney to reach second base. Williamson singled in the Jarvis and Hamiter singled in Pinckney followed by an RBI single by Johnson scoring Williamson. Eblin hit a sacrifice fly to center field to plate Hamiter with the fifth tally of the inning.

McNairy allowed a single in the third and one in the fourth but nothing further. Troy’s Donovon Whibbs lead off the top of the fifth with a home run before McNairy recovered to get a ground out and strikeout. Hunter Furtado was then brought in out of the bullpen and induced a ground ball out to end the inning. In the sixth the Trojans used three singles to score a run, but Kyle Mock tried to score on the final hit and was thrown out on a throw from Hamiter to Jarvis to Guscette at the plate to end the inning.

The Tide added a single run in the sixth when Eblin drove in Mason Swinney and another in the eighth when Williamson singled and scored on a double from Max Williams. After 1.1 innings Furtado was followed by Aidan Moza, Alton Davis II, and Brayden Gainey for one perfect inning each. Moza used only 11 pitches, Davis only nine, and Gainey just six to retire the Trojans.

Alabama finished 10-31 at the plate with eight walks, one hit batter, four strikeouts, and nine men left on base. Troy was 6-33 with one hit batters, no walks, seven strikeouts, and left four men on base. McNairy was the winning pitcher and is now 4-1 on the season. The right hander from Athens, AL tossed 4.1 innings, allowing three hits, one run, walked no one, and struck out four.

Offensively Seidl once again led the way with his 3-3 day with a walk, a run, and an RBI. Over his last five games Seidl is 13-20 and lead the team with a batting average of .413. Williamson was 2-4 with two runs, a walk, and a run driven in. Despite being hitless, Eblin drove in three runs with a ground out, a squeeze bunt, and a sacrifice fly. Hodo reached base three times by walking two times and being hit by a pitch. Jarvis’s 10 game hitting streak was snapped. The Tide was once again without starting centerfield Caden Rose who has been hobbled for the last week or so.

This was the best out of conference win for the Tide to this point of the season. Troy now has a record of 20-10 and an RPI of 51. Bama continues to take care of business and is 9-0 in midweek action. Coach Brad Bohannon was able to play 14 position players and use five pitchers on the mound in preparation for this week’s SEC matchup with Mississippi State. The series will be played on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday- weather permitting. Thursday and Friday are both scheduled for 6 p.m and will be available on SEC Network Plus. The Saturday game is set for 5 p.m. and is to be shown on ESPNU. I wouldn't expect those times to hold as the forecast looks dismal for Tuscaloosa. The Tide really needs to get this series in as the Bulldogs are 17-13 overall and only 1-8 in the SEC. Alabama could use a winnable series after going 3-6 against a brutal opening SEC slate that included travel to 2nd-ranked Florida and 5th-ranked Arkansas, and hosting 10th-ranked Kentucky.