The 20th ranked Alabama Crimson Tide baseball team steamrolled visiting North Dakota State in a three game series this weekend in Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Coach Rob Vaughn and staff stayed with the weekend rotation of Zane Adams, Riley Quick, and Bobby Alcock for the series. Bama improved to 12-0 while the Bison fell to 1-9.
Game One- Won 12-4
Sophomore left hander Zane Adams took his accustomed spot, starting on Friday night, for the Tide. The visitors from the north land used three singles, a walk, and a sacrifice fly to plate three runs in the top of the first inning. After NDSU left hander Nolan Johnson retired the Tide in order in the bottom of the first on only eight pitches, things changed in the second.
Adams quickly retired the first two batters in the top of the second before walking two straight hitters. A fly ball to centerfielder Richie Bonomolo, Jr. ended the threat, and Bama took over in the bottom half of the frame. Will Hodo blasted a one out triple that just missed leaving the yard and scored in front of a home run off the bat of second baseman Brennan Norton. Left fielder Kade Snell followed with a home run of his own to the opposite field. Catcher Brady Neal was hit by a pitch and Bonomolo then cranked his first home run in a Tide uniform for a 5-3 Bama lead.
Adams settled in and retired the Bison in the third and fourth, allowing one hit with four strikeouts. The one hitter that reached was gunned down trying to steal by Neal. The Tide bats went quite from the third through the sixth inning, only collecting singles from Jason Torres and Snell. Right hander Braylon Myers followed Adams and threw three scoreless innings, allowing only two hits with no walks and three strikeouts.
In the bottom of the 7th the Tide put the game away with another five spot. Bonomolo singled and stole second. Right fielder Bryce Fowler singled him to third before shortstop Justin LeBron sac bunted Fowler to second. Designated Hitter Coleman Mizell walked to load the bases and Torres drew another free pass to drive in a run. Hodo was hit by a pitch to drive in another, followed by an RBI walk to Norton. Snell singled in the last run of the inning to give Bama a 10-3 lead headed to the 8th.
Aiden Moza took over for Myers on the hill in the top of the 8th inning. A one out double, wild pitch, and sacrifice fly were the only damage as the Bison cut the lead to 10-4. Bama added on in the bottom half after Mizell walked and trotted home inform of a rocket hit by Torres over the scoreboard to end the scoring for the night. Closer Carson Ozmer needed some work, and he made it quick, striking out the side in the top of the 9th to seal the victory.
Bama hit 11-33 in the game with seven walks, two hit batters, six strikeouts, four home runs, a triple, two stolen bases, while leaving seven men on base. Snell hit 4-5 with two RBI and a run scored in the game. Torres finished 2-3 with two walks, two runs, two RBI, and his second home run of the season. Bonomolo was 2-4 with two runs, two RBI, a home run, and a stolen base. Norton hit 1-3 with three RBI, two walks, a home run, and run scored. Myers earned the win with his three scoreless innings and is 1-0 on the season.
The Bison hit 7-30 in the game with three walks, 12 strikeouts, and left four men on base. First baseman Davis Hamilton had two hits and drove in three runs for NDSU. Johnson took the loss and is 0-3 on the season.
Game Two- Won 9-7
Right hander Riley Quick made his third start of the year for the Tide on Saturday, facing off with Logan Knight of the Bisons. In the top of the first Quick struck out two and walked one. The base runner was thrown out trying to steal by catcher Will Plattner. Bama got on the board in the bottom half of the inning on the 7th home run of the season by All American shortstop Justin LeBron.
Quick had a quick second inning with a another strikeout and the Tide added on in the bottom half. Brennen Norton slammed his 4th home run of the year into the bullpen in right center field. Quick ran into a little trouble in the top of the third. After a strikeout for out one the Bison’s Evan Gustafaston doubled , advanced on a bunt single by Luis Garcia, and scored on a base hit by NDSU shortstop Jake Schaffner. The inning ended after a sac bunt and ground out to the mound.
Bama added their third run in the bottom of the third. Richie Bonomolo, Jr led off with a double and raced home on a double by Bryce Fowler. Coleman Mizell also doubled in the inning and Jason Torres walked to load the bases, but all were stranded after a strikeout. In the fourth inning Colton Becker got a ball up in the jet stream and it carried out of the park for a solo home run off of Quick, who recovered to close the inning out. Quick’s day ended after four innings of work with five hits allowed one walk, and five strikeouts. The big right hander is working back from Tommy John surgery just over a year ago and is gradually increasing his pitch count weekly.
Sophomore left-hander Matthew Heirberger replaced Quick on the mound to begin the 5th inning and retired three batters on seven pitches. In the bottom of the 5th the Tide added to their lead. Mizell and Will Hodo both walked and with two outs Norton hit his second home run of the game into the street for a 6-2 Alabama lead. Heiberger continued in the 6th and after getting himself into trouble with a walk and a single that beat the shift, before stemming the uprising with a pop out, a strikeout, and a fly out.
Hagan Banks was next for the Tide and he tossed a 12 pitch 7th inning. After two quick outs Schaffner singled and attempted to steal, but was cut down on a throw from Plattner to LeBron. Bama added two more runs in the bottom of the 7th. LeBron singled to start the inning, and was forced out at second on a ground ball by Mizell. Jason Torres ripped a long home run over the scoreboard to make the lead 9-2.
Left hander Beau Bryans replaced Banks in the 8th inning and allowed a lead off single. After a strikeout and error put runners on, Bryans hit Becker in the head/face area with a pitch, which brought things to a halt for several minutes. The pitch appeared to have broken the batting helmet, with the helmet cutting Becker’s face. The staff choose to replace Bryans with Packy Bradley-Cooney on the mound. Bradley-Cooney walked the first man he faced to force in a run, but bounced back to strikeout out the next two to leave the half inning with a 8-3 lead.
Alabama added an insurance run in the bottom of the 8th. Bonomolo, Jr led off with his second double of the game, and then stole third base. Fowler drew a walk and LeBron singled Bonomolo home. A double play and strikeout ended the inning. In the top of the 9th left hander Tate Robertson took over for the Tide on the hill. Robertson allowed a lead off walk, a single, a run scoring double a run scoring ground out, and another run scoring single before being replaced by closer Carson Ozmer. Ozmer, throwing in back to back games for the first time for the Tide, hit the first man he faced and allowed a run scoring single and a walk to load the bases with the score 9-7 with only one out. The grad student U Penn transfer then struck out the next man looking and ended the game with a fly out to Fowler in right field.
The Tide hit 11-33 in the game (again) drew seven walks (again), struck out seven times. and left seven men on base. Bama blasted four home runs and four doubles in the game. Norton was the big gun with a 3-4 game with four RBI, two home runs, and two runs scored. LeBron finished 3-5 with a home run, two RBI, and a run scored. Bonomolo was 2-2 with two runs, two doubles, a stolen base, and two runs scored. Quick was the winner, running his record to 3-0 while striking out a career high five batters. Ozmer earned his third save of the season.
The scrappy Bison hit 12-37 with five walks, two hit batters, 10 strikeouts, one home run, two doubles, and left 11 men on base. Schaffner hit 3-4 with a run scored and one driven in. Knight was the loser and fell to 0-2 on the year.
Game Three- Won 11-3
Redshirt Senior Bobby Alcock started his third game of the season for the Tide on Sunday, facing off with Tate Martin of the Bison. For the second time in three games North Dakota State took a first inning lead. Dante Smith walked with one out and scored on a double by Noah Gordon. Alcock retired the next two batters to end the threat.
Martin had a perfect 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the 1st. Alcock struck out the side in the second, allowing only a two out single. As has been their modus operandi of late, the Tide had a huge second inning. Jason Torres led off with his third home run of the weekend to tie the game. Will Hodo singled and advanced on a walk to Brennen Norton. Hodo and Norton pulled off a double steal, and both scored on a throwing error by catcher Bennet Freiter, and a bobble in left field by Will Mann. Kade Snell singled, but was caught trying to steal before Brady Neal walked. Richie Bonomolo, Jr doubled to put runners at second and third. Bryce Fowler walked and all three scored in front of a grand slam home run off the bat of Justin LeBron, his 8th long ball of the young season. Once the dust had cleared the Tide had scored seven times.
Alcock cruised through the third, then gave up a lead off home run to Mann in the top of the 4th. Austin Morris replaced Alcock in the 5th and had a quick inning despite hitting a batter. A ground ball to LeBron at shortstop turned into a double play to end the inning. Morris continued in the 6th. Gordon was hit by a pitch leading off for the Bison, and advanced to second on a passed ball. A ground out to second base advanced Gordon to third. Morris struck out Mann on a ball in the dirt and catcher Brady Neal had to throw to first base to complete the strikeout. Gordon raced home and beat the return throw from Hodo to score NDSU’s third run of the game.
Alabama added a run in the 6th when Snell and Neal walked before Bonomolo singled in a run. Two long fly outs ended the frame. Tyler Fay took the 7th and 8th for the Tide and allowed one hit that was wiped out on a double play. Fay threw only 14 pitches over the two innings. Bama added three more in the bottom of the eighth inning. Snell singled and advanced to third on another double by Bonomolo. Fowler drove in a run on a fielders choice where everyone was safe. LeBron drove in the 10th run for the Tide on a laser line drive sacrifice fly to left field. Mizell ended the scoring with his third hit of the game, driving in Fowler. Coulson Buchanan took the 9th inning for Bama and struck out the side, with one walk allowed, to end the game.
Alabama hit 11-30 in the game, the third straight game for 11 hits for the Tide. Bama walked nine times, struck out only twice, left five men on base, while hitting two home runs and two doubles. Bonomolo hit 3-4 with two doubles, two runs, and one driven in. Mizell had his first three hit game with a 3-5 day with a run driven in. LeBron drove in five with his grand slam and sacrifice fly. Snell was 2-2 with two walks and two runs scored. Alcock was the winner and improved to 2-0. Morris, Fay, and Buchanan pitched a combined five innings, allowing only one hit with one walk, four strikeouts, and one unearned run. For the weekend the Tide hit 33-93 for .354 average, with 23 walks, two hit batters, 15 strikeouts, 19 men left on base, 10 home runs, a triple, six doubles, a sac bunt, a sac fly, and seven stolen bases.
NDSU hit 5-30 in the game with two walks, two hit batters, 11 strikeouts, and left four men on base. Martin was the loser and fell to 0-2 on the season. The visitors hit 24-97 for a .247 average with 10 walks, four hit batters, 33 strikeouts, 19 men left on base, three doubles, two home runs, two sac flies, two stolen bases and three runners caught stealing. The Bison will leave from Tuscaloosa on Monday, heading to Baton Rouge for two midweek games with LSU, before heading to New Orleans for a three game series with UNO on the weekend. North Dakota State will not play a home game until the last weekend of March.
Who did what?
* Richie Bonomolo, Jr 7-10, 6 runs, 3 RBI, 2 doubles, home run, 3 stolen bases, 2 walks
*Kade Snell 6-10, 3 walks, home runs, two RBI, two runs
*Justin LeBron 4-13, 2 runs, 7 RBI, sac bunt, sac fly, 2 home runs (one grand slam)
*Brennen Norton 4-10, 3 home runs, 7 RBI, 3 walks, 4 runs
*Jason Torres 4-12, 3 home runs, 4 runs, 5 RBI, 3 walks
*Coleman Mizell 4-12, 3 runs, double, RBI, 3 walks, RBI, 2 stolen bases
*Braylon Myers W (1-0) 3 IP, 2 hits, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts, 0 runs
*Riley Quick W (3-0) 4 IP, 5 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts
*Carson Ozmer S (3) 2 appearances, 1.2 IP, 1 hit, 1 HBP, 4 strikeouts, 0 runs
The Tide continues to win, and improved to 12-0 on the season, entering Sunday as only one of eight teams still unbeaten. There were several positives over the weekend, with the show of power, good pitching performances, good defense, very good plate discipline, and very few strikeouts. There are always things that need cleaning up, but the team seems to be in a nice spot at the moment. North Dakota State isn’t a sexy name to beat, and they sit at 1-9 right now, but they are a scrappy, talented team. The Bison have a couple of position players and two or three arms that I expect will be playing somewhere in the south next season. The week ahead will have a couple of challenges, a Tuesday road trip to Jacksonville, AL to take on the Gamecocks for the second time this season, then a home game on Wednesday with a ranked Troy team. The weekend will hold a three game series with visiting Presbyterian team on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Bama Baseball Fever, Catch It!
