The 8th ranked Alabama Crimson Tide kept their unbeaten streak in mid-week games alive by defeating Samford 11-9 on Tuesday night in Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The Tide improved to 26-4 on the season while the Bulldogs fell to 14-15. The game was a strange affair as Bama shot out to leads of 5-0 after two innings and 10-2 after three frames, but had to hold off a furious Samford rally late in the game to take the victory.
Coach Rob Vaughn and staff planned on a bullpen game, but had to go a little deeper into their charges than planned. JT Blackwood got the start and threw the first two innings in perfect fashion on 21 pitches. Blackwood notched two strikeouts and got four ground ball outs. Samford countered with a bullpen game of their own. The Dogs choose Brooks Rice to start and he struggled in the bottom of the first, walking three batters and allowing an RBI single to Bryce Fowler. Fowler’s hit scored Richie Bonomolo, Jr, who had led off the game with a walk. Rice threw 31 pitches and was fortunate to only allow one run.
In the bottom of the second John Malone was the pitcher of choice for Bulldog coach Tony David. Garrett Staton, a Samford transfer, led off with a walk. Brady Neal reached on an error before Bonomolo blasted his third home run of the season to make the score 4-0. With two outs Jason Torres doubled off the right-centerfield wall and scored on a ringing double by Fowler to give the Tide a 5-0 lead after two innings.
Zach Kittrell replaced Blackwood in the top of the third and struggled. Two walks and a single loaded the bases with no outs, bringing Coulson Buchanan out of the bullpen. Buchanan struck out the first man he faced, hit the second to drive in a run, then allowed a sacrifice fly to plate a second run. Another strikeout ended the half inning with the score now 5-2.
In the bottom of the third the Tide exploded for five more runs. Coleman Mizell and Staton both walked with one. Neal, playing left field in place of the injured Kade Snell, smoked a double off the center field wall on a ball that just missed leaving the yard. Mizell scored on the knock. Bonomolo continued his big night with another double that scored both men. Justin LeBron then singled Bonomolo in to run his nation leading RBI total to 53. By the time the inning was over 10 men had come to the plate, and the lead was 10-2. Little did we know that would be all Bama could manage for the next several innings.
Buchanan threw two hitless, scoreless inning to get the Tide up to two outs in the fifth with the 10-2 lead. With two outs in the inning Buchanan was replaced by freshman left hander Connor Lehman who made his much anticipated collegiate debut. Lehman was very impressive in the fall, but suffered an injury over the Christmas break and finally is back. Lehman needed only three pitches to strikeout the first man he faced and end the inning. The Tennessee native was back out for the sixth inning and only needed 12 pitches in the inning, getting a ground out, a fly out, and another strikeout.
Meanwhile Samford pitchers John Whitney, Cullen Horowicz, and Drew Druckenmiller were dominating Tide hitters over the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings. Things fell apart for the Tide staff in the top of the seventh. Freshman Jack Ketchum was called in to try and gain some experience. Ketchum walked the first man, allowed an infield single to the next man, and a three run home run to pinch hitter Gatlin Pitts to cut the lead to 10-5. Ketchum hit the next batter and pulled in favor of Connor Ball. Ball allowed a double to Jeffrey Ince to put runners on second and third. Jackson Harris followed with a double of his own to plate two more runs. Tyler Fay was next up and allowed back to back singles to score one run, and a sacrifice fly to score another, the first out of the inning after eight straight batters reached base. Brayden Broome tried to squeeze in the tying run but Fay made the play and flipped the ball to catcher Will Plattner, who tagged out the runner at the play. A ground ball finally ended the inning with seven runs, six hits, one hit batter, and one walk.
The Tide had Will Hodo and Torres walk with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, but could not muster an insurance run. Veteran right hander Hagan Banks was brought in for the eighth inning to calm things down for Bama. Banks retired the first two batters with ease before Ince reached on a throwing error by LeBron. Ince stole second to put the tying run in scoring position, but Banks calmly struck out Harris to end the inning.
Bama was finally able to dent the scoreboard again the bottom of the eighth. Plattner led off with a double, and advanced to third base on a ground out by Mizell. Staton singled Plattner in to make the lead 11-9. Staton was cut down trying to steal and fly out then ended the inning.
With a 10-2 lead in the third inning closer Carson Ozmer probably figured he was heading for an off night. Things changed and the grad transfer from U Penn was called on to slam the door in the ninth. It took all of 13 pitches for Ozmer to strike out the side and earn his 8th save of the season.
The Tide hit 11-35 in the game with 10 walks, eight strikeouts, five doubles, one home run, two stolen bases, and left 10 men on base. Bonomolo was the big stick with his 2-4 game with a walk, a double, a home run. a stolen base, three runs scored and five runs driven in. Torres finished 3-3 with two walks, a double, and a run scored. Fowler continued his resurgence with a 2-4 game with a walk, a double, and two runs driven in. Staton was 1-3 with two walks, two runs, and one RBI. Neal was 1-5 with two runs scored and a run driven in. Buchanan was the winning pitcher and is 1-0 on the season. Ozmer garnered his eighth save of the year.
The Bulldogs hit 7-33 with three walks, three hit batters, 12 strikeouts, two doubles, one home run, and left five men on base. The seven Samford hits were spread among seven different batters. Pitt and Harris drove in three runs each. Rice fell to 0-3 with the loss.
Alabama improved to 9-0 in midweek games with the victory. Although things got messy, at the end of the day a win is a win. With a big lead over a team that you should beat, trying to get some pitchers without many innings thrown some work is the right move. Blackwood, Buchanan, Lehman, Banks, and Ozmer combined for seven innings pitched, allowing no hits or runs, and striking out 12 batters. That will play anytime. The offense going dormant for four innings likely kept the game from being a run rule victory. However sitting at 26-4, 6-3 in the SEC, undefeated in mid-week, and ranked 8th in the country should soothe any hurt feeling from a close win.
Roll Tide
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