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Bama Baseball Blasts Gamecocks

The Crimson Tide went on the road and defeated Jacksonville State 13-6 on Tuesday night. Bama improved to 27-22 while the Cocks fell to 21-216

Syndication: Tuscaloosa News
Zane Denton had a big night to help lead the Tide to victory on Tuesday night
Gary Cosby Jr. via Imagn Content Services, LLC

The Crimson Tide baseball team went on the road and defeated the Jacksonville State Gamecocks on Tuesday night by a score of 13-6. The Tide swept the season series, winning the first contest 6-3 in Tuscaloosa on February 22nd.

Antoine Jean made his first appearance on the mound in over a month because of a lingering elbow issue, and was on a pitch count. The Montreal native pitched 2.1 sharp innings, allowing three hits and one walk and came away with his third victory of the season against one loss.

The Tide got on the board in the first by scoring two runs. Jim Jarvis led off the game with a single but was the back end of a strikeout/caught stealing double play. Drew Williamson then singled and trotted home on Andrew Pinckney’s 6th home run of the season and Bama had a 2-0 lead after the top half of the first. Jean got double plays in the first and second to help keep the Gamecocks off the board.

Bama added a single run in the 4th after Tommy Seidl hit a single, stole second. advanced to third on a ground out and scored on an RBI groundout by Will Portera. Portera had the catching duties in the game, giving Dominic Tamez a much deserved rest. With one out in the third Brayden Gainey relieved Jean and was impressive over his 2.2 innings, allowing one hit with no walks and striking out four.

The Tide broke the game wide open in the 5th with four walks and three hits. Williamson, Pinckney, and Owen Diodati all walked with one out before Zane Denton laced a grand slam home run to clear the bases. Seidl and Bryce Eblin both singled before Jarvis walked with two outs to load the bases. Caden Rose then beat out a ball in the hole at shortstop for a single and RBI to move the lead to 8-0.

In the 6th the Tide added two more with the help of a JSU error. Pinckney lead off with a single and advanced to third on a double by Diodati. After a strikeout and a pop out it looked as if the Gamecocks would escape with out any damage. However a lazy fly ball to left field was dropped by Mason Maners and both base runners scored to push the lead to 10-0.

Landon Green took over in the 6th for Bama and had a perfect frame on seven pitches with a strikeout. Hunter Furtado took over on the mound in the 7th and gave up four singles and a three run home run that cut the margin to 10-3. The Tide added three more in the top of the 8th. Pinch hitter Will Hodo doubled with one out and scored on a single by Denton. Seidl then followed with a long blast over the left field wall for hit 3rd home run of the season and a 13-3 lead. Furtado had a perfect 8th with two strikeouts and was replaced by Braylon Myers for the 9th. The Cocks used three hits and a walk to tally three harmless runs to make the final score 13-6. JSU had eight of their 12 hits and all six of their runs in the final three innings after things were out of hand.

Alabama hit 18-44 on the night, drew six walks, had one hit batter, struck out seven times, and left 11 men on base. Jacksonville hit 12-36, walked twice, had two hit batters, struck out 11 times, left six on base and committed the only error of the game.

Denton was the big stick with his 3-5 night a grand slam home run, and five runs driven in. Seidl finished 3-4 with a two driven in, three runs scored, a home run and reached after being hit by a pitch. Pinckney was 2-3 with three runs scored, two driven in, a walk, and his 6th home run of the year. Jarvis was 2-4 with two walks, Rose was 2-6 with an RBI, and Hodo was 2-2 with a double after entering as a pinch hitter. Every starter had at lease one hit in the game.

This was only the 5th game all year that the Tide had scored double figure runs, and the most since scoring 14 vs Binghamton on March 12th. The team last scored 10 or more on April 9th with a 12-10 win over Ole Miss. The offensive production was much needed and the 18 hits were a season high. Getting production up and down the lineup is a must going forward. Even bigger was seeing Denton come out of his funk as the season winds down with six tough conference games remaining. Designated Hitter/ out fielder William Hamiter joined Tamez in sitting this game out. The two should be fresh for this weekends road trip to Auburn to play the 20th ranked Tigers.

This weekend’s games are set for 7:30 p.m. on Friday (SEC Network), 2 p.m. on Saturday on the SEC Network Plus, and 3 p.m. on Sunday which will also be on the SEC Network. The Tigers are 33-16 overall and 13-11 in the SEC while the Tide sits at 27-22 and 10-14 in the league. The last series of the year will be with top five Arkansas at home next week.

Roll Tide

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