Alabama Baseball Puts on Offensive Clinic, Dismantles Samford 19-3
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama baseball put on an offensive clinic on Tuesday night in Sewell-Thomas Stadium, registering 14 hits in a 19-3 victory over Samford.
The win marked the Crimson Tide's fourth straight after the team swept Texas A&M on the road three games to none last weekend.
"Boy, long night," Alabama coach Brad Bohannon joked following the game. "Really glad to be on the good end of a game like that. Just really pleased with our effort. A lot of really good things all the way around.
"Good win. Glad that we could continue the momentum that I thought that we built in College Station and over the weekend and certainly hopeful that we can continue to carry it with us going forward to the big series we have coming up on Thursday against Auburn."
Alabama dropped behind 1-0 in the first inning when Samford catcher Tyler McManus registered an RBI single. However, the Crimson Tide responded with one run in the bottom of the third when redshirt-junior catcher Sam Praytor was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, forcing a run to score for Alabama.
In the fourth, Alabama's bats came alive when senior left fielder Jackson Tate smacked a two-RBI home run over the fence in left field. Five runs and three pitchers later, the Crimson Tide found themselves up 8-1 in just the end of the fourth.
In the bottom of the sixth, Alabama added six more runs with an inning bookended by home runs. Praytor led off the inning with a solo home run and freshman center fielder Caden Rose hitting a two-out, two-RBI home run to put Alabama up 14-1.
The Crimson Tide wasn't done yet, though. Alabama added five more runs in the bottom of the seventh. Samford managed to score two more runs over the course of the game, but the offensive effort for the Bulldogs simply wasn't enough.
Both Tate and Rose had career nights for the Crimson Tide, with each registering four RBIs and two runs each on the night. Both players also hit home runs, contributing heavily to the offense.
"Really happy for Jackson," Bohannon said. "We played a bunch of guys in center field and everybody's had their ups and downs — we like all of those guys. I think Jackson Tate's a really good player, I think Caden Rose is going to be a great player."
Samford's bullpen was not any help to the Bulldogs' efforts on the night. Along with utilizing 11 pitchers on the night, the Samford pitchers walked the Alabama batters for a program record of 16 times.
"Obviously they helped us out a decent amount," Bohannon said. "But kudos to our guys for taking advantage of it and making it hurt."
On the opposite side, freshman starting pitcher Grayson Hitt had his best start of the season for Alabama. Through four innings pitched, Hitt allowed one run off of two hits, walked one and struck out two batters. Hitt (2-3) was credited with the win.
Samford junior pitcher Billy Creger (0-1), who allowed three runs without recording an out, was saddled with the loss for the Bulldogs.
With the win, Alabama moves to 20-12 overall. Samford drops to 21-12 with the loss.
Up next, Alabama will have Wednesday off before hosting a three-game series to in-state rival Auburn. First pitch on Thursday is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT (SEC Network).
