The Extra Point: Recapping Alabama Baseball's Opening Weekend Sweep

Here's the highlights that came with the Crimson Tide's 3-0 start.

Alabama baseball (3-0) swept the Xavier Musketeers in the opening series of the 2022 season in front of the home fans at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Although it was not a perfect weekend from the Crimson Tide like the record may show, Alabama baseball has a feel for winning to springboard this team into some tough games. 

"Really glad to get a series sweep over a really good team, I thought we played better progressively over the course of the weekend," Alabama head coach Brad Bohannon said following Sunday's game. "Plenty of things that we need to get better at, but really glad to be 3-0." 

On Friday night, the outlook was bleak as Alabama entered the ninth inning. The Crimson Tide was down 4-1, but luckily for Alabama, the heart of the order was due up with walk-off specialist Owen Diodati set to be the winning run. After the home run from Dominic Tamez to leadoff the inning, it felt as if Alabama was determined to find a way. The fans at The Joe erupted as Diodati sent the first pitch of his at-bat into the student seating, giving Alabama an inspiring 5-4 win on opening day. 

On day two, Alabama got the large chunk of its scoring done early. Another four hit inning yielded four Crimson Tide runs in the second inning, and Alabama held a 4-1 lead. Xavier was able to battle back, though, as Alabama's first four pitchers of the day all issued multiple walks. Drew Williamson came through with his first home run of the year in the bottom of the eighth that ended up being the difference, as Xavier scored in the final three innings to cut the deficit. The bases were loaded with Musketeers as Brock Guffey got the final out, giving Alabama another 5-4 win. 

Finally, Alabama completed the sweep on Sunday, and the Crimson Tide put together the early and late scoring from the first two games to put up nine runs. The pitching effort was far more consistent as well with only one walk on the day, and starter Grayson Hitt kept Xavier off the board through four innings of work. 

"The camaraderie we have, the mentality we bring every single day to practice and the game, we're just such a tight group of guys," outfielder Caden Rose said. "Our bond that we have, and believing in each other, knowing that we're going to do what we have to do to win." 

Alabama's Hot Hitters

Alabama Athletics

Dominic Tamez

Series: .333 (4-for-12), 2 HR, 4 RBI 

Alabama Athletics

RF William Hamiter

Series: .500 (6-for-12), 3 doubles, 1 run scored, 2 walks, 2 RBI 

Alabama Athletics

SS Jim Jarvis

Series: .400 (4-for-10), 3 runs scored, 1 walk, 1 RBI

Alabama Athletics

CF Caden Rose

Series: .500 (4-for-8), 3 runs scored, 1 walk 

LF Tommy Seidl

Series: .600 (3-for-5), 2 runs scored, 3 walks, 2 RBI 

3B Zane Denton

Series: .333 (4-for-12), 2 runs scored, 2 doubles, 2 walks, 1 RBI 

Performances of Alabama's Weekend Starters 

RHP Garrett McMillan 

6.0 IP, 4 hits, 4 earned runs, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts on 78 pitches

Alabama Athletics

LHP Antoine Jean

2.0 IP, 2 hits, 1 earned run, 4 walks, 1 strikeout on 63 pitches

LHP Grayson Hitt

4.0 IP, 3 hits, 0 earned runs, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts on 64 pitches

Hitt was credited with Sunday's win. 

Pictures of the Weekend:

William Hamiter lays out in foul ground for the first out of Sunday's game. 

The Alabama dugout greets Owen Diodati at home plate after the walk-off home run in game one.