Alabama Baseball Shuts Out No. 12 NC State, Defeating First Ranked Opponent of Season

The Crimson Tide kept its hot start in Jacksonville going on Saturday.

The Alabama baseball team celebrates during a game against Alabama State. (Image credit: Alabama Athletics) / Alabama Athletics

The Alabama baseball team's record will be chock full of games against ranked foes this season. That much is assured. What else is assured is that the Crimson Tide (7-0) will enter its final game Sunday at the Jax College Baseball Classic with a 1-0 record in such contests.

No. 12 NC State (3-3) has now lost three games in a row, never getting it going offensively Saturday against Alabama's pitching tandem as the Crimson Tide took a 4-0 decision. Starter Riley Quick, the day's winner, went four innings with four strikeouts; the bullpen didn't let off the gas pedal from there.

"It really starts with your starting pitching," head coach Rob Vaughn said. "The theme of the night was really how we threw the baseball... I thought we could have executed a tick better early, maybe could have given ourselves a little bit more of a cushion, but that's a good team over there.

Catcher Will Plattner doubled home the game's first run in the bottom of the second inning. First baseman Will Hodo scored it. Second baseman Brennen Norton then took Wolfpack starter Heath Andrews deep in the fourth for a solo home run.

By no means is two runs an insurmountable deficit, especially in the first few innings of a game. In NC State's case, however, that's the way it went down on Saturday. Alabama scored no more than one run in an inning; it added a sixth-inning RBI single from center fielder Richie Bonomolo Jr. and a run from shortstop Justin Lebron courtesy of an Anderson Nance wild pitch in the following frame.

Crimson Tide closer Carson Ozmer did walk the first Wolfpack hitter of the ninth inning. It's generally said that a leadoff walk can foretell imminent trouble. He subsequently issued a one-out walk to designated hitter Alex Sosa, bringing the tying run to the on-deck circle.

Vaughn stuck with the veteran Ozmer, and it paid off when he put out the fire and preserved the shutout to boot, stranding two runners in scoring position to pick up the save. That set Alabama up for a Sunday morning tilt against Ohio State with its unbeaten mark to start the campaign still intact.

"[He] didn't even have his best stuff against the lefties, but he's a vet," Vaughn said of Ozmer. "He just competed through it."

The Crimson Tide finished with nine hits, a contrast from the three it had Friday in its game opposite Coastal Carolina. The Wolfpack, on the other hand, only had three hits Saturday. Recording more runs than the opponent has hits will usually play at any level of baseball, especially in college.

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