No. 23 Alabama Baseball Clinches Best Regular-Season Start Ever With 15-1 Win

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— The Alabama baseball team has accomplished a lot in its long history, including multiple trips to the College World Series, but before Saturday the program had never had a regular season start with 16 straight wins.

That changed with a seven-inning 15-1 win over Presbyterian, also locking up the series over the Blue Hose (7-9). Perhaps the mojo was in Alabama's favor from midway through the first inning, when Sewell-Thomas Stadium erupted with cheers in response to Mark Sears' buzzer beater against Auburn.

"Big one by Nate [Oats] and the boys today. Goodness gracious, it was sweet... I started pounding on the roof of our dugout like we do when we hit a homer and I cut my hand open," head coach Rob Vaughn said. "Really proud of our kids, man. They did a good job showing up and ringing the bell."

After scoring five runs in the second inning on Friday, Alabama added nine in the second inning on Saturday, effectively turning the clock late early for Presbyterian. That frame (which has been the Crimson Tide's favorite throughout this season on offense) included a grand slam by senior first baseman Will Hodo.

"I don't know what it is about the second inning, but we've been hitting good in it. I guess it's a testament to how good the bottom of our lineup is," Hodo, who bats fifth, said. "It's a lot of fun to score as many runs as we're scoring... We're just having a ton of fun playing baseball right now."

Hodo went a perfect 4-for-4 at the dish, finishing with five runs batted in. Sophomore shortstop Justin Lebron, the national leader in that statistic, equaled that number and is now at 42 for the season. Vaughn attributed that start to the players around him in the order setting up the opportunities.

"We talked a lot about lineup construction and how we wanted to put this lineup together," Vaughn said. "I think there's some flow to that lineup right now. I think my favorite part about them is, man, if you give them an inch, they make it hurt, and that's what you have to do."

The Crimson Tide scored more in the third inning, meaning it started the game with 13 unanswered runs. The Blue Hose got their first run of the series on a fifth-inning solo home run from Amman Dewberry. The visitors' starting lineup was somewhat changed from Friday, but the result was not.

Riley Quick got the start on the mound for Alabama, as has become customary on Saturdays, and his velocity was at its best (hitting 98). Dewberry's home run was the only score he gave up in 4.1 innings. It was his final start before SEC play, where Vaughn hopes to fully let him loose. Quick also got the win in a shortened contest, meaning his season record now sits at 4-0.

"Q didn't strike a ton of dudes out tonight, but it was an upper-90s heater, it was a ton of ground balls, we turned some double plays, we got him back out for the fifth [inning]," Vaughn said. "It sets him up for a good one next weekend. Really professional win by our guys."

Alabama's last two runs, and the final two runs of the game overall, came in the bottom of the fifth inning. The win also marked another milestone: tying the longest overall winning streak in program history. Vaughn (who got here in just his second year at the helm) deferred all the credit to his players, among whom Hodo is one of the most experienced.

"I love this place. It means a ton to me that we're having this kind of success," Hodo said. "Just hoping that we can keep our heads down and keep winning games."

The offense finished with 13 hits compared to only two for the Blue Hose. Alabama again walked more times than it struck out (five to four). Ahead of Sunday's series finale at 1 p.m. CT, the Crimson Tide, which had four players have a multi-hit day on Saturday, has continued to handle business with the stats to back it up.

Those multi-hit players were Hodo, Lebron, right fielder Bryce Fowler and left fielder Kade Snell. Fowler got an RBI after just missing a home run on Friday.

"They're intense, they're competitive, but they're having fun," Vaughn said. "They're pulling for each other. It's a fun ride to start, but, man, we've got so far to go. The only thing that really matters is tomorrow."

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