Bama Bats Come Alive to Beat South Alabama, 12-1
4/1/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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MOBILE, Ala. -- The University of Alabama baseball team broke of its season-long slump with an 12-1 win over the South Alabama Jaguars in front of 4,083 fans at Hank Aaron Stadium Wednesday night in Mobile.
Alabama (18-9) scored in each of the first four innings to build a 10-0 lead en route to its eighth win in the last nine meetings with South Alabama. The 11-run margin of victory equals the largest win in series history by Alabama. The 1983 UA team beat South Alabama 16-5 in Tuscaloosa for the only other double-digit win.
The Crimson Tide collected 12 hits in the win over the Jags and also benefitted from eight walks, four hit batters and two errors.
Just as important as the win was the fact that Alabama put together some timely hitting with men on base, especially with the bases loaded.
The Crimson Tide was 5-for-11 (.455) with 11 RBI in the win with runners in scoring position, including 2-for-4 (.500) with six RBI with the bases loaded.
"We had some key hits tonight from some key guys in the lineup," Alabama head coach Jim Wells said. "Hopefully this will carry over for us. Tonight was a good win for us."
Freshman shortstop Greg Paiml came of the bench and went 3-for-3 with three doubles, two runs scored and two RBI. He extended his hitting streak to six consecutive games with his career night at the plate. The three doubles missed the UA single game record by one.
No other UA player had more than one hit, but senior Ryan Beagle, junior Rocky Scelfo and senior Nick Richardson had two RBI each for the Tide.
Alabama jumped on South Alabama with four runs in the top of the first inning to take a 4-0 lead. After retiring the first batter, USA starter Jeramy Simmons walked Allen Rice, Evan Bush and Zac Welch in succession to load the bases.
After Michael McCallister struck out, Ryan Beagle smashed a hard single to right to scoring Rice and Bush. Carlos Sosa then drew the fourth walk of the inning to reload the bases before Rocky Scelfo brought home two more runs with a single to center field to give Bama a 4-0 lead.
The four walks by Simmons in the first inning was a season high in a game for the junior right-hander. He entered the Alabama game having tossed back-to-back complete games in wins over Southern Cal and Oral Roberts. He has won his last three starts, beating Ohio State, USC and No. 19 ORU.
"That is something we have not done all year," Wells added. "We scored four runs in the first inning and kept adding runs over the next few innings. That was the key for us tonight, plus I thought (junior RHP Andrew) Walker pitched really well."
The first inning offense, which included two hits and four RBI with the bases loaded, was more than enough for starter Andrew Walker, who notched his first win of the 2004 season. The junior right-hander worked seven solid innings and allowed one unearned run on six hits. He did not walk a batter and added one strikeout.
"It was good to get that first win," Walker said. "The most important thing is to get off to a good start on this road trip. Hopefully we can carry this over to Arkansas this weekend. It was good to see the come through with some big hits."
The Crimson Tide added another run in the second on a lead off triple by Belcher and a sacrifice fly by Bush to make it a 5-0 game.
Simmons (4-3) left after two innings, allowing five earned runs and three hits, with five walks, three strikeouts and two wild pitches.
Alabama added two more runs off left-hander Josh Ehmke in the third inning to extend its lead to 7-0. Sosa started the rally with four-pitch, one-out walk and moved to third on Greg Paiml's double down the left field line. Nick Richardson followed with a two-run single to center to put the Tide up by seven runs.
The Crimson Tide pushed three more runs across in the fourth inning to take a 10-0 lead. Rice was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and Bush and Welch followed with singles. Welch's base hit to right field brought home Rice for an 8-0 lead.
Justin Rayborn replaced Ehmke and hit McCallister was hit by a pitch to load the bases. After Beagle struck out, Sosa was hit by a pitch to force home Bush from third base with the second run of the frame. Richardson then drilled a sacrifice fly to right field to score Welch with the third run to up Bama's lead to 10-0.
South Alabama (10-15) plated an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth inning when pinch hitter Guillermo Martinez reached when his two-out pop up was dropped by Paiml, who battled a tough wind at Hank Aaron Stadium. Brad Gordon followed with a two-out single to right to plate the unearned run.
The Crimson Tide got its 10-run lead back in its next at bat as McCallister walked and scored on Paiml's second double of the game in the sixth inning to make it an 11-1 game.
Bama capped the scoring in the ninth with a double by Paiml, a single by David Ferazza and a sac fly by Matt Grooms to score Paiml.
Sophomore right-hander Matt Downs allowed one hit and struck out one in his one inning of relief work, while senior right-hander Seth Johnson worked a perfect ninth inning.
Senior second baseman Josh Touchstone had two hits to pace the Jags seven-hit attack.
Alabama continues its four-game road trip this weekend as they head to Fayetteville. stadium, beginning Friday, April 2 at 6:35 p.m. (CT). The teams also square off Saturday (2:05 PM) and Sunday (12:35 PM) from Fayetteville.
GAME NOTES:
*Alabama was playing at Hank Aaron Stadium for just the third time in history on Wednesday night. The Crimson Tide posted an 8-2 win over South Alabama in 2000 and dropped a 10-4 decision to the Jags in 2002.
*Tonight's game is the first of two games to be played by Alabama in one of the state's minor league ballparks. The Crimson Tide will meet the UAB Blazers at the Hoover Met on Wednesday, April 14. The Bama-UAB game will be televised live by Comcast Sports Southeast.
*Alabama now leads the all-time series with South Alabama, 48-22. The Crimson Tide has won eight of the last nine meetings. Under Jim Wells, Alabama is 12-5 against the Jags. Bama has won two of three games played here at Hank Aaron Stadium.
*In its last five non-conference wins, Alabama has outscored SE Missouri State, Morehead State and South Alabama 64-4.
*Junior shortstop Rocky Scelfo left the game after the top of the first inning. He collected a two-run single with the bases loaded in his only at-bat of the game. Scelfo remains the only UA player to start all 27 games this season.
*Freshman shortstop Greg Paiml extended his hitting streak to six games with a double down the left field line in the third inning. During the streak, Paiml is batting .500 (8-for-16) with five doubles, one triple and three RBI. The six-game hitting streak is the longest active streak on the team.
*Third baseman Evan Bush's fielding error in the fourth inning give the Crimson Tide at least one error in a season-high five straight games.
