Bama Baseball Wins SEC Opener With 8th Inning Rally
3/19/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The University of Alabama baseball team kept its fans on the edge of their seats Friday night, using late inning heroics to knock off the Kentucky Wildcats 5-3 at "The Joe".
With the game tied at 3-3, Alabama (16-5, 1-0 SEC) took advantage of two Kentucky errors and key two-out hit from junior catcher Kody Valverde to take the opening game of this three-game Southeastern Conference series.
Junior third baseman Evan Bush reached on an error by UK third baseman Shaun Lehmann. Senior Rocky Scelfo entered the game as a pinch-runner at first base and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by senior Morrow Thomley.
Scelfo moved to third base on Matt Bentley's ground out to second base. Gabe Scott then walked and Valverde delivered the game-winning single up the middle. Scott took third and was awarded home when center fielder Antoine DeJesus' throw to third sailed into the UK dugout. Valverde advanced to third on the two-base error.
Sophomore Greg Paiml then walked to knock UK reliever and losing pitcher Craig Snipp (1-1) out of the game. Cale Iorg grounded out to end the inning against Brock Baber, the third UK pitcher of the night.
Valverde finished the game with two hits and one RBI to lead the Tide's eight-hit attack.
The Crimson Tide struck first in the bottom of the third inning when third baseman Evan Bush picked up his 26th RBI of the year, driving in designated hitter Allen Rice to give Bama a 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth, first baseman Matt Bentley scored on a wild pitch by Kentucky pitcher Scott Green. Shortstop Cale Iorg then hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Gabe Scott and increase the Tide's lead to 3-0.
Kentucky (12-5, 0-1 SEC) tied the game in the sixth inning when left fielder Collin Cowgill knocked a three run homer to right field making the score 3-3.
WIth UK threatening to grab the lead in the seventh inning, junior RHP Jordan Davis replaced starter T.J. Large and got UK right fielder Billy Grace to rap into the inning-ending double play. Grace hit into a pair of double plays in the loss.
Large allowed three runs and three hits, but walked five and hit two for his second straight no decision. Davis (1-0) earned his first career win with 2 2/3 scoreless and hitless innings of relief. He added one walk and struck out four UK batters.
"I wanted to come in and do what I've been doing all season and get outs, throw strikes, and try to get us out of tough situations," said Davis, "I try to get us back in the dugout so we can get some runs. We have confidence in everyone on our pitching staff."
Alabama and Kentucky will play game two of this three-game series Saturday at 4 p.m. Senior LHP Brent Carter (3-1 2.15 ERA) is set to take the mound for Alabama. The final game of the series is Sunday at Noon.
GAME NOTES:
*Alabama improves to 43-27 all-time in SEC openers after tonight's 5-3 win over Kentucky. The Crimson Tide improved to 8-3 under coach Jim Wells in SEC openers. Bama is 3-2 in its last five SEC openers. Alabama is 2-2 against Kentucky in SEC openers, including a two-game winning streak.
*Alabama also improves to 47-26 all-time against Kentucky. The Crimson Tide took two of three from the Wildcats last year in Lexington for its only SEC series win. Alabama has won 11 of the last 13 meetings against Kentucky dating back to the 2000 season.
*Alabama had five players make their SEC debut in the win against Kentucky, including freshman shortstop Cale Iorg, freshman 1B Matt Bentley, junior catcher Kody Valverde, junior RHP T.J. Large and junior RHP Jordan Davis. Senior RF Morrow Thomley made his first SEC start against UK.
*Davis picked up his first collegiate win with 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief against Kentucky. Davis walked one UK batter and struck out four in his SEC debut. The Frisco, Texas native entered the game in the top of the seventh inning with one out and two runners on base and got UK right field Billy Grace to hit into an inning-ending double play. Davis has stranded all nine inherited runners this season out of the Tide bullpen.
*Large picked up his second straight no-decision for Alabama. The Seminole, Fla., native allowed three runs and three hits, with five walks and three strikeouts against the Cats. After a pair of walk in the sixth inning, he yielded a three-run, opposite field, home run to left fielder Collin Cowgill as UK tied the game at 3-3.
*Junior 3B Evan Bush (1-for-4, RBI) collected his team best 25th RBI with a two-out double in the third inning. The Rainbow City native has posted at least one RBI in seven of his last eight games. Over his last 12 games, Bush has 20 RBI for the Tide.
*Bush reached on an erorr in the eighth inning and pinch-runner Rocky Scelfo scored the winning run on junior catcher Kody Valverde's two-out single off losing pitcher Craig Snipp.
*Senior LF Gabe Scott (1-for-3, R, BB) extended his hitting streak to eight games with a single in the fourth inning. Scott is batting .333 (9-for-27) during the career-long hitting streak.
*Iorg (1-for-4, SF, RBI) is 13-for-31 (.419) with eight RBI in his last seven games.
*Senior DH Allen Rice went 0-for-3 to end his career-long 14-game hitting streak.
*The game featured two of the SEC's worst fielding teams. Kentucky, which ranks last in fielding percentage, made three errors in the loss. Alabama, which ranks 10th, made only one error.
