Baseball Holds Off BSC, 7-6
2/28/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Wells Ties Shollenberger as Bama's Winningest Baseball Coach
Tuesday, February 28, 2006 Jim Wells" unselectable="ON">
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- There was a lot of tension and emotion in the University of Alabama dugout during the Crimson Tide's 7-6 win over Birmingham Southern on Tuesday night at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
The Crimson Tide overcame four errors and the Panthers stranded the tying and go-ahead runs on base in each of the last three innings to give Head Coach Jim Wells his 487th career win to tie Dr. Barry Shollenberger (1980-94) as the winningest baseball coach in school history.
Wells is 487-228 (.682) in his 12-year career at Alabama. Shollenberger posted a 487-334-1 (.583) record in his 15-year career at the Capstone.
"I am happy to be here at Alabama," Wells said. "By playing four games a week, I don't really have the time to dwell on things like this. Somewhere down the road, when I look back on this night, I am sure I will appreciate it more and more."
After blowing a 5-1 fifth-inning lead, Alabama needed a two-run home run from senior catcher Kody Valverde (Baton Rouge, La.) in the bottom of the seventh inning to get its fourth straight win.
"I am glad we won," Wells said. "We were fortunate to win. They came right at us and hit everything we threw at them. We hung on. I was glad we were able to win without shutting someone down."
Valverde's two-run home run that easily cleared the scoreboard in left field snapped a 5-5 tie and gave the Crimson Tide a 7-5 lead.
Alabama needed the extra run as BSC tallied an unearned run in the top of the eighth inning off sophomore closer David Robertson to close the gap to 7-6.
The Panthers stranded the tying and go-ahead run in the eighth inning when Robertson got designated hitter Billy Froehlich to ground out to shortstop Greg Paiml to end the inning.
BSC (2-4) was back at it again in the ninth as they touched Robertson for two more hits. Shortstop Matt Barber grounded out to Paiml at short to end the game as the Panthers left two more runners on base.
In all, BSC stranded 11 base runners in the loss to Alabama.
Robertson (1-0), who allowed an unearned run in the seventh inning that tied the game at 5-5, picked up the win in relief for Alabama. He worked 2 2/3 innings and allowed four hits and one unearned run, with one walk and one strikeout.
BSC reliever John Baird, who yielded the two-run home run to Valverde in the seventh, took the loss to fall to 0-2 on the season.
Both teams swapped unearned runs in the first three innings. Alabama scored an unearned run in the first when junior center fielder Emeel Salem led off the game with an infield single that struck BSC pitcher Blake Martin on the right foot. Salem then stole second and third and then scored on a throwing error by catcher Blake Burton for the early lead.
BSC tied the game with an unearned run of its own in the top of the third inning as Matt Goforth singled and later scored on a passed ball by catcher Kody Valverde to tie the game at 1-1.
Alabama regained the lead in the fourth inning when freshman right fielder Ryan Rhoden reached on a fielder's choice, moved to second on a base hit by senior DH David Ferazza and scored on senior first baseman Spencer Pennington's two-out single up the middle to make it a 2-1 game. Pennington's base hit extended his hitting streak to a career best four games.
The Crimson Tide extended its lead to 5-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning when Rhoden slammed a three-run home run over the left field wall with two outs. It was his first career home run.
BSC catcher Blake Burton led off the sixth inning with a solo home run to left field to trim the lead to 5-2.
The Panthers took advantage of some good fortune and an Alabama error in the top of the seventh inning to score three runs and tie the game.
Billy Froehlich ripped a double off the right field wall to score Goforth with the first run of the inning. Scott Billak, who drew a walk, later scored on a throwing error by third baseman Matt Downs to chase reliever sophomore Josh Copeland. BSC tied the game when Allen Aubin blooped a single down the left line off sophomore reliever David Robertson to tie the game at 5-5.
Valverde homered in the bottom of the inning and the Tide held on to put Wells in the UA record books with his 487th career win.
Wells goes for his 488th win and the school's all-time record on Friday night when the Crimson Tide opens a three-game series with the Appalachian State Mountaineers at 6:30 p.m.
GAME NOTES:
- Alabama has won four straight games and eight of its last nine games overall.
- Salem went 2-for-4 in the win over BSC and is now hitting .667 (6-for-9) in his career against the Panthers.
- Pennington extended his hitting streak to a career-best four games with his fourth-inning RBI single. Pennington is 5-for-11 (.455) during the hitting streak.
- Rhoden's three-run home run in the fifth inning was his first career home run for the Crimson Tide.
- BSC catcher Blake Burton's solo home run in the top of sixth inning snapped two lengthy streaks by the Alabama pitching staff. The home run was the first allowed by Alabama since the seventh inning of the season opener, a span of 104 2/3 innings. In addition, the home run was the first earned allowed by an Alabama relief pitcher since Feb. 12, a span of 35 innings.
- Another streak was snapped in the seventh inning when Robertson allowed an inherited runner to score and tie the game at 5-5. It snapped a streak of 17 consecutive inherited runners stranded by the Tide pen, dating back to Feb. 12.
