Baseball Evens the LSU Series with a 5-2 Win

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Freshman third baseman Jake Smith's two-run single in the sixth inning off his former high school teammate Jared Bradford snapped a 2-2 tie and lifted 25th ranked University of Alabama baseball team to a 5-2 win over LSU in front of a season-high 5,575 fans at Sewell-Thomas Stadium Saturday night.

Smith's bases loaded single scored sophomore catcher Ryan Rhoden and senior left fielder Brandon Belcher to give the Crimson Tide the lead.

Alabama (18-11, 4-4 SEC) scored two runs off Bradford, who was pitching in relief for the second straight day, to take the lead for good. Rhoden and Belcher posted back-to-back singles to open the inning and both runners moved into scoring position on sophomore second baseman Jeff Texada's sacrifice bunt.

After Paiml struck out for out two, Bradford issued an intentional walk to Salem to load the bases. Smith, who played high school baseball at Hueytown with Bradford, then slapped a two-run single against his former teammate to give Bama the 4-2 lead.

LSU (16-12-1, 2-5-1 SEC) threatened in the eighth by putting the first two runners on base against Bama starter Bernard Robert. Blake Dean led off the inning with a base hit to center and moved into scoring position when Sean Ochinko reached on an error by Smith at third base.

Robert (4-3) left after the error and allowed two runs and nine hits in seven-plus innings. He added three walks and six strikeouts. He has won two of his three SEC starts this season.

Sophomore right hander Tommy Hunter replaced Robert, and despite a passed ball by Rhoden that allowed both runners to move into scoring position, Hunter struck out Waguespack and Wise before getting Ryan Schrimpf on a comebacker to the mound to end the inning as LSU left two men on base.

Alabama extended its lead in the eighth inning when senior Greg Paiml tripled over the head of Jared Mitchell in center field and scored on senior center fielder Emeel Salem's single to center to make it 5-2.

Hunter retired all six batters he faced with three strikeouts to earn his third save of the season. Hunter leads the conference with seven appearances and three saves in SEC games only.

Salem had two hits and two RBI for Alabama and reached base four times in the game. Paiml had a double and triple and scored two runs. Avila, junior first baseman Matt Bentley and Rhoden also had two hits each to pace UA's 12-hit attack.

LSU took advantage of a two-out error by Texada in the top of the first inning to take an early lead. Dean reached on Texada's error and moved to second when Robert walked Ochinko. Waguespack followed with an RBI single to right to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.

Alabama tied the game with a run in the bottom of the fourth inning on Alex Avila's bases loaded sacrifice fly. Paiml started the one-out rally with a ground-rule double to right and after walks to Salem and Smith the Tide had loaded the bases with one out. Avila then lifted a sac fly to center to score Paiml from third base and tie the game at 1-1. Matthes struck out to end the inning and left two runners on base.

The Crimson Tide loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth inning to chase LSU starter T.J. Forrest. Bentley and Rhoden opened the inning with back-to-back singles before Belcher reached on a throwing error by third baseman T.J. Wise on his sacrifice bunt.

Forrest allowed two runs and three hits in three-plus innings with two walks and two strikeouts.

Sophomore right-hander Nolan Cain replaced Forrest and promptly struck out Texada and Paiml for two quick outs before Salem legged out an infield single to score Bentley from third and give the Tide a 2-1 lead. Cain avoided further damage when Smith lined out to right to end the inning.

The lead was short-lived as the Tigers strung together three hits in the fifth inning to tie the game at 2-2. Michael Hollander, Jared Mitchell and Blake Dean all had singles in the inning with Dean's single up the middle scoring Hollander from second base to tie the game before Bama rallied for the late-inning win.

The series concludes Sunday at 2:07 p.m. (CDT). The game will be televised by Jumbo Sports and Comcast Sports Southeast. CSS will join the game in progress at 3 p.m. (CDT) or immediately following the Miami-Clemson game.

GAME NOTES:

*Alabama has four players on its 2007 baseball roster from the state of Louisiana. The list includes senior pitcher/outfielder Brandon Belcher (Ruston), sophomore pitcher Casey Kebodeaux (Mandeville), senior pitcher Bernard Robert (Denham Springs) and sophomore infielder Jeff Texada (New Iberia).

*Robert recorded his fourth and fifth pickoffs of the season in the LSU game. He notched his fourth pickoff to end the first inning when he picked off LSU shortstop Michael Hollander. Robert added his fifth pickoff of the season in the fifth inning when he picked off Jared Mitchell at second base.

*Senior center fielder Emeel Salem (Mountain Brook) drew a one-out walk in the third inning and has reached base safely in all 29 games this season. Dating back to last season, Salem has a 42-game on-base streak. Salem extended his hitting streak to 11 consecutive games when he legged out an infield hit with the bases loaded in the fourth inning to give the Tide a one-run lead.

*Belcher extended his hitting streak to eight games with a bunt single off LSU pitcher Jared Bradford in the sixth inning.

*Freshman third baseman Jake Smith (Shannon) recorded his team-leading fifth, game-winning RBI Saturday night.

*Five Alabama players had two hits each Saturday, including Salem, Avila, Bentley, Rhoden and Paiml.

*LSU used six pitchers in the loss. Forrest started and went three-plus innings and Cain, Kyle Beerborn, Bradford, Louis Coleman and Chris Sorce threw one inning each.

-- UA --

University of Alabama Athletics

Baseball Evens the LSU Series with a 5-2 Win

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