Tide Takes Series From 6th Ranked Hogs, 9-5
5/13/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The University of Alabama baseball team scored early and often Sunday afternoon en route to an 9-5 win over No. 6 Arkansas the clinch its second straight Southeastern Conference series against a Top 10 team in front of 4,277 fans at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
Alabama (29-23, 13-14 SEC) scored in five of its eight offensive innings on Sunday, including the go-ahead run in a two-run sixth inning and two insurance runs in the seventh inning.
Senior center fielder Emeel Salem, playing his final home game at Sewell-Thomas Stadium, snapped a 4-4 tie when he launched a two-out, two-run home run in the sixth inning to put the Crimson Tide ahead to stay at 6-4. Salem went 4-for-5 and scored two runs in his home finale.
"This was a big win today against a good team," Alabama head coach Jim Wells said. "Salem had a huge game for us. He really came through in some crucial times today."
Alabama stretched its lead to 8-4 in the seventh inning when junior first baseman Matt Bentley slammed his 11th home run of the season and second of the series over the wall in right field to lead off the inning. The Crimson Tide tacked on a key insurance run with two outs.
Freshman designated hitter Del Howell followed Bentley's home run with a single to right and then stole second base. After two outs, sophomore catcher Kyle Moore delivered an RBI single to center to score Howell from second base and push the Tide lead to 8-4.
The four-run cushion was more than enough for junior left hander Will Stroup, who picked up his first complete game with the series-clinching win. Stroup (2-0) held the Razorbacks to five runs and seven hits. He walked three and struck out seven.
"Stroup has done a nice job the last three weeks," Wells added. "He has gotten better each time out. Today was probably his best game. He came through for us against a good team."
Arkansas (37-16, 17-10 SEC) closed the gap to 8-5 on Casey Coon's one-out solo home run in the eighth inning. It was Coon's ninth home run of the season and second of the series.
Alabama pushed another run across in the bottom of the eighth when senior shortstop Greg Paiml was hit by a pitch and later scored on Bentley's sacrifice fly to left field to make it 9-5.
Bentley went 3-for-3 with three RBI and scored one run in the series finale. He had one RBI in each of his last three plate appearances.
Alabama took a 1-0 lead in the first inning using Salem's speed. Salem led off the game a base hit that fell just in front of a diving Casey Coon in left field. Salem then stole second base, moved to third base on Belcher's deep fly ball to right field and scored on sophomore third baseman Alex Avila's ground out to second base.
Arkansas tied the game with one swing of the bat in the top of the second inning when senior first baseman Danny Hamblin launched his 20th home run of the season to left field.
The Razorbacks took a 2-1 lead in the third inning when Matt Willard scored on Logan Forsythe's sacrifice fly to right field. Williard and Tim Smalling opened the inning with back-to-back singles and moved into scoring position on Sean Jones' sacrifice bunt.
Alabama regained a 3-2 lead with two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Bentley drew a lead off walk and moved to third when Howell smashed a double down the left field line. Freshman second baseman Brandon May reached on a fielder's choice when Hamblin fielded his ground ball at first base and threw out Bentley at home for the first out of the inning.
Sophomore right fielder Tyler Odle, making his third career SEC start, stroked a double into the right field corner to score Howell from second base with the tying run and chase May to third. Moore then brought May home from third base with a sacrifice fly to deep center field to push the Tide in front 3-2.
The lead was short-lived as the Hogs grabbed a 4-3 lead in the top of the fifth inning on Forsythe's two-run home run. It was his seventh of the year. Smalling, who drew a lead off walk in the frame, scored on the two-out, wind-blown home run.
Alabama tied the game in the bottom of the inning on a couple of well-placed base hits. Belcher drew a one-out walk and moved to third on Avila's sharp single into right field. Bentley then legged out an infield hit that allowed Belcher to score from third and tie the game at 4-4.
Arkansas starter Duke Welker (5-4) allowed five runs and seven hits in five-plus innings to take the loss. He left after allowing a lead off walk to Odle in the sixth inning. The Crimson Tide then touched three Razorback relievers for four runs and six hits over the final three innings.
Alabama will close out the 2007 regular season next weekend against Mississippi State in Starkville. The two teams will play Thursday, May 17 and Friday, May 18 at 6:30 p.m. (CDT) and Saturday, May 19 at 2 p.m. (CDT).
Alabama's game with Southeastern Louisiana, scheduled for Tuesday, May 15, has been cancelled.
GAME NOTES:
*Alabama has won two straight SEC home series against Top 10 teams. The Crimson Tide took two of three from No. 6 Arkansas this weekend in Tuscaloosa, winning the opener 10-0 and clinching the series with Sunday's 9-5 win. Alabama took two out of three from No. 4 South Carolina two weeks ago, including a 10-5 win in the series opener and 11-10 thriller in Sunday's rubber game.
*The Crimson Tide remains in seventh place in the overall SEC standings heading into the final weekend of the regular season. Alabama owns a one-half game lead over Kentucky (12-14-1) and LSU (12-14-1) and a one-game lead over Tennessee (11-14). Alabama is at Mississippi State next weekend to close out the 2007 season. Kentucky hosts Auburn in Lexington, while LSU travels to Vanderbilt and Tennessee closes the season at Florida.
*Senior center fielder Emeel Salem (Mountain Brook) moved into the eighth place on the school's all-time list with his 217th career game played. He moved ahead of Brett Taft (1993-96), who had played 216 career games for the Crimson Tide.
*Salem went 4-for-5 in the series finale with two runs scored and two RBI. He launched a two-run home run in the sixth inning to snap a 4-4 tie and propel the Tide to a 9-5 win. Salem recorded his 22nd stolen base of the season in the first inning and 76th of his career (100 attempts). It was Salem's first stolen base in 19 games, dating back to April 7 at Vanderbilt, and just his second attempt in those 19 games.
*Junior left-hander Will Stroup (Birmingham) posted his first complete game on Sunday. He held Arkansas to five runs and seven hits in nine innings, with three walks and seven strikeouts. It was UA's third complete game of the season, all in SEC play.
*Sophomore third baseman Alex Avila (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) was 12-for-29 (.414) in the Tide's final seven home games with four home runs and 17 RBI. He had 13 RBI in his last four SEC home games. Avila leads UA with 13 multi-RBI games, including a team-best seven in SEC play.
*Junior first baseman Matt Bentley (Hazel Green) went 3-for-3 in Sunday's series finale with one home run, three RBI and one run scored. He had one RBI in each of final three plate appearances, including a solo home run in the seventh inning. Bentley is second on the team with 11 home runs this season, including eight in SEC play. He extended his hitting streak to eight games (.467, 14-for-30, 4 HR, 9 RBI) in Sunday's win.
*Alabama leads the all-time series with Arkansas, 33-19. The Crimson Tide snapped a three-series losing streak to the Hogs with a series win this weekend in Tuscaloosa. It was Bama's first series win since 2003. Alabama has won 10 of the 14 series against Arkansas, dating back to 1995, including five of the seven here in Tuscaloosa. The team that has won the series opener has won 12 of the 15 series.
*Alabama improved to 9-4 in Sunday games this season, including a six-game winning streak. Alabama has not lost on Sunday since a 7-3 setback to LSU on April 1. The Crimson Tide has also won three straight SEC series rubber games, with series-clinching wins over Georgia, South Carolina and Arkansas.
-- UA --
