Quigley Pitches Tide Past Youngstown State, 6-2
3/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Quigley Pitches Tide Past Youngstown State, 6-2
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ?? University of Alabama junior left hander Miers Quigley earned his first win in almost a year as the Crimson Tide completed a three-game sweep with a 6-2 win over Youngstown State Sunday afternoon at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
Quigley earned his first win for the Tide since beating Tennessee 9-7 on March 16, 2007 in the Tide’s SEC opener. It also marked the first time Alabama won a game with Quigley starting since an 8-5 win at Ole Miss on March 23, 2007, snapping an eight-game losing streak.
Quigley (1-0) held the Penguins to two runs on four hits in seven innings, with three walks and seven strikeouts. Freshmen right hander Jimmy Nelson pitched a scoreless eighth inning and freshman right hander Nathan Kilcrease pitched a scoreless ninth to give the Tide one of most complete games on the mound this season.
“It felt good to go out there and pitch well,” Quigley said. “I had good command of the fastball today.”
Sophomore left fielder Brandon May went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBI to lead the Crimson Tide offense in the series finale. His two-run single in the fifth inning extended the Tide’s lead to 5-2 in support of Quigley.
“It was a good weekend and good to get three wins,” Alabama head coach Jim Wells said. “The pitching today was really good. Quigley did a nice job and the so did the bullpen.”
Alabama (7-5) scored a pair of two-out runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead. Freshman second baseman Ross Wilson slapped a one-out single to left and moved to second when left fielder Joe Iacobucci misplayed the ball. May plated the first run with a two-out single to left to give the Tide a 1-0 lead. May later added a second run when senior first baseman Matt Bentley reached on an error by YSU center fielder Cody Hornyak to five the Tide a 2-0 lead.
The Tide increased its lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the second inning when junior center fielder Alex Kubal’s safety squeeze bunt scored junior DH Tyler Odle from third base. Odle was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and moved to third base on sophomore third baseman Jake Smith’s single to right before scoring on Kubal’s bunt.
Youngstown State third baseman Sean Lucas lined a two-out single to center to score Mike Turjanica from third base as the Penguins trimmed the Tide’s lead to 3-1 in the third inning. Turjanica was hit by a pitch with one out, moved to second on balk and took third on a wild pitch. David Leon then reached on a fielder’s choice as Quigley fielded his slow ground ball and chased Turjanica back to third base. Turjanica was called safe when he avoided the tag by third baseman Jake Smith. He later scored on the two-out single by Lucas.
The Penguins added another two-out run in the top of the fifth inning to close the gap to 3-2. Dustin Wachter opened with the inning with a single to center and scored on Leon’s two-out double down the leftfield line.
The Crimson Tide answered with three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to extend its lead to 6-2. May had a two-run single in the inning and later scored on a wild pitch to account for the three runs.
Alabama returns to action Tuesday, March 10, when the Crimson Tide travels to Florence, Ala., to take on the North Alabama Lions. It will mark the Tide’s first trip to the UNA campus since 1967. The Crimson Tide will host Samford on Wednesday, March 11 at 6:30 p.m. at Sewell-Thomas Stadium before opening SEC play next weekend at Kentucky.
GAME NOTES:
*Alabama extended its winning streak to four consecutive games, following its three-game sweep of Youngstown State.
*The Crimson Tide scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning and is now 6-1 this season when scoring first and 6-1 in games in which the Tide scores in the first inning.
*Sophomore third baseman Jake Smith (Shannon, Ala.) extended his hitting streak to seven games with a second inning single. During the streak, Smith is batting 8-for-23 (.348) with four runs scored, two doubles and two RBI.
*Junior catcher Alex Avila (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) extended his hitting streak to six games with a fifth inning single to right field. During the streak, Avila is batting .409 (9-for-22) with six runs scored, one double, two home runs and six RBI.
*Junior right fielder Kent Matthes (Orlando, Fla.) went 0-for-4 on Sunday and has his team-leading nine-game hitting streak snapped.
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