Alabama
LSU
LSU Shuts Out Alabama, 3-0
4/5/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 5, 2008
BATON ROUGE, La. -
Blake Martin, Jared Bradford and Daniel Bradshaw combined on a five-hit shutout as the LSU Tigers shut out Alabama 3-0 in the first game of a day-night double header at Alex Box Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Crimson Tide and Tigers will play the second game at 7:30 p.m. (CST) tonight. Alabama will send junior right-hander Austin Graham (2-1, 4.15 ERA) to the mound, while LSU will counter with Jordan Brown (3-0, 5.00 ERA).
The LSU pitching was the story in game one as the Tiger trio limited Alabama to five hits and six total base runners in the win.
The Crimson Tide was shutout for the first time since falling 6-0 to Arkansas in the 2007 SEC Tournament. It was the Tide's first SEC road shut out since losing to No. 1 Vanderbilt and David Price 3-0 on April 6, 2007.
Martin pitched three shut out innings on Friday before play was suspended in the bottom of the third inning due to rain and lightning. He held Alabama to two singles and struck out three batters in his 38-pitch effort. The Boaz, Ala., native and former Birmingham Southern pitcher is a candidate to start Sunday's series finale against Alabama.
Bradford (6-3) threw 5 1/3 six shutout innings on Saturday and limited the Tide to just three hits, including a lead off double by Alex Avila in the seventh inning that did not result in a run. Bradford, a native of Hueytown, Ala., and former Shelton State product, faced just two over the minimum for his second career win against Alabama and retired the first nine batters he faced on Saturday.
"Bradford was the story of the game," Alabama head coach Jim Wells said. "Bradford pitched very well. He is a very good pitcher, but we still have to score some runs. Give him a lot of credit. He is more of a sinker, splitter and slider-type guy, but his best pitch is his sinker."
The LSU senior left the game with one out in the ninth inning after Alex Avila's line-drive struck Bradford in his lower right leg. Avila was retired on the play, but so was Bradford, who left Alex Box Stadium with his leg on ice and using crutches. His status for the remainder of the series is uncertain at this time.
Daniel Bradshaw came on after a nine-minute delay and got Brandon May on a fly ball to center and Ross Wilson on a pop up to short to record his third save of the season.
Alabama (16-14, 4-6 SEC) put only two men in scoring position the entire game. Avila led off the seventh inning with a double, but was stranded at second, and Tyler Odle led off the ninth with a pinch-hit single and ended the game on third base. In its last three SEC losses, Alabama has been outscored 7-2.
The Crimson Tide got good pitching from juniors Austin Hyatt and Miers Quigley, but the lack of offense doomed the Tide in game one.
Hyatt (2-3) was the tough-luck loser as he held LSU to three runs and four hits in 5 1/3 innings over two days. He threw two innings and 41 pitches on Friday night before the game was suspended and came back on Saturday and pitched into the sixth before needing some relief help from Quigley.
Quigley threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings and recorded three strikeouts for the Tide in his best SEC outing since the 2007 season. He pitched around a single and walk to open the eight inning keeping the Tide in the game.
"We pitched well enough to win," Wells added. "When you give up only three runs, you should be in position to win, but we just did not have any sort of offense."
LSU (19-10, 4-6 SEC) scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 1-0 lead. DJ LeMahieu broke up Hyatt's no-hitter with a one-out single to center field. Sean Ochinko then grounded out to third baseman Jake Smith, who made a spectacular backhand stab near the foul line and threw out Ochinko at first base. LeMahieu advanced to second on the play and appeared out as he headed towards third base, but first baseman Matt Bentley's throw was high and sailed into foul territory allowing LeMahieu to score on the play.
The Tigers used some good fortune to take a 3-0 lead in the fifth inning. No 9 hitter Johnny Dishon, who entered the game with a .167 batting average, got a wind-blown home run down the right field line to give LSU a 2-0 lead. It was his first home run of the season. Ryan Schimpf followed with a base hit through the left side of the infield. Schimpf took second on Derek Helenihi's hit-and-run ground out to shortstop and scored on Blake Dean's two-out single to right.
GAME NOTES: *Alabama is playing its final series at Alex Box Stadium as the Tigers will move into the New Alex Box Stadium for the 2009 season. Alex Box Stadium opened in 1938 and celebrates its 70th year this season. The Crimson Tide played the third game in the history of the stadium, beating the Tigers 7-6 in the park's initial season.
*The Crimson Tide used its 15th different starting lineup in the series opener at LSU, including a different lineup in each of its last three games. Three players moved into new spots in the batting order against the Tigers in the series opener, including junior center fielder Alex Kubal (2nd), senior first baseman Matt Bentley (6th) and junior right fielder Kent Matthews (8th).
*LSU center fielder Leon Landry was caught stealing for the second out in the second inning to snap a streak of 16 consecutive stolen bases by Crimson Tide opponents.
*There were 32 double headers played on Saturday in college baseball as a result of weather Friday night. Six of those 32 double headers involved Top 30 teams. Only one SEC game was played Friday night (Auburn 5, Arkansas 2) and the other five series, including Alabama at LSU, Vanderbilt at Ole Miss, Mississippi State at Kentucky, Florida at Tennessee and South Carolina at Georgia, were all rained out on Friday.
*Freshman shortstop Josh Rutledge extended his hitting streak to six games with a third inning single.
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