Alabama
Mississippi Valley State
Jones, Nelson leads Tide Past MVSU, 10-1
4/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 14, 2009
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama junior first baseman Clay Jones had four hits and four RBI and sophomore right-hander Jimmy Nelson threw six shutouts innings, leading Alabama to a 10-1 win over Mississippi Valley State on a chilly Tuesday night at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
Alabama snapped Mississippi Valley State's seven-game winning streak with the win.
Jones matched his season high with four hits in the win over the Delta Devils. He also had four hits against Troy on April 7. Against MVSU, he put the Tide on the board with a two-run single in the first inning and added RBI singles in the fourth and sixth innings against the Delta Devils. He flied out to left field in the eighth inning ending his bid for a school-record tying five hits.
"I was looking for a fastball in a good count and I got some of those early in the game," Jones said. Coach (Wells) really stresses getting runners in from second and third. I was glad I was able to do that tonight.
Nelson (2-3) was the story of the night on the mound with a career-high six shutout innings. He held MVSU to two hits with five strikeouts and three walks. Nelson's previous high was 5 1/3 innings against MVSU on April 8, 2008.
"It was a good outing," Nelson said. "It was the best I have pitched in the last couple of years. I slowed myself down and let my movement work and out great defense make the plays. We always put up seven to 10 runs, so you know the offense will be there."
Alabama (24-12) scored double figure runs for the 15th time this season on Tuesday.
The Tide jumped on MVSU starter Chris Mills for four runs in the bottom of the first inning to take an early 4-0 lead. Rutledge and Wilson started the inning with a pair of one-out singles and both added a stolen base. After May walked to load the bases, Jones stroked a two-run single to right field to bring home Rutledge and Wilson with the first two runs. A wild pitch moved May and Jones up one base before Moore added the second two-run single to give the Tide a four-run lead.
The Crimson Tide scored four runs with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning to double its lead to 8-0. Dugas started the two-out rally with an infield single, his first hit in his last eight at-bats. Rutledge walked on a 3-2 pitch to put runners at first and second before Wilson singled to right to score Dugas with the first run of the inning. May continued his torrid hitting with a two-run double off the left-center field wall to score Rutledge and Wilson and give UA a 7-0 lead. Jones capped the inning with a single up the middle to score May with the final run of the inning.
Mills (3-2) worked four innings and allowed eight runs and 10 hits with eight strikeout and three walks. He threw 119 pitches in the loss.
Alabama added a run in the fifth on Jones' RBI single to left field, his fourth hit and fourth RBI of the game.
Mississippi Valley State (18-15) avoided the shutout with a two-out RBI single by Chris Herron in the top of the seventh inning to score Jeff Squier with the lone run.
Alabama got the run back in the bottom of the inning to stretch its lead to 10-1. Kubal reached on a leadoff single and moved to third on consecutive wild pitches by pitcher Cody Parker. Pinch-hitter Jon Kelton's sacrifice fly scored Kubal from third base.
Austin Evans worked the final three innings for his second save of the season.
The Crimson Tide will begin a five-game trip at Samford on Wednesday, April 15, at 6 p.m. (CDT) at Joe Lee Griffin Field in Birmingham. MVSU will remain in Tuscaloosa for a Wednesday afternoon game against the Stillman Tigers.
GAME NOTES
*Alabama closed out its season-long, nine-game home stand on Tuesday night. The Crimson Tide went 7-2 on the home stand. The home stand began with a 9-4 win over Mississippi Valley State on April 1 and ended with a 10-1 win over the Delta Devils tonight.
*Alabama swept the season series with MVSU, winning 9-4 on April 1 and 10-1 on April 14. The Crimson Tide now leads the all-time series 11-0 with the Delta Devils.
*Junior Brandon May (Marietta, Ga.) continued his torrid hitting with a two-run double in the fourth inning to extend his hitting streak to 11 games, matching his career high. He also had an 11-game hitting streak from May 10-31, 2008. During his current streak, May is batting .366 (19-for-52) with 14 runs scored, five doubles, three home runs and 17 RBI. He has 11 RBI in his last five games.
*Junior Clay Jones (Brent, Ala.) had three hits and three RBI in the win over Mississippi Valley State. In his last 10 games, Jones is hitting .517(15-for-29) with nine runs scored, two home runs and 11 RBI. Jones moved from first base and caught the final two innings for the Tide on Tuesday night. It was his first catching duties of the season.
*Sophomore right-hander Jimmy Nelson (Niceville, Fla.) pitched six shutout innings against the Delta Devils on Tuesday. He allowed two singles in the 98-pitch effort and added five strikeouts and three walks. It was the longest outing of his career. He previous best was 5 1/3 innings against MVSU on April 8, 2008.
*Junior Del Howell (Tuscaloosa) earned his first start of the season on Tuesday against MVSU. He was 0-for-4 as the Tide's designated hitter.
*Junior Tyler Odle (Birmingham) went 0-for-4 to end his hitting streak at seven games, which had matched the longest hitting streak of his UA career.
*Senior right fielder Kent Matthes, junior third baseman Jake Smith and senior catcher Vin DiFazio were given the night off by Tide coach Jim Wells.
*MVSU center fielder Willie Mays went 1-for-2 and reached base three times in the loss to Alabama. He also had two stolen bases.
