Alabama Baseball Completes the Sweep of Northern Kentucky with a 10-1 Win on Sunday
Alabama baseball completed the series sweep of Northern Kentucky with a 10-1 win on Sunday afternoon at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The victory improves the Crimson Tide to 15-2 on the year and extends the Tide’s winning streak to 11 games, the longest streak for a Tide team since 1999.
“It was a really good win for us,” said Alabama head coach Brad Bohannon. “I though Wil (Freeman) set the tone. I’m really proud of his outing because he’s gotten better every time out. He’s done a good job of throwing his fastball to both sides and his breaking ball for a strike. (Garret) Rukes, Dylan (Oliver) and Deacon (Medders) threw three no-hit innings out of the pen and were outstanding. Just really glad to get another win.”
Alabama received a strong start from junior Wil Freeman (2-0) on Sunday. The right-hander allowed only one run on six hits and a walk with four strikeouts across a season-high 5.2 innings for the win. The Crimson Tide then went to the bullpen, with the trio of redshirt sophomore Garret Rukes along with juniors Dylan Oliver and Deacon Medders shutting the door. The three relievers combined for 3.0 scoreless, hitless frames and punched out a pair of NKU hitters.
The Tide’s offense recorded only six hits in the series finale but was able to draw a season-high 12 walks. Juniors Morgan McCullough and Johnny Hawk joined sophomore Tyler Gentry in drawing a team-high two walks apiece. Hawk and Gentry each added two runs scored while Gentry and McCullough contributed one RBI apiece. Freshman T.J. Reeves led Alabama in hits with a 2-for-3 showing that included one RBI and a run while senior Keith Holcombe paced the team in RBI thanks to his bases-clearing, three-RBI double.
The Crimson Tide used two four-run innings in both the second and fourth to gain an 8-0 advantage. The fourth was highlighted by a walk, hit-by-pitch and two more walks for the first run, followed by Holcombe’s bases-clearing double to put the game out of reach. Northern Kentucky got on the board in the fifth with one tally, but Alabama answered with a two-spot in the home half of the fifth to set the score at 10-1. The teams would go scoreless over the final 3.0 innings on the way to a Crimson Tide win and series sweep.
Alabama returns to the diamond on Tuesday for a single midweek matchup with Middle Tennessee to close out the current six-game homestand. The Crimson Tide and Blue Raiders are scheduled for a 6 p.m. CT first pitch at The Joe with the game airing live on SEC Network+.
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