Alabama Baseball Meets Script-A Standard in 19-4 Win

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — 48 hours after a 2-1 win over Alabama State, where the Alabama offense stumbled to the finish line, recording only five hits and being gifted their lone two runs via an error on a pickoff attempt and a passed ball, the Crimson Tide lineup bashed their way to a 19-4 run rule victory to open the weekend series against Rhode Island.

Following the frustrating and uneasy win over Alabama State, Rob Vaughn made it clear. That was not the standard at the University of Alabama: "I talked to our guys, winning baseball games is hard, but there's a standard to what it means to play at Alabama, and we didn't live up to that tonight." Vaughn said Wednesday, "We didn't play the game the right way. We didn't play hard, and we're going to fix that, I can promise you. Today just simply was short of our standard."

Well, on Friday, the Crimson Tide met that standard.

Get our free mobile app

The Crimson Tide bats knocked in 19 runs via a slew of 15 hits, seven of which were for extra bases, four home runs, and ten free passes, while only striking out six times — tying the season low for Alabama.

Senior catcher Brady Neal spoke about how the Tide lineup met that standard following the win, "Like coach said, we have a standard here. Just like everybody says with coach Saban, we want to do things a certain way." said Neal, "That's tough at-bats, not leaving the strike zone, just certain things you have to do in order to be successful — especially in the SEC. [...] We got a bunch of talented guys. When we chase a 70 MPH breaking ball in the dirt, it's about focus. It's not that you're not talented enough; it's that you're not focused on what you're trying to do right now. That's just when you have to reel it in, gotta move on and attack the next pitch, and I think we may have handled that tonight."

Neal has been meeting the Alabama standard throughout the start of the season. Across three starts in six appearances, he leads the Crimson Tide with a stellar .545 batting average, while slipping in at second behind shortstop Justin Lebron in slugging (.909) and on-base percentage (.533). The Tallahassee, Fla. native has also recorded one double, one home run, and six RBIs. The senior has also provided steady defense behind the dish for the Crimson Tide, posting a perfect fielding percentage while also limiting the opposing team's running game and steady blocking.

Now the question is: can Alabama continue to meet the standard required by the script A?

Alabama returns to action Saturday at 2 p.m. CT. Southpaw Zane Adams takes the mound for his second start of the season.

For more Alabama Baseball, Basketball, and Football content from Simon Besnoy, follow him on Twitter at @SimonBesnoy and stay tuned to Tide1009.com for daily news.