Fowler’s Six RBI Night Drowns Hornets

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The Crimson Tide washed over the Alabama State Hornets Wednesday night, 15-1, to advance to 5-0 on the season.

"Another good night. Just really proud of the approach of the game tonight from our guys. That was an uncomfortable baseball game right there from a temperature perspective, but you wouldn't have known that. Sitting in that dugout, I thought that they were focused — their ability to go out there and do their job in non-ideal conditions on both sides of the ball. Kitrell from the start, just setting the tone. Offensively, I thought we were really relentless. That's what we want to be. Just, man, we're going to grind out at-bats until the game is over. I thought we did a good job that time. Obviously, happy with the result tonight. Now, it's going to be an early morning to get out to Jacksonville. But excited for the challenge in front of these guys. They've done what they needed to do at home, now its about turning our attention to three regional-caliber clubs." said Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn to open his postgame press conference Wednesday night.

In his second collegiate start, Kittrel started strong, tossing two innings of perfect baseball.

On the bottom half of the scoreboard, the Crimson Tide began red hot. A Bryce Fowler walk started the game for the Crimson Tide offense, followed up by a Coleman Mizell double down the left field line, scoring Fowler for Alabama's first run of the evening.

Fowler continued his hot night in the following home half, dropping a bloop single into shallow center field to cross Richie Bonomolo Jr. and Kade Snell. Tide advantage, 3-0.

Austin Morris entered the game in relief for Kitrell at the beginning of the third inning, dropping three straight Hornets batters for a quick first inning in relief for the sophomore.

The Crimson Tide offense exploded in the top of the third inning. A series of singles and walks set up a bases-loaded chance for Bonomolo Jr., who worked a walk to score a run, extending the Crimson Tide lead to four.

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The following at-bat, Fowler continued his scalding hot day at the plate, bashing a 412-foot grand slam off the batter's eye to give the Crimson Tide an 8-0 advantage.

In the fourth, Alabama State catcher Fabian Santana worked a one-out walk to end the Alabama combined perfect game. The following at-bat, Justin Lebron made a fantastic backhand stop to turn a double-play and end the inning.

In the home half of the inning, the Crimson Tide tacked on two more runs via singles from Will Plattner and Bonomolo Jr. to put the game in run-rule territory.

Southpaw Beau Bryans entered the game in relief for Alabama in the top of the fifth. Bryans worked a quick groundout before allowing a one-out Kameron Douglas double, putting the Crimson Tide no-hit dream to bed. Bryans eventually found a groove, striking out two Hornets to keep all zeros on the scoreboard.

The Crimson Tide offense continued to pour it on in the bottom of the fifth. A double from Jason Torres set up a Brennen Norton RBI single through the middle of the infield. Two at-bats later, Bonomolo Jr knocked a gapper into left-center to score two runs, extending the Alabama lead to 13-0.

Anthony Pesci entered the game for Bryans in the sixth inning. Pesci hit ASU DH Mikel Pryor in his first matchup. However, it set up a beautiful web gem stop by Lebron to turn the double play. Pesci struck out the following batter to end the inning.

Rob Vaughn began to empty the reserves on the Crimson Tide bench in the bottom of the sixth. Peyton Steele, pinch-hitting for Coleman Mizell, knocked his first collegiate double over the head of the Alabama State right fielder. A Will Hodo sacrifice fly sent the Hartselle product to cross home for his first collegiate run, extending the Crimson Tide lead to 14-0.

A Kade Snell single through the middle of the infield sent Torres home while advancing Norton to third. Alabama advantage, 15-0.

Alabama freshman Jack Ketchum entered the game in the top of the seventh to close it out for the Tide. In his first collegiate appearance, Ketchum allowed two hits and a run before closing the door on the Hornets with a strikeout looking on Jorge Bello

Rob Vaughn & Co. will travel to Jacksonville, Fla., to participate in the Jacksonville College Baseball Classic. The Crimson Tide's first pitch of the weekend is on Friday against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at 5 p.m. CT. Tide 100.9 will publish a weekend recap on Monday following the tournament, as we will do following all of Alabama's series away from The Joe.

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.