Justin Lebron Walks off Blue Raiders in Run Rule Victory

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The Alabama Crimson Tide (4-0) defeated the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders (1-3), 12-2, to take home their first midweek of the season.

In his opening statement Tuesday night, Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn said, "Another good night. Obviously, the key to winning anything is get a good start, JT [Blackwood] gave us that. Just toed the rubber, minimized damage, worked around some things. I thought he had good stuff tonight, really set the tone early. Offensively, I thought we were unbelievable setting some stuff up. Thought we tried a little bit too much their early and then kind of let the game come to us late. Took some really good swings in just a really proficient night offensively. Good start, now we turn our attention to Alabama State tomorrow."

Starter JT Blackwood earned the win for the Crimson Tide, pitching four innings, allowing three hits, a walk, and a single run while striking out three batters.

MTSU pitcher Will Jenkins was credited with the loss for the evening.

Blackwood started his evening hot, tossing three straight hitless innings of baseball in his first start for the Crimson Tide.

The Alabama bats would begin the game on a roll, as well. The Crimson Tide would load the bases in the first, allowing Jason Torres to work a walk to score Bryce Fowler.

Blue Raiders' starter Will Jenkins would force three straight outs to avoid any more damage on the scoreboard for MTSU.

During the first inning, Alabama infielder Garrett Staton would swing on an inside pitch that caught him on the hand to strikeout. Staton would be removed from the game to check for injury as Brennen Norton would come in to replace the former Samford Bulldog. Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn said that he had no further update on Staton's status postgame.

In the following home half of the game, the Crimson Tide would load the bases again as Jason Torres would dig into bat. Jenkins would force a Torres' flyout to left field to escape another jam.

The floodgates would open for the Crimson Tide lineup in the third. Singles from Hodo and Norton would set up a Kade Snell RBI fielder-choice, scoring Hodo while Norton would be called out at second. Two walks, one drawn by Brady Neal and the other by Richie Bonomolo Jr., would set up another bases-loaded opportunity for the Crimson Tide. Fowler would then work another walk to tack on another run for the Crimson Tide, extending the lead to 2-0.

Two at-bats later, designated hitter Coleman Mizell would double down the left field line to score Bonomolo Jr. and Neal to make the lead five to nothing in favor of the Crimson Tide.

The Blue Raiders would finally get on the board in the top of the fourth. After a leadoff, Tyler Minnick double, followed up by a Brett Vondohlen single to put runners on the corners for Middle Tennessee State. Two at-bats later, third baseman Hayden Miller single through the left side of the infield for the Blue Raider's first run of the evening, cutting the Crimson Tide lead to 5-1.

The Alabama lineup would respond in the home half of the inning instantly, as first baseman Will Hodo would lead off the inning with a jack to right-center, giving the Tide a 6-1 advantage.

Hodo on his first homerun of the season, "[It felt] really good. After a weekend where I didn't really feel myself. it just felt awesome to hit something solid."

After a Norton strikeout, Snell would work a walk, followed by a Brady Neal single and a Bryce Fowler walk, to load the bases once again. This time for Justin Lebron.

Lebron would capitalize, ripping a two-out single up the middle to score Snell and Neal.

A Mizell groundout fielder's choice would end the inning, but the damage on the scoreboard was already done. The Crimson Tide were knocking on the door of a run rule, leading the Blue Raiders 8-1.

The following two innings were relatively quiet for both sides, as Tyler Fay would come into relief for Blackwood, tossing two no-hit innings.

Middle Tennessee State would inch a little closer in the top of the seventh, tacking on another run via an Eston Snider RBi groundout to make the score 8-2.

The Crimson Tide would get back on the scoreboard in the bottom half of the seventh. Hodo would knock an RBI double down the right-field line, followed by a Brennen Norton RBI single down the other side. A Kade Snell sac fly would add the third run of the inning but the Tide couldn't add anymore, entering the eighth with an 11-2 advantage,

Aidan Moza would enter the game for the first time this season, walking the first two batters before striking out the following three after a mound visit with pitching coach Jason Jackson, an outing that perfectly encapsulated the Aidan Moza experience.

The Crimson Tide needed one run to send the Alabama faithful home an inning early, and they got just that, as Justin Lebron would blast a 2-2 count pitch to left center to put an emphatic end the the Tide's first midweek victory.

The Crimson Tide retake the diamond Wednesday afternoon against the Alabama State Hornets at 4 p.m. CT on SEC Network+.

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.