A career-day by Brock Love, teamed with a pair of solo home runs helped Alabama baseball to a 2-1 win over 18th-ranked Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The win evened the series up and moved the Crimson Tide to 29-22 overall and 7-19 in Southeastern Conference play.

“This was a really good win for us today,” said Alabama head coach Brad Bohannon. “Brock (Love) set the tone and gave us a great start, pitched deep into the game; Casey (Cobb) did a great job; and Jeremy (Randolph) threw two good pitches. I like two- and three-run homers, but we will take the solo homers when we can get them. I am really excited to come to the park tomorrow with a chance to win a series over a ranked opponent with Sam Finnerty starting for us.”

The Crimson Tide received a strong pitching performance from the trio of Love, Casey Cobb and graduate Jeremy Randolph in game two. Love (5-4) was impressive in the start, setting new career-high marks for innings pitched (7.0), batters faced (26) and total pitches (106) on his way to the win. The redshirt junior allowed one run on six hits and a walk while striking out three before handing it over to the bullpen. Cobb followed, with the junior contributing 1.2 scoreless innings of relief. Randolph (9) was then able to secure the win with a two-pitch save, his ninth of the season.

Alabama gained its two-run advantage thanks to solo home runs from a pair of freshmen. The first solo shot of the day came from T.J. Reeves in the bottom of the first. Reeves sent an 0-1 pitch over the scoreboard in left for his ninth homer of the season. The Tide’s second roundtripper came from Tyler Ras in the fourth, as the designated hitter turned on one, sending a deep fly over the wall in left for the 2-0 lead.

Texas A&M was able to get on the board in the seventh with one run but would come no closer. The duo of Cobb and Randolph halted any potential comeback to send the two teams into Sunday with the series even at one game apiece.

The Crimson Tide and Aggies meet for the rubber match on Sunday with a 2 p.m. CT first pitch scheduled. Alabama will call on senior right-hander Sam Finnerty for the start while Texas A&M counters with sophomore Christian Roa, also a right-hander, on getaway day. The game will air nationally on SEC Network.

Get all the latest information on the team by following @AlabmaBSB on Twitter and Instagram and on Facebook at Alabama Baseball. General athletic news can be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.

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