Seven of the nine Crimson Tide starters recorded a hit while UA matched its season high for walks
Alabama baseball used a complete offensive effort 1-through-9 to down Northern Kentucky, 9-4, on Saturday at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. With the win, the Crimson Tide improves to 14-2 on the year and extends its winning streak to 10 games, the longest by a Tide team since 2003.
“I was glad to get the win,” said Alabama head coach Brad Bohannon. “Brock (Love) gave us a good start.” Bohannon also added, “ The wind was blowing in. It’s hard to put up a big number on a day when the wind is blowing that aggressively. I thought we hit a lot of balls hard and were very aggressive on the bases. (There were) a lot of positives today with a lot of areas still to improve on.”
All nine Alabama hitters reached base safely on Saturday with seven of the nine recording at least one hit. The Tide also matched its season-high mark for walks with 10 and was hit by a season-leading four pitches. Eight of the nine starters also contributed at least one RBI while seven of the nine totaled at least one run scored. On the bases, the Tide was able to swipe three bases to match its season-high in that category, as well.
Juniors Morgan McCullough and Kobe Morris each recorded a pair of hits, one run scored and a walk with McCullough adding a double and an RBI. Senior Joe Breaux led the Tide in RBI with two on his team-leading eighth double of the season while also walking once. Freshman Drew Williamson and junior Brett Auerbach paced UA in walks and runs with two apiece, while Auerbach used his 1-for-3 day to extend his hitting streak to seven games.
Starter Brock Love (2-0) picked up his second win in as many outings with 5.0 frames of one-run baseball. The redshirt junior allowed four hits and a walk while striking out six before handing it over to the bullpen. Alabama’s three relievers did not allow an earned run across the final 4.0 innings and tallied three strikeouts in the process to help the Tide secure the Saturday win and the series victory.
Northern Kentucky was first on the board in game two of the series, scoring one in the second on a solo home run. The Tide answered back with a run in the third to bring the score even at one apiece. A walk for Williamson led things off before a single and a one-out walk loaded the bases for Tyler Gentry. The sophomore grounded a single deep in the hole at short to pull things even at 1-1.
Alabama broke the tie in the fourth thanks to Breaux’s two-RBI double to set the score at 3-1. The Tide extended the lead with two more in the fifth to gain a 5-1 advantage. Senior Keith Holcombe drew a one-out walk and was brought home on a triple from John Trousdale, the junior’s first three-bagger of the season. After a walk, Williamson sent a sacrifice fly to center to score the inning’s second run and give the Tide a four-run advantage.
The Tide added two more runs in the sixth on four consecutive walks and an infield single from Robinson, but Northern Kentucky countered with three runs in the top of the seventh to cut the lead to 7-4. Alabama came right back to add a pair of insurance runs in the home half of the seventh for a 9-4 advantage, the eventual final.
Alabama goes for the series sweep of Northern Kentucky on Sunday with the game scheduled for a 1 p.m. CT first pitch at The Joe. The Crimson Tide will call on junior right-hander Wil Freeman in the start while the Norse counter with junior Jake Dennis, a righty. Fans can catch the series finale live on SEC Network+.
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