Tide Top Razorbacks to Stop Series Sweep

Alabama sophomore right-handed pitcher Spencer Turnbull extended his scoreless innings streak to 29.2 innings after throwing seven scoreless against No. 9 Arkansas, leading the Crimson Tide to a 5-0 Southeastern Conference victory on Saturday afternoon from Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Alabama earned their 20^th win of the year to move to 20-13 and 8-4 in conference play, and Arkansas’ loss dropped them to 23-9 overall and 8-4 in the SEC.

“Well it’s a big win, no question,” Alabama head coach Mitch Gaspard said. “To beat an opponent like Arkansas, who is one of the elite teams in our league, I think that win does a lot for our team and our confidence moving forward. To come out, particularly after the first two games where Arkansas was pretty dominant against us, and play the way that we did, I thought it was one of our better games this year. Obviously, it started on the mound with Spencer Turnbull, who was dynamite all day. [Brett] Booth got the offense going with his solo homer, but I thought we played well today.”

Turnbull (4-1) earned the win in his eighth start of the year for the Tide. Turnbull allowed five hits and two walks, while striking out five to move his scoreless streak to 29.2 innings pitched. Sophomore south paw Justin Kamplain and freshman right-hander combined to give Alabama two scoreless innings to complete the shutout of the Razorbacks. Arkansas starting pitcher Randall Fant (2-1) was charged with the loss after lasting just three innings, allowing two runs on five hits with a strikeout.

Senior catcher Brett Booth led the Tide offensively, with his third home run of the season, a walk single and two walks, to go along with two RBI and two runs scored. Freshman center fielder Georgie Salem had three singles to record his 10^th multi-hit effort and his fifth three-hit performance of the year, and freshman shortstop Mikey White and senior left fielder Andrew Miller each also notched a two-hit game.

Arkansas had just five hits in the game and was led by a 2-for-4 performance by Joe Serrano, that include a single and a double. Tyler Spoon, Brian Anderson and Willie Schwanke all singled in the game to account for the Razorbacks hits.

The Crimson Tide opened the scoring in the second when Booth swung at the third pitch he saw and sent a bomb over the left field wall to put the Tide up 1-0. After Salem and Ben Moore singled in the third, Booth added another RBI with a base hit into center field.

Alabama was the beneficiary of three errors by the Razorbacks in the fifth. Miller, who was pinch-hitting for Ryan Blanchard, ripped a double to right center to open the inning, the moved to third on a bunt single by Salem, and scored on the play thanks to a throwing error by Jake Wise. After Salem reached third base on back-to-back throwing errors by Arkansas pitcher Brandon Moore, Kyle Overstreet singled through the left side to drive Salem home, giving the Tide a 4-0 advantage.

In the seventh, Booth and Austen Smith set the table by reaching on a walk and an error, respectively, to put runners on the corners. They then executed a double steal to deliver the Tide’s fifth and final run of the game. Alabama was gunning for a sixth run, but Smith was thrown out at home plate on a White single.

The Alabama Crimson Tide returns to action when they host the Alcorn State Braves for a pair of midweek games at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. First pitch on Tuesday is set for 6:05 p.m. CT, and Wednesday’s matchup will begin at 5:05 p.m. CT