Alabama Baseball Displays Offensive Versatility in Series Clincher Against South Carolina

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— There aren't many baseball games wherein a team issues a dozen free passes to its opponent and wins by seven. Thanks to the No. 16 Alabama baseball team's offense putting up 13 runs, the Crimson Tide added Friday's game against No. 18 South Carolina to that list.

Alabama (21-6, 4-4 SEC) used a pair of big innings to clinch the series with a 13-6 score against the Gamecocks. A five-run third inning set the tone early, and a seven-run eighth broke open what was a competitive matchup. South Carolina mustered six runs, good enough for a tie until the aforementioned home half of the eighth inning.

"It's unbelievable," left fielder Ian Petrutz, who had a home run and five runs batted in on Friday, said. The Crimson Tide hit just two home runs during the game: Petrutz's, which came during the eighth inning, and right fielder Evan Sleight's in the third. "To score 13 runs and not hit the long ball [much], is kinda astounding."

Head coach Rob Vaughn's offense, which has embraced the pack mentality the first-year skipper brought to Tuscaloosa, came together on a night where the pitching staff didn't have its best stuff. Starter Ben Hess began his outing well, but wound up chased in the fifth by the experienced South Carolina order. He gave up four earned runs.

"The one thing this group does is when they get rolling, it's a dang steamroller at that point," said Vaughn. "It's like a race to the bat rack. The hits come in bunches a lot, and they feed off each other."

The game was tied going into the bottom of the eighth. A double by designated hitter Kade Snell plated two runs to give Alabama the lead. Gamecocks pitcher Matthew Becker, the second man out after starter Dylan Eskew, had pitched a long time. The Crimson Tide finally got to him.

Snell, who also pitches, was looking to do damage once Sleight and shortstop Justin Lebron reached base. "I've made plenty of bad pitches," he joked. "I know, kinda, what to hunt, and if I get that pitch, I just know just to stay through it." He credited Sleight for starting the rally when he got hit by a pitch.

"Trust me, I know, if you leave a ball up in the SEC, it'll get pounded," Snell added. His hit gave way to two more run-scoring hits, including Petrutz's big fly. "[I'm] using my plan, like always," Petrutz said. "Talking to the other hitters and kinda understanding what those pitchers are gonna try to do to us."

When the final out was caught, the Crimson Tide had amassed 13 hits, matching its run total. Seven of nine starters got a hit. Petrutz also had a run-scoring knock during the pivotal third inning. Without the at-bats strung together in that frame, perhaps Alabama is playing from behind in the late innings, rather than tied.

The unrelenting attack at the plate earned the players praise from their head coach for not settling for a certain lead. "That's what really good teams do," Vaughn said. "They don't let up. They just keep coming... I can just sit back and watch and have a good time with it." The Gamecocks' (20-7, 4-4 SEC) lineup got a pair on in the ninth, but even if they had scored, it was too little, too late. The Alabama offense came through again.