Alabama Athletics
Alabama Baseball's Season-Starting Winning Streak Reaches 13
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Junior right fielder Tyler Gentry connected on two home runs as Alabama baseball rode the long ball to a 12-2 victory over South Alabama on Tuesday afternoon.
Alabama hit four home runs and Gentry tallied six RBIs while the Crimson Tide pitching staff didn't give up an earned run.
With the win at Sewell-Thomas Stadium, Alabama remained undefeated at 13-0.
“First thing I would like to do is give a shout out to our grounds crew," Crimson Tide coach Brad Bohannon said to start his postgame press conference. "We have had an unbelievable amount of rain this past month and [they've] just been working nonstop. Being able to get a game in today with the volume of rain we've had recently was big, and I really appreciate those guys and the amount of work they put in.
"Obviously, with the game – it was just our day. We had a lot of hard contact with multiple home runs, and the pitching was lights out. This was a really good day for us. Hopefully we can carry that on into the weekend."
The Crimson Tide gave away two runs in the first inning when after South Alabama loaded the bases freshman center fielder Peyton Wilson didn't cleanly field a fly ball for the final out. However, the batter, sophomore right fielder Bennett Shell, was thrown out at second before the third runner could cross the plate.
Alabama quickly countered in the bottom half of the inning, with a leadoff double by senior third baseman Brett Auerbach followed by home runs by Gentry and sophomore first baseman Drew Williamson.
Gentry's towering two-run shot to left was his third of the season, and he later added a three-run home run in the fifth. Williamson's drive over the right-field wall was his first.
Sophomore Sam Praytor's three-run home run was part of a five-run eighth inning.
All nine starters contributed at least one run with eight of the nine starters recording at least one hit.
Gentry went 3-for-5. His six-RBI game was Alabama's first since Matt Malkin against UAB on April 10, 2018.
By going 2-for-5, Praytor has a seven-game hitting streak, during which he's batting .435 (10-23) with a double, three home runs, seven RBIs, eight runs scored, four walks and five hit-by-pitch.
South Alabama's Matt Boswell (1-2) had a 0.56 ERA coming into the game. He was credited seven runs on seven hits over five innings, and saw his ERA jump to 3.43.
After the first inning, South Alabama (7-7) bats managed just two hits. Casey Cobb (2-0) was credited with the win after throwing three scoreless innings.
Alabama will host North Alabama at 3 p.m. Wednesday (SEC Network+).
