No. 20 Alabama Baseball Dominates Richmond, Clinches Series with 13-1 Win

A great mound performance by Ben Hess and a 15-hit performance by the Crimson Tide batters combined for a recipe for success on Saturday afternoon.

Joey Blackwell | Feb 18, 2023

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — For the second game in a row, it was all Alabama baseball inside Sewell-Thomas Stadium as the No. 20 Crimson Tide handled business in its 13-1 win over the Richmond Spiders on Saturday afternoon.

Saturday’s game was just a continuation of Friday as the Crimson Tide dominated the Spiders in essentially every aspect of the game. From batting to fielding to pitching, Alabama took an edge in every category.

"Kind of a very similar story to yesterday," Alabama head coach Brad Bohannon said after the game. "Ben [Hess] got us off to a great start — I just thought he was outstanding. [...] Scored in the first five innings and kind of threw the first punch and extended the lead."

Starting pitcher Ben Hess (1-0) picked up where Friday starter Grayson Hitt left off, pitching six innings of shutout baseball while he walked no batters and struck out six. Most impressively for Hess was his strike/pitch ratio, which saw him throw 47 strikes out of 65 total pitches.

Freshman relievers Riley Quick and Alton Davis II also made their collegiate debuts on the mound. Quick pitched one inning and surrendered one run off two hits, walked one and struck out two. Davis gave up no runs off two hits, walked none and struck out four.

While the mound performances were certainly solid for Alabama, it was the Crimson Tide’s bats that once again dominated the show. Alabama recorded 13 runs off 15 hits, walked seven times and struck out just five times over eight innings at the plate.

The scoring started in the bottom of the first when Andrew Pinckney hit a solo home run to right field, marking his fifth hit in as many plate appearances. A 3-run home run in the bottom of the second by Caden Rose made it 4-0 in favor of the Crimson Tide, and the team didn't look back from there on out.

Alabama scored the first 13 runs of the game, finally surrendering Richmond's first and only run in the top of the seventh.

"Really good effort by our club," Bohannon said. "Really proud of them and hope we can do it again tomorrow."

With the win, Alabama moves to 2-0 on the season while Richmond falls to 0-2. Up next, the Crimson Tide will host the Spiders on Sunday for the series finale (Noon CT, SEC Network+).

Alabama Stats

Richmond Stats

How It Happened:

Final score: Alabama 13, Richmond 1

Top 9

Elbeery struck out swinging. Ball game.

Conklin struck out swinging. Two out, runner on first. The Spiders are down to their final out of the game.

Sprague-Lott reached on a fielder's choice, Beno out at second. One out, runner on first.

Beno singled through the left side. Runner on first, nobody out for the Spiders.

Bottom 8

Williams flied out to first. Inning over.

Johnson grounded out into a double play. Two out, nobody on base for Williams.

Guardino walked. Runner on first, nobody out.

Guardino to pinch hit for Williamson.

New pitcher for Richmond: Harrison Clifton.

Top 8

Davis caught Topolski looking. Side retired.

Neff singled to center. Runner on first, two out for Topolski.

Davis gets his first collegiate strikeout, fanning Mathes. Two out.

Beal flied out to second. One out.

Freshman LHP Alton Davis II into the game to replace Quick on the mound. Final line for Quick: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 28 TP.

Bottom 7

Hayslip struck out swinging. Inning over.

Hodo walked.

West grounded out to second base. Portera advanced to second. Two out, Hodo digging in.

Hamiter flied out to right. One out.

Portera singled to left. Runner on first, nobody out for Hamiter.

Top 7

A swinging strikeout for Kluska ends the side.

Elbeery singled to left, driving in Hipsman from second for the first run of the game for the Spiders. 13-1 Alabama. Runners at the corners with two out for Kluska.

Conklin flied out to center. Hayslip keeps the runners in place with the throw to the infield. Two out.

Quick walks Sprague-Lott. Runners on first and second, one out for Chase Conklin, who is pinch hitting for Pacheco.

Quick gets the first strikeout of his collegiate career, catching Caras looking. One out.

Hipsman singled up the middle. Nobody out for Caras.

Riley Quick into the game for Hess. Final line for Hess: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, 65 TP. Of his 65 pitches, 47 were for strikes.

Bottom 6

Swinney grounded out into a double play. Inning over. That marks the first inning that the Crimson Tide did not record a run.

Williams singled to right, Johnson to second. Runners on first and second with one out for Swinney.

Swinney is on deck to pinch hit for Jarvis.

Max Williams pinch hitting for Rose.

Johnson grounded into a fielder's choice, Williamson out at second.

Williamson singled up the middle. Runner on first, nobody out for Johnson.

Top 6

Hess' sixth strikeout of the game makes it three up, three down for the Spiders.

Jarvis made an incredible snag at third, then made the throw to first in time for the first out of the inning. The Alabama fans at The Joe let Jarvis know how impressed they were with cheers.

Bottom 5

Hayslip struck out swinging. Inning over.

Hodo singled to center, Tamez advanced to second and Portera scored. 13-0 Alabama. Runners on first and second with two out for Hayslip.

Hayslip on deck to pinch hit for Seidl.

Tamez drew a walk. Runners at the corners with two out for Hodo.

Hamiter grounded out to short, but both runners advanced and Jarvis scored. 12-0 Alabama. Runner on third, two out for Tamez.

Portera doubled to right, Jarvis advanced to third. Runners on second and third for Hamiter, one out.

William Hamiter on deck to pinch hit for Pinckney.

Jarvis singled up the middle. Runner on first, Will Portera to pinch hit for Shelton.

Rose flied out to center. One out.

Top 5

Yet another 1-2-3 inning for Hess on the mound. He's having a terrific outing thus far.

Hess gets his fifth strikeout of the day, his third swinging K. Two out.

Bottom 4

Johnson grounded to short, Williamson out at second. Inning over.

Williamson hit a ground ball to second, but the second baseman failed to snag it. Tamez scored. 11-0 Alabama. Runner on first, two out for Johnson.

Seidl hit a sac-fly to center field, Pinckney tagged up to home while Tamez tagged to third. 10-0 Alabama. Two out, runner on third for Williamson.

Hodo grounded out to second, Shelton crossed the plate while Pinckney advanced to third, Tamez to second. 9-0 Alabama with one out for Seidl.

Tamez is hit by the pitch and strolls to first. Bases loaded, nobody out for Hodo.

Pinckney fought back from down 0-2 in the count and drew a full-count walk. Runners on first and second, nobody out for Tamez.

Shelton drew a leadoff walk. Runner on first with nobody out for Pinckney.

Top 4

Hess retired the side in order.

Make that four strikeouts as Hess caught Caras looking. Two away.

Hess picked up his third K of the afternoon. One out.

Bottom 3

Jarvis flied out to center. Inning over.

New pitcher for Richmond: Jake Michel replaces Willitts on the mound.

Rose singled up the middle, advanced to second on the throw. Both Williamson and Johnson score. 8-0 Alabama. Runner on second, two out for Jarvis.

Johnson doubled to left, Tamez scored, Williamson advanced to third. 6-0 Alabama. Runners on second and third for Rose. Two out.

Williamson drew a walk. Runners on first and second for Johnson.

Seidl flied out to shallow right. Tamez is forced to stay at second. Williamson digging in at the plate.

Hodo flied out to first in foul territory. Tamez still at second, one out for Seidl.

Tamez doubled to center. Runner on second, nobody out for Hodo.

Top 3

Neff flied out to second. Side retired.

A sac-bunt moves Beal to second. Two out.

Beal singled up the middle. Runner on first, one out.

Hess caught Kluska looking for the first out of the inning, his second strikeout of the game.

Bottom 2

Pinckney struck out swinging to end the inning. That is his first at-bat this season that he did not wind up on base.

Shelton flied out to right, but Jarvis tags home. 5-0 Alabama.

Jarvis tripled to the corner in right. Runner on third, one out for Shelton.

Rose pancaked a ball not just over the wall in left, but over the playground and into the street for a three-run home run. 4-0 Alabama.

Johnson struck out swinging. One out and runners on first and second for Rose.

Williamson drew a four-pitch walk. Runners on first and second, nobody out for Johnson.

Seidl singled through the right side, off the glove of the second baseman. Runner on first, nobody out for Williamson.

Top 2

Elbeery grounded out to second, and Hess leaves two runners stranded.

Pacheco sliced a ball down the right-field line. Sprague-Lott advanced to third. Runners at the corners, two out.

Richmond gets its first baserunner of the day with a single to shallow left by Sprague-Lott. Runner on first, two out.

Bottom 1

Hodo flied out to shallow left. Inning over, but Alabama has taken a 1-0 lead.

Tamez singled to left. Runner on first, two out for Hodo.

Pinckney blasted a solo home run to the Right Field Ragers. 1-0 Alabama. Two out for Tamez.

Shelton struck out looking. Two out.

Jarvis swings at the first pitch he sees and lifts it out to the warning track in right, but it falls into the glove of Beal. One out.

Top 1

Hess retired the side, 1-2-3 in just under three minutes. We move on to the bottom of the first.

First pitch at 2:02 p.m.

Pregame

Starting lineup for Richmond:

1. Christian Beal (RF)
2. Alden Mathes (CF)
3. Jason Neff (C)
4. Johnny Hipsman (LF)
5. Kasey Caras (DH)
6. Jared Sprague-Lott (3B)
7. D.J. Pacheco (2B)
8. Jake Elbeery (1B)
9. Mikey Kluksa (SS)
Starting pitcher: Josh Willitts (RHP)

Starting lineup for Alabama baseball:

1. Jim Jarvis (SS)
2. Colby Shelton (3B)
3. Andrew Pinckney (RF)
4. Dominic Tamez (C)
5. Will Hodo (DH)
6. Tommy Seidl (LF)
7. Drew Williamson (1B)
8. Ed Johnson (2B)
9. Caden Rose (CF)
Starting pitcher: Ben Hess (RHP)

Weather conditions: 53 degrees Fahrenheit, 29% humidity, 0% chance of rain, winds blowing 6 m.p.h. to the west.

Umpires for today's game:

HP: Eric Goshay
1B: Danny Cricks
2B: Adam Clark
3B: Morris Hodges

Gallery: No. 20 Alabama Baseball 12, Richmond 3

Alabama Athletics

Alabama Stats

Richmond Stats

How It Happened:

Pregame

Gallery: No. 20 Alabama Baseball 12, Richmond 3

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