No. 16 Alabama Baseball Wins Big Over Indiana in First Game of Frisco Classic

The Alabama baseball team decisively took down a ranked team deep in the heart of Texas.

There’s no way around it. The Alabama baseball team can score. No. 20 Indiana learned this fact the hard way at the Frisco Classic on Friday evening.

The No. 16 Crimson Tide (10-0) plated double-digit runs once again and defeated its first ranked opponent with relative ease, batting around in multiple different innings. Almost every starter got a hit.

Hoosiers starter Brayden Risedorph barely got his feet under him before the Alabama offense put five runs on him. The very first pitch was sent by Gage Miller under first baseman Brock Tibbitts for an error, then the second was roped for a double by TJ McCants, who extended his hitting streak to 10 games. Ian Petrutz, Will Hodo and Mac Guscette all recorded RBIs in the top of the first. Risedorph would not see a second inning of work.

Seven runs crossed the plate for the Crimson Tide in the top of the fourth, which was a rather more disastrous frame for Indiana (6-3) than the first. The pitcher who opened that inning, Seti Manase, was lifted with only one away. Right fielder Evan Sleight hit the game’s first home run a long way to right field, into Riders Field’s lazy river. The three-run blast off Manase made it a 10-0 game. Two more scored in the frame to round out the run-rule margin of 12-0.

Indiana used seven pitchers in the game, perhaps in a bid to preserve at least some of those arms and let five Alabama runners reach throughout the night on a hit-by-pitch. Multiple Crimson Tide run-scoring hits came without any retired in the respective innings. Another big moment came in the top of the third when a rabbit briefly caused a delay by running onto the diamond.

Smooth sailing accompanied the third start of the campaign for right-handed ace Ben Hess, whose fastball touched 98 miles per hour. The junior became the first Alabama pitcher to go five innings or more in a start this spring, allowing only one hit and one walk to go with 10 strikeouts. "That's a good offense in Indiana and he did a great job of shutting them down," head coach Rob Vaughn said. The Hoosiers had little to offer Hess’ stuff. He was perfect through three, also mixing things up in addition to his powerful velocity. He even showed off some athleticism to boot: in the fourth inning, he took a Devin Taylor comebacker off his lower back and still made the play for the putout.

"Tonight starts with the guy on the mound. [He] was unbelievable today. The stuff was real," Vaughn said. "He attacked the strike zone a bunch and it seemed like he was ahead of everybody."

Run-ruling and shutting out a ranked opponent whilst surrendering one hit was a dramatic change of pace from the Crimson Tide’s most recent game prior to Friday, which came down to the wire against UAB at Regions Field. Indiana was unable to rebound from a midweek upset at the hands of Purdue Fort Wayne and has now lost consecutive games. Alabama is set to face Arizona on Saturday in its second contest at the home of the Frisco RoughRiders. 

"You want to use [the weekend] to see a barometer of where you're at," Vaughn said. "We all wanna win games, we all want good records, good stats, and all that stuff. But most importantly... We've gotta see where we've gotta grow. Because if we're the same team when you guys see us in May and June as we are now, then we haven't done our job."

How It Happened:

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• Indiana gets a runner on and in scoring position but fails to bring him in in the seventh to end this one early. The Crimson Tide has become somewhat used to these shortened games.

• Alabama goes down in the seventh without incident. Last call for the Hoosiers.

• Jacob Vogel will pitch the seventh for Indiana.

• No runs for either team in the sixth inning. Coulson Buchanan sent Indiana down 1, 2, 3 in the bottom half. Heart of the order up for Alabama in T7. This could be the final inning of the game.

• Brandon Keyster is on to pitch for Indiana. Another pitching change.

• Hess has 10 strikeouts and his team has a 12-run lead through the fifth inning.

• Ben Hess is back out there for the Crimson Tide in the fifth inning.

• Buhr strikes out the side in T5 after allowing a double to lead off the frame. 12-0, Alabama. 

• The run rule will be in effect. The game is in that territory.

• New Indiana pitcher is Drew Buhr. 

• Hess takes a comebacker in B4 but makes the play. He ends the inning with a walk and two more strikeouts. T5 on deck.

• Seven runs score in the fourth inning for Alabama, which now leads 12-0. Back out comes Hess. He's had some time to strategize.

• Manase is lifted mid-inning for a new pitcher. Nightmare scenario on day one of a weekend event. Fourth arm coming to the mound for Indiana on the evening is Cooper Katskee. There's still only one out in the fourth.

• Evan Sleight hits the first home run of the night to make it 10-0 Alabama. Struck into right field and the lazy river in Frisco.

• Another two-RBI hit, this time for Ian Petrutz, makes it 7-0 before Manase gets an out.

• New pitcher for the Hoosiers is Seti Manase.

• Indiana goes down in order in the bottom of the third. It's still a 5-0 game. Both teams struggling for offense now.

• Ryan Kraft has held Alabama off the board through two frames. Crimson Tide strands two in T3.

• The rabbit has now escaped the field and the action will resume.

• A rabbit is now traversing Riders Field. He had settled by the mound. Perhaps he's trying to tell Indiana something.

• Hess strikes out the side in the second inning. He's fanned five in a row.

• Kraft faces the minimum and posts a needed zero in T2. Two groundouts, one into a double play. Still 5-0, Alabama.

• Pitching change for Indiana: it's now Ryan Kraft on the bump after one less-than-stellar ending for starter Brayden Risedorph.

• Ben Hess works a pressure-free first inning and strikes out a pair. No traffic for the Hoosiers. 2, 3, 4 hitters due up for Alabama in T2.

• The top of the very first inning ends with the Crimson Tide batting around and plating a quintet of runs. About as good an offensive start as the designated visitors could've drawn up. Ben Hess toes the rubber in the next frame.

• A Mac Guscette single scores two more, and just like that, this thing is getting away from Indiana early. Perfect execution by Alabama. Evan Sleight bunted the two runners over before Guscette came up. 5-0.

• The Crimson Tide makes it 3-0 after a Will Hodo ball to the outfield carries and gets past the Hoosier outfield. Still nobody out. Petrutz scored all the way from first.

• Alabama scores first on an Ian Petrutz RBI single before Indiana records an out. Petrutz just popped it over the infield. They're on the corners. 1-0 in T1.

• First pitch at 6:03 CT. Gage Miller gets aboard on the first pitch after getting one under the Hoosier first baseman.

• Alabama batting order: 1. Gage Miller, third base; 2. TJ McCants, center field; 3. Ian Petrutz, left field; 4. Will Hodo, first base; 5. Mason Swinney, designated hitter; 6. Evan Sleight, right field; 7. Mac Guscette, catcher; 8. Bryce Eblin, second base; 9. Justin Lebron, shortstop; P; Ben Hess, RHP

See Also:

How to Watch: No. 16 Alabama Baseball at the Frisco Classic