Photo by Davida Franklin from The Crimson White
By Austin McWaters
After a hard fought game that lasted for 12 innings, the Crimson Tide sealed the deal and moved to 13-3 on the season. Offensive performance came in spurts for both teams, seeing the score brought to 3-1 at the end of the second inning. In the top of the second, a sacrifice fly from Stetson brought in the first run of the contest.
In the bottom of the second, Zane Denton hit a homerun to left field to even the score at one. Later that inning, with the bases loaded, Stetson’s pitcher Chris Gonzalez hit Caden Rose, bringing in Owen Diodati to give the Crimson Tide a 2-1 lead. The next at bat, Peyton Wilson reached on a fielder’s choice to third base, allowing Andrew Pinckney to cross the plate for Alabama and giving them a 3-1 lead.
Aside from a single run batted in from an RBI double by Stetson, neither team was able to get much production after the strong second inning. The game carried over into extra innings, with William Hamiter hitting a single to put the winning run on base in the 12th. After a walk by Sam Praytor, Drew Williamson came up to bat to complete a sacrifice bunt. An off balance throw by the Stetson pitcher allowed the winning run to cross home and put the game in the win column for Alabama.
Dylan Smith totaled for another career high of 8 innings pitched, going for 101 pitches in the contest as well as matching his career high for strikeouts at 10. Chase Lee entered in relief for the final inning of regulation, and continued through extra innings earning his fourth win of the season.
The Crimson Tide continues play next week at Troy University on Tuesday, as well as traveling to face the Arkansas Razorbacks for the first series of SEC play on Friday.
