TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The University of Alabama baseball team held on for a 3-2 victory against Savannah State University in an elimination game in the NCAA Tallahassee Regional on Saturday afternoon at Dick Howser Stadium.
Alabama will play today against Troy University, which lost to Florida State University 11-0 on Saturday, at 11:05 a.m. today. If Alabama wins, it will play again at 4 p.m. today.
“This time of the year you’ll take an ugly win, and that’s what it was today,” Alabama coach Mitch Gaspard said. “Credit Mike Oczypok, who was tremendous today. He developed a blister in the third inning and he really batted through it to give us seven. A lot of credit goes to Mike.”
Alabama (35-27) starting pitcher Mike Oczypok (5-2) gave the Tide another outstanding performance, going seven scoreless innings. The walk-on freshman allowed six hits, walked one, and struck out four. Closer Ray Castillo threw a scoreless ninth to pick up his 12th save, which is a school record for a freshman.
“We weren’t very sharp today and haven’t been in this tournament,” Gaspard said. “We’re still breathing and tomorrow is a new day and another opportunity. We’ll try to take whatever momentum we have from today and into tomorrow and look for better play.”
Kenny Roberts (3-for-4) had a career-high three hits, including two doubles and a run scored, for Alabama. Brett Booth was 2-for-2 with two singles, a hit by a pitch, and a sacrifice fly. Austen Smith had a RBI double in a 1-for-3 outing.
The Tigers (33-23) had nine hits, with Todd Hagen, David Richards, and Darien Campbell collecting two hits each. Starting pitcher Jack May (5-4) went six innings, allowing three runs on seven hits with a walk and two strikeouts.
Alabama broke a scoreless tie with two runs off May in the fourth. Kyle Overstreet and Mikey White singled, and with one out Smith doubled down the left field line to drive in Overstreet. With runners on second and third, Booth hit a line drive to the warning track in left field, making it easy for White to tag and score from third.
Alabama added a run in the fifth when Georgie Salem had a RBI single to center field to drive in Roberts, who doubled in the previous at-bat.
The Tide held a 3-0 lead when Oczypok left the game in favor of Tucker Hawley in the eighth. The Tigers struck for two runs on three hits in the bottom of the inning to get within a run. Hagan singled to lead off the inning and scored on a double by Kevin Herlihy. Pinch hitter Drew Quinney nearly tied the game when he doubled high off the 30-foot fence in right field. After pinch runner Jason Wynn advanced to third on a passed ball, Hawley struck out Richards for the first out. Savannah State tried to bunt Wynn in, but second baseman Overstreet threw Wynn out at the plate to keep the one-run lead. With two outs, Chris Arnold grounded out to the pitcher to end the inning.
Savannah State had the tying run at first base in the bottom of the ninth following a one-out walk, but pinch hitter Joseph McCrary grounded into a game-ending 6-4-3 double play for Alabama’s 79th double play of the season.
n On Friday, Troy used a five-run fourth to pull away en route to a 5-2 victory against Alabama in the opening game of the regional.
Troy scored all of its runs against starting pitcher Charley Sullivan (5-7). Sullivan, who lasted just 3 1/3 innings, gave up five hits and a walk in the fourth. Taylor Guilbeau came in to replace Sullivan with one out and threw a season-high 5 2/3 innings to save the bullpen. He gave up just two hits, walked one and struck out four.
“I give a lot of credit to Troy. They did a really good job today,” Gaspard. “McCain did a super job on the mound for them and Santos had a big home run. We just couldn’t overcome the five-run inning there. We hit a few balls pretty good that didn’t get down. That’s why you play double elimination. There’s still a lot to keep playing for, we have to get ready to play tomorrow.”
Guilbeau also started against the Trojans (41-18) when the teams met in Tuscaloosa. In that game, he threw five innings to get the victory. He allowed one run on seven hits with five strikeouts. In 10 2/3 innings against Troy this season, Guilbeau has allowed one run on nine hits with a walk and nine strikeouts.
Troy starting pitcher Shane McCain (9-1) went 6 2/3 innings, allowing two earned runs on seven hits with a walk and six strikeouts. Alabama was unable to put a lot of pressure on McCain, who gave up a run in the third and a run in the seventh. After McCain, Nate Hill threw two scoreless innings without allowing a hit and striking out three. Tanner Hicks got the final out for his second save.
Booth was 2-for-4 with a run scored to lead Alabama. Smith hit his team-leading seventh home run of the season, and Roberts walked twice and had a sacrifice fly in the third that gave the Tide a one run lead at the time.
Josh McDorman had two of Troy’s eight hits. Trae Santos hit his team-leading 17th home run of the year, a three-run bomb in the fourth. Ali Knowles was 1-for-4 with a two-run single.
After McCain retired the first six batters he faced, the Tide got three singles and a run in the third inning to take an early lead. Booth and Andrew Miller singled to open the inning, before Booth scored on a sacrifice fly to left field by Roberts.
Troy responded in the next half inning with a five-run fourth. After Logan Pierce doubled and Danny Collins walked, Santos hit the first pitch he saw from Sullivan the opposite way to give the Trojans a 3-1 lead. McDorman kept the rally going when he singled after the Santos home run. Justin Hancock reached on an error and then a sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third for the Knowles two-RBI single up the middle to make the score 5-1. Sullivan’s day came to an end after Brandon Brown singled for the fifth hit of the inning.
Alabama got a run back in the eighth on Smith’s home run to left field to lead off the inning. The Tide had runners on first and second, but Salem went down swinging to end the inning.
The Tide brought the potential game-tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning after pinch hitter Ryan Blanchard and Roberts walked. After Troy made a pitching change, Hicks got Salem to fly out to center field to end the game.
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