The No. 22 Crimson Tide baseball team recorded its third straight victory Wednesday evening, defeating the Alcorn State Braves 7-3. Freshman walk-on Mike Oczypok, making his first career start, picked up the win as he pitched five no-hit innings before giving way to the bullpen, which combined for the Tide’s first complete game two-hitter since March 2004. Head coach Mitch Gaspard said he was impressed with his team’s performance
“Oczypok was outstanding for five innings, the bullpen came in and did a really good job. Offensively we did what we needed to do to get and extend the lead,” Gaspard said.
The game was scoreless with two outs in the bottom of the fourth until Kyle Overstreet knocked a line drive into center field, scoring Kenny Roberts and giving Alabama a 1-0 lead. The RBI was Overstreet’s 24th, the most on the team. The Tide struck again in the fifth, when right fielder Ben Moore hit a triple, scores two runs. Alabama put the game out of reach with a three-run sixth inning and extended its lead to seven in the seventh when Riley Colburn drew a bases-loaded walk.
“We had a little more offensive production than we had yesterday. Their pitchers did a good job keeping us off-balance,” Moore said. “We didn’t have our best at-bats, but we found a way to get it done.”
The Braves managed to get on the board in the eighth when Alvin Jackson hit a solo home run off Mitch Greer, breaking up Alabama’s no-hitter. Alcorn State chalked up two more runs with a home run from Angel Rosa, cutting the Tide’s lead to four. By then it was too late for the Braves, and the Tide completed the two-game sweep.
Up next for the Tide is a three-game weekend series against the Ole Miss Rebels in Oxford, Miss. The Rebels currently hold at sixth place in the SEC Western Division, and come into the series on a six game losing streak. Gaspard said they are still a dangerous opponent.
“They’ve got tremendous starters, they’ve got a good bullpen, I know as of late they’ve struggled a little bit, but we’ve had our battles with Ole Miss and we know they’re going to be prepared,” Gaspard said. “But I like where our team’s at. I think if we can play consistent baseball for three days we have a good chance for success.
In their 2011 trip to Oxford the Tide took two out of three games. However, when the Rebels came to Tuscaloosa last season, the Tide only managed to win one of three in that series. Catcher Brett Booth went to Oxford with the team in 2011, and he said the series is an important one.
“Any road series in the SEC is big, especially going into an environment like Ole Miss,” Booth said. “We need to get in there and get off to an early start.”
The series kicks off Friday night at Ole Miss, and continues Saturday and Sunday.
