Alabama couldn’t have started off its Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament outing any better, notching a decisive victory over the No. 10-seeded Auburn Tigers. The No. 7-seeded Crimson Tide won 6-3 over the Tigers to earn a Wednesday matchup with No. 2 LSU.
Tide southpaw Justin Kamplain started the game for Alabama, but was pulled after a two-score third inning for Auburn that put the Tigers ahead 3-1. Jay Shaw took over and would stay in for five innings, the longest effort in the sophomore’s career at Alabama. Shaw allowed zero runs and only four hits from 18 batters faced.
Head coach Mitch Gaspard lauded his young pitcher’s success after the game.
“Today, obviously Jay Shaw was the story coming in after (Justin) Kamplain had a rough start,” Gaspard said. “Jay was tremendous. It was the longest outing he’s had with us in the last two years.”
The eighth inning proved critical for the Tide, bringing in three runs to break up a deadlock that had persisted for two innings. Auburn shortstop Dan Glevenyak committed an error to allow Austen Smith to score with bases loaded. A sac fly by third baseman Kenny Roberts and wild pitch by Reid Carter put Alabama ahead 6-3.
The play of the game for the Crimson Tide, a spectacular double play, came in the seventh inning. The Tigers were threatening, with two runners on base and their leading hitter, senior Garrett Cooper, crowding the plate. Cooper smacked a three-hopper up the middle that shortstop Mikey White dived for, trapped with his glove and flipped to second baseman Kyle Overstreet, all in the blink of an eye.
Overstreet hurled it over to Austen Smith at first base to complete a textbook baseball defensive play that appeared to take the wind out of Auburn’s sails and spurn Shaw to complete a masterful outing.
“I had guys making plays behind me,” Shaw said. “It’s easy to pitch when you’ve got guys who are making these kinds of plays.”
Designated hitter Chance Vincent, a freshman, made his only hit of the day count in an eighth-inning base hit that brought junior Austen Smith home in a score that put the Tide on top, a lead it never relinquished. Smith finished the day with three hits at four at-bats and one RBI.
Vincent stressed the importance of teammates taking advantage of opportunities the team creates.
“Coach is always talking about a team win, you got to stay as a team,” Vincent said. “Today was no different. The offense and defense both came through in the end.”
Freshman Ray Castillo finished the game for Alabama in the ninth inning, striking out the frame’s first batter and retiring the next two in order.
While Auburn’s loss put the Tigers on the bubble of the NCAA postseason, Gaspard was confident after the game about qualifying for the NCAA postseason.
“Personally, I feel like we’ve done enough to get in,” Gaspard said. “I felt like a win today would certainly solidify us getting in…We feel pretty comfortable about getting into a regional.”
The Crimson Tide will now move into the double-elimination portion of the SEC tourney, having survived the single-elimination bout against Auburn. Alabama will face LSU around 12:30 p.m. CST on Wednesday. The Tide is slated to start RHP Charley Sullivan (5-5, 3.58) against LSU’s LHP Cody Glenn (6.2, 2.64).
