The Alabama baseball team pitched 31.2 consecutive scoreless innings over the weekend in its sweep of Mississippi Valley State. That streak continued through six innings of Tuesday night’s 12-1 win over the Samford Bulldogs.
“[The streak] says a lot about our pitching,” Alabama coach Mitch Gaspard said. “It’s been a good run, but the thing is, I think it will continue to go the way it is. We have a lot of good arms that attack the strike zone, and they pitch with an attitude.”
Before the streak was snapped, freshman Nick Eicholtz was dominant on the mound for the Crimson Tide. He pitched seven innings with a career-high 12 strikeouts. The only run he surrendered was in the seventh inning after giving up a lead-off triple to Brandon Haarer and a sacrifice fly to Parker Curry.
“He was hitting his spots,” catcher Will Haynie said. “He did everything right tonight.”
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Eicholtz said he worked on things in the bullpen, which helped in the game tonight and lowered his ERA to 1.23. He said his improvement has come from stepping more straight off the mound.
“I felt like I could throw the fastball anywhere I wanted tonight,” Eicholtz said. “The things I changed in the bullpen allow me to throw harder and control it more.”
Pitching, however, was not the only highlight for Alabama on Tuesday night, as the Crimson Tide scored 12 runs on 12 hits.
Casey Hughston started things off when he drove in the first run with a single to right field in the second inning. Haynie followed up later in the inning with a two-run blast over the left field fence. Alabama added two more in the fourth and exploded in the fifth with six runs.
“The key for us was the offense,” Gaspard said. “When was that going to start show up? And tonight it showed up in a big way.”
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Alabama batted around in the fifth inning with six hits and a walk, while Haynie, Hughston, Georgie Salem and Mikey White all picked up RBIs. Haynie had a big night, going 2-3 with four RBIs.
“I’m getting a lot more comfortable. Me and [hitting coach Andy Phillips] have been working a lot,” Haynie said. “It’s a good way to go into SEC play.”
Haynie and fellow freshmen Hughston and Eicholtz played big parts in the win. Haynie and Hughston combined for six RBIs.
“There’s a lot of talent in this freshman group, and I think that you are seeing it now both from the mound and positionally,” Gaspard said. “It bodes well for the future.”
Samford had a streak of its own coming into the game. The Bulldogs won nine straight contests before falling to the Crimson Tide, its longest streak since 1960.
Alabama improved its record to 10-5 and will play in its first Southeastern Conference games this weekend.
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