Alabama baseball took game two against North Dakota after starter Jake Walters collected a career-high 13 strikeouts in the 5-2 win. Alabama clinched the series after its win on Friday night and advanced to a 5-1 overall record.

Walters pitched seven innings and gave up two runs, but both were unearned with errors and passed balls during the third inning.

“In the third I thought he really showed some maturity. He had a lot of stuff going on around him that really had no doing of his,” coach Mitch Gaspard said. “He stayed with it, kept making pitches, overcame it, kept the game within two and then took off from there and was really sharp.”

North Dakota came out with an early lead after a throwing error and two passed balls by catcher Tanner DeVinny, which cost Alabama two runs. Alabama then tacked on a run in the fourth and fifth innings to tie the game.

In the sixth, it was an error on North Dakota’s side that gave Alabama the lead. A throwing error by the North Dakota’s second baseman put Cobie Vance on third. Georgie Salem then chopped one to the mound and beat out a throw to first, scoring Vance.

Alabama added two more insurance runs in the seventh and eighth inning. The run in the eighth was Salem’s first home run of the season and his second RBI of the game. He pulled one over the right-field fence for a 5-2 cushion.

“The game can change in several pitches. So you never know. You’re never safe. So it’s always good to add runs at the end of the game,” Salem said. “When you do that, it kind of puts a team away.”