Going into the bottom of the fourth inning it seemed like a pitcher’s duel. Alabama had only one hit compared to Presbyterian’s three.
This all changed when Chandler Taylor strolled up to the plate. With one runner on Taylor cleared the right center fence with ease, finally putting a crooked number on the board. The very next pitch Presbyterian pitcher Tanner Chock threw was blasted the other way halfway up the scoreboard by Hunter Alexander. Just two batters after Alexander’s bomb, Connor Short hit a shot down the left field line for another two-run home run eventually capping of a 5 run inning, leading to an 8-1 win.
“Our offense is more than one dimensional,” coach Greg Goff said. “Tonight we won by the long ball, last night we won by the small ball. We play 56 games so we need to be able to win different ways. This offense can strike at any time.”
The last time the Crimson Tide had at least three home runs in a game was on May 14 of last season. Unlike tonight’s game it was spread out over nine innings. Taylor came up to bat once again in the bottom of the fifth inning and crushed another home run into the right-field student section.
“It [the two home runs] goes back to our pregame BP [batting practice],” Taylor said. “We were focusing on different emphasis, one of which was don’t miss mistakes. I got a couple mistakes tonight.”
Taylor would finish 2-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI.
The offensive explosion overshadowed a good pitching performance from right hander Jake Walters. He threw just 75 pitches over six innings of shutout ball, and he allowed just three hits while striking out seven Blue Hose in the win.
“Last few weeks we really focused on mechanics,” Walters said. “Today I was able to trust my mechanics. My stuff was working well and we started throwing to contact.”
Sam Finnerty came in after Walters to finish the game. The right-hander allowed one run and two hits over two innings. Sonny Potter finished the game off for Alabama. The freshman left-hander struck out one batter and allowed one hit in his only inning.
Alabama returns to action on Sunday at 1 p.m. to finish the series off against Presbyterian.
