In a tight game that took 13 innings to decide, Alabama set a new school record for strikeouts in a game, striking out 24 batters in a 2-1 win over Lipscomb. Freshman Connor Prielipp got the start and in six shut out innings, he racked up a career-high 11 strikeouts and allowed two hits.

His outing was highlighted by a second inning where he faced three batters and struck out all three. Prielipp’s 1.8 hits allowed per nine innings is tied for the second lowest in Division I baseball.

“[Lipscomb sophomore pitcher Scott Elgin] was fabulous and obviously [Prielipp] matched him,” coach Brett Bohannon said. “Just can’t say enough about what [sophomore Chase Lee] and [junior Brock Guffey] did out of the bullpen, that’s obviously the story of the game.”

Lee entered the game in the seventh inning with runners on third and first, but got out of the inning with an unearned run.

“I was just trying to miss barrels. I was trying to pound the zone, fill it up and let the defense play,” Lee said. “We practice it all the time with bullpens in the off-season… Just train for it, be ready for it.”

In his season-high 5.1 innings pitched, Lee added another eight strikeouts and did not allow a hit. Lee’s 76 pitches thrown was higher than Prielipp, who threw 75 pitches.

After Lee recorded the first out in the 12th inning, Guffey entered the game. In 1.2 innings, Guffey struck out five of the seven batters he faced and secured the win to improve his record to 3-0.

Lipscomb batters went a combined 3 for 43 for a .070 batting average, recording only one hit after the fifth inning. In three innings, Lipscomb had all three outs come as a result of strikeouts and six innings ended with Lipscomb going down in order.

“[Lee] was pitching great. I think if we had taken the lead earlier we probably would’ve gone to [Guffey],” Bohannon said. “It just kind of had the feel to me that we were going to play for a little while… [Lee] with the lower slide and the lower effort delivery, he’s a guy that can be extended. I certainly didn’t foresee him throwing more pitches than [Prielipp] tonight.”