Baseball puts on offensive showcase in final midweek game at Jacksonville State Tuesday night

Mathey Gibson, Contributing Writer

When they needed it most, the Alabama Crimson Tide (27-22, 10-14) put together a complete performance on offense.

On Sunday, Brad Bohannon’s squad was embarrassed by now No. 17 LSU, 12-3. It was Alabama’s fifth loss in the last six games, and the fourth consecutive series defeat overall.

Just under 48 hours later, the sputtering Crimson Tide grabbed a much-needed non-conference victory over Jacksonville State (21-25, 14-10), throttling the Gamecocks 13-6 at Rudy Abbott field.

In the first inning, right fielder Andrew Pinckney got things started for the Crimson Tide, hitting his sixth homerun of the year on a line-drive to left field that scored first baseman Drew Williamson.

In the fifth inning, Alabama’s bats exploded, plating five runs including a towering grand slam to right field by third baseman Zane Denton—his 12th home run of the year.

The Gamecocks had no answer for the Crimson Tide offense, which tallied a total of 18 hits, six walks and only four strikeouts.

“We haven’t scored in bunches very often this year,” Bohannon said. “We were really inefficient in the first three innings – we had people on base, had some baserunning blunders and didn’t cash in – but I think the swing by Zane [Denton] kind of put us in a good spot and let us cruise the rest of the way out. We scored in double-digits, we had 18 hits, we barreled a lot of balls, and it was a good offensive performance for us today.”

While the bats heated up, it was a mixed bag for the Crimson Tide pitching staff.

In his first appearance since April 2, starter Antoine Jean was sharp, throwing 28 pitches during 2.1 innings of shutout work.

Pitching in relief, Brayden Gainey tossed 2.2 innings of one hit, four strikeout ball— a new career high for the junior. In the seventh inning, in relief of Landon Green, Hunter Furtado struggled—allowing three runs on five hits. After a scoreless eighth, Alabama turned to Braylon Myers in the ninth, who threw one inning of three hit, three run ball to seal the deal for the Crimson Tide.

Alabama now travels to No. 20 Auburn (32-16) for a crucial three-game set, beginning with game one on Friday at 7:30 p.m. CT on the SEC Network.