Alabama baseball leaned on the pitching staff Tuesday afternoon for a 3-1 win over Belmont at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The midweek victory extended the Crimson Tide's winning streak to seven games and sets UA's overall record at 22-12.
Ben Hess (1-1) recorded his best start to date, totaling 4.0 scoreless innings with one hit and two walks to go with a season-high seven strikeouts for his first career win. Hess gave way to the Tide bullpen for the final 5.0 innings with the foursome of Luke Holman, Hunter Hoopes, Hunter Furtado and Braylon Myers allowing one run and combining for four strikeouts. The relief group was highlighted by the freshman Myers, who picked up his first save with a scoreless ninth that included two strikeouts.
Alabama provided Hess with a cushion early, scoring a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. The rally started with a leadoff single from Bryce Eblin. The Tide second baseman came in to score one out later on a Jim Jarvis RBI-single. Jarvis would cross with two down on a single to center from Zane Denton to make it a 2-0 affair. The Tide added one more in the fifth on another RBI-single from Denton with Belmont crossing a run in the eighth for their only tally of the game.
The Crimson Tide's offense was led by Jarvis and Denton, with the juniors contributing a pair of two-hit days. Both infielders finished 2-for-3 with Jarvis tallying an RBI and one run while Denton recorded a pair of RBI and one walk.
From Assistant Coach Jason Jackson
"The wind was howling in today, so you know you have to go out and pound the strike zone. I thought Ben (Hess), once he got settled in, looked the sharpest that he has all year, striking out seven over four innings. The bullpen did a really good job. Hunter Hoopes came in with some runners on and got out of that, and (Hunter) Furtado was a little rusty – he did not pitch over the weekend – but it was good to get him out there for an inning and keep him in a groove. We wanted to see what Braylon Myers could do in that kind of situation, and he went out there and pounded the strike zone. I thought everybody did a great job on the mound, and we got a couple of big hits, with Jim (Jarvis) and Zane (Denton) both driving in some runs. It was enough to get us through the day with a win."
How It Happened
- B3 | Bryce Eblin led off the inning with a single through the right side. After advancing to second on an infield groundout, Eblin came around to score on a Jim Jarvis single to center. A Belmont balk with two down moved Jarvis to second, before Zane Denton plated the Tide shortstop with a single to right. (2-0, Alabama)
- B5 | Dominic Tamez singled to begin the inning. Tamez moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and got to third on an infield groundout. Denton followed with a two-out single to left to add to the Tide advantage. (3-0, Alabama)
- T8 | An infield groundout with a pair in scoring position pushed a run across and got the Bruins on the board. (3-1, Alabama)
- Alabama has won nine of the last 10 games, including a season-high seven straight.
- The Crimson Tide pitchers combined for 11 strikeouts on Tuesday. Alabama's arms have struck out 10-or-more batters in in 18 games this season, including 11 of the last 14 contests and five straight matchups.
- Ben Hess struck out a season-high seven in his start. Hess' previous high for punchouts was four, which he had on two previous occasions and most recently against South Alabama on March 29.
- Hess worked a season-long 4.0 innings on the way to his first win as a member of the Crimson Tide. The freshman's previous high for innings was 3.1 against Samford a week ago.
- With his 1-for-3 afternoon, Dominic Tamez extended his hitting streak to five games. Over that stretch, the junior is batting .333 (7-21) with two doubles, six RBI, three runs scored and one walk.
- Tommy Seidl has reached base safely in 16 straight games dating back to the Tide's March 18 contest against Florida.
- Bryce Eblin has reached base safely in 11 straight games dating back to March 26.
- Drew Williamson has reached base safely in 10 straight games dating back to March 27.
- Andrew Pinckney's on-base streak ended at 13 games.
- ATTENDANCE: 2,712
Get all the latest information on the team by following @AlabmaBSB on Twitter and Instagram and on Facebook at Alabama Baseball. General athletic news can be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.
Original source can be found here.
Alerts Sign-up