The College Baseball Blog would like to congratulate Alabama head coach Jim Wells on winning his 600th game on Tuesday in a 24-0 victory over Alabama A&M. He becomes the seventh SEC coach to reach the 600 win plateau. Full Recap of the game is below.
FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama enjoyed a record-setting night at Sewell-Thomas Stadium, posting a lopsided 24-0 win in seven innings over Alabama A&M. The Crimson Tide hit six home runs in the game to tie the school record with a home run in 17 straight games and head coach Jim Wells notched his 600th win as the UA skipper to become the seventh coach to win 600 games at an SEC school.
Alabama batted around in the first and second innings, scoring eight runs in each inning to grab a 16-0 lead. The margin ballooned to 21-0 after four innings before the Tide emptied the bench. The 24-run win is the sixth-largest margin of victory in school history.
Junior third baseman Jake Smith hit two home runs, while Kyle Moore, Josh Rutledge, Clay Jones and Ryan Rhoden also homered in the win. The Crimson Tide has hit 36 home runs this season, the third-highest total nationally.
Junior left-hander Del Howell (1-0) struck out a career-high 14 batters in six innings for the win. He threw six shutouts innings and allowed A&M’s only hit, a one-out single, in the first inning.
“The best thing about this game is that Del Howell pitched well,” Wells said after his 600th win. “He located. He really pitched well. I am so happy for him. We swung the bats well and a lot of guys got in the game, but the story line for me is that Howell pitched well for six innings, which is something we need him to do again.”
Alabama (12-5) sent 13 men to the plate in an eight-run first inning and never looked back. Kent Matthes started the scoring spree with a two-run single and Brandon May followed with a two-run double to make it 4-0. Moore and Smith launched back-to-back home runs for a 7-0 lead. Rutledge, who had a school-record tying two hits in the first inning, capped the scoring with an RBI single.
The Crimson Tide sent 12 batters to the plate in the second inning and scored eight more runs to take a 16-0 lead. Smith, May and Moore had RBI singles in the inning, while Rutledge and Matthes added RBI doubles in the frame.
Alabama put four more runs on the board in the third inning to take a 20-0 lead on a pair of two-run home runs by Rutledge and pinch-hitter Clay Jones. Rutledge’s home run was the first of his career for the Tide, spanning 339 at-bats.
Smith’s second home run of the game gave UA a 21-0 lead.
The Tide added three more runs in the fifth on a two-run home run by Rhoden and a sacrifice fly by backup second baseman Jon Kelton.
Bernard McKinney II had the only hit of the game for Alabama A&M. The Bulldogs fell to 5-5 on the season.
Alabama A&M starter Chris Jennings (1-1) allowed eight runs and seven hits in the first inning and took the loss.
Alabama and Alabama A&M will conclude their three-game series with a double header on Wednesday, March 18, at 12:05 p.m. (CST). The teams will play two seven-inning games. Tickets are available for both games two hours prior to first pitch at Sewell-Thomas Stadium or at www.RollTide.com.
