Diamond Notes : Bama Slams SE Missouri State, 16-1

[Diamond Tide]

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Sunday, February 23, 2003


TUSCALOOSA -- Beau Hearod, Evan Bush and Adam Pavkovich combined for seven hits and 10 RBI leading the University of Alabama baseball to an easy 16-1 win over the Southeast Missouri State Indians Sunday afternoon at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

Hearod collected two hits, including his third career grand slam in the fourth inning as Alabama jumped out to a 9-0 lead after four innings.

Hearod's grand slam came on a 1-1 pitch off right-hander Ryan Forsyth with one out in the fourth inning. Travis Garner singled to right and moved to third on Pavkovich's double to left-center field. Brad Van Winkle walked to load the bases and set the table for Hearod.

The senior from Jennings, La., clubbed his team-leading fourth home run, giving him one home run in three of his last four games. In addition to the home runs, Hearod has a team-best 13 RBI to pace the Crimson Tide offense.

Dating back to last season, Hearod has six home runs and 18 RBI in his last seven games for Alabama.

Bush delivered a pair of doubles and five RBI for the Crimson Tide on Sunday. The Gadsden, Ala., native ripped a three-run double in the sixth inning and added an RBI double in the eighth inning. Earlier in the game, he plated a run with a sacrifice fly to right field.

Bush finished the game with a career high two hits and five RBI just six games into his UA career.

Pavkovich added three hits and one RBI for Alabama, giving him six hits and three RBI in the first two games of the series. In addition to his double and run scored in the fourth, Pavkovich added an RBI single in the seventh and collected his second double of the game in the eighth.

Alabama (4-2) also got strong pitching from sophomore left-hander Brent Carter, who posted his second career complete game win.

Carter (1-1) worked nine innings, allowing one earned run and five hits, with one walk and a career high nine strikeouts.

SEMO (1-1) managed four singles and one double against Carter and scored their only run of the game in the sixth inning. Brian Hopkins singled and scored on Zack Borowiak's two-out double for the only blemish against Carter.

The Crimson Tide scored twice in the second inning and added three runs in the third and four more in the fourth to take a 9-0 lead. Alabama punched three more runs across the plate in the sixth and added one in the seventh and three more in the eighth.

Junior catcher Bobby Burns became the sixth player in Alabama history to hit a home run in his first collegiate at-bat leading off the third inning.

Sophomore Spencer Pennington entered the game in the sixth inning and singled and scored in his only at-bat in the eighth inning.

Redshirt freshman Trey Moody (Huntsville) made his Alabama debut and collected an RBI double in his first collegiate at-bat in the eighth inning.

Southeast starter Jon Nourie (0-1) took the loss, allowing five earned runs and three hits in 2 2/3 innings, with five walks and four strikeouts.

The two teams will close out this three-game series on Monday at 2 p.m. at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Alabama will host Miss. Valley State on Wednesday night (6:30 p.m.) and entertains Rhode Island next weekend in Tuscaloosa.

RTR,

Diamond Tide


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"They play like it is a sin to give up a point."-- Coach Bryant talking about his 1961 Defense.

[JoJoforHeisman]

Clearly the best game of the young season for the Tide, avenging last night's ugly loss by combining an offensive slugfest with a masterful pitching performance by Brent Carter. Brent worked hard all day in shutting down the Indians, and earned a well-deserved rest, as I am sure his pitch count was somewhere around 130. Hopefully we can come out tomorrow afternoon and pick up right where we left off, sending these guys back to Cape Girardeau with a losing record.

Obviously, the offense did an outstanding job today. Beau continues to carry the scoring out of the cleanup spot, and is definitely establishing himself as one of the nation's more dangerous power threats. It was nice to see a productive day at the plate from Bobby Burns in his Bama debut. He dropped a pop foul for an error and allowed one runner to steal (though it wasn't his fault), but that was the only time the Indians tried to run on him. Pak seems to have broken out of his season-opening slump, but Allen Rice continues to struggle. With the availability of Trey Moody, who hit the ball well in practice and recorded an RBI double in his first at-bat, Allen may be able to benefit from a day off. Travis is doing an excellent job of getting on base, which is what a leadoff hitter is supposed to do. Sometimes I wonder what is going through Van Winkle's head when he does some of the things he does at the plate and on the basepaths. Evan Bush turned in a fine afternoon, and Zac, Heck, and Spencer all chipped in to the effort.

A solid win, but the team had better not get too comfortable. They know they can handle SEMO. The key is staying focused and maintaining today's momentum tomorrow.