Will Carter tossed 7.0 innings and struck out six in his first career start at UA
Feb. 14, 2015
HOOVER, Ala. – The Alabama pitching staff combined for its second consecutive shutout on Saturday afternoon, blanking the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, 11-0, inside Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. With the win, the Crimson Tide improves to 2-0 on the young season.
In his first career start, junior-college transfer Will Carter tossed 7.0 innings, recording six strikeouts and allowing just two hits. Alex Watkins and J.C. Wilhite each contributed one inning apiece, and combined for three strikeouts.
“I thought Will Carter, making his first career start at Alabama, came out and was sharp,” said Alabama head coach Mitch Gaspard. “He really stayed in control of the ballgame the whole way. He established all three pitches throughout and competed really well. It was also good to see Alex Watkins and J.C. Wilhite come in the last two innings and pitch well. Both guys commanded the strike zone, made a lot of good pitches and showed good mound presence, as well.”
In consecutive nights, the Crimson Tide starters have combined for 13 strikeouts and allowed just four hits across 13.0 innings of work. As a whole, the UA staff has tossed 18.0 innings and struck out 21 Hawks while allowing only eight hits.
The Alabama offense provided early support for the pitching staff, putting two runs on the board in the bottom of the first. Leading off the inning, Chandler Avant earned a walk and then swiped second, but an errant throw by the catcher allowed the freshman to advance to third base. Alabama then strung together three consecutive singles, with Mikey White knocking in Avant, Casey Hughston advancing White to second on his base knock, and then Kyle Overstreet singling to the outfield to score White and set the Tide ahead 2-0 after one inning of play.
The Crimson Tide struck again in the fourth, adding four runs. Alabama’s first two batters of the inning reached on errors by the Hawks’ left side of the infield, and then loaded the bases thanks to a Ryan Blanchard single. With the bases juiced, back-to-back hit-by-pitches allowed UA to bring two across and end UMES starter Jordan Bone’s day early. Two batters later, Hughston recorded a single to score one. A fielder’s choice grounder by Overstreet allowed the Tide’s fourth run of the inning to cross and give Alabama a 6-0 lead.
In the sixth, UA added three more runs one three hits. With runners on first and second, Overstreet singled to right to score White. In the next at-bat, Chance Vincent doubled to the outfield to plate a pair. An inning later, Alabama added two more runs to finish off the game’s scoring at 11-0.
The Crimson Tide offense collected 14 hits total hits on the afternoon. The offensive attack was led once again by Hughston, with the sophomore contributing a 4-for-4 day and reaching base all five times thanks to a hit-by-pitch. The Tide also received big games from White and Overstreet as the juniors contributed multi-hit and multi-RBI afternoons.
“We had a couple of guys with big games – Casey Hughston again with four hits and Mikey (White) as well,” Gaspard added. “I thought (Ryan) Blanchard and (Daniel Cucjen) played well today coming in and getting their first starts with each recording a couple of hits. I thought overall it was a clean game, and the guys competed. I thought we played nine innings.”
Alabama will go for the sweep on Sunday afternoon with first pitch of the finale between the Tide and Hawks set for 1:05 p.m. CT. The game can be viewed live on SECN+.
Get all the latest information on the team by following AlabamaBSB 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.
-UA-
RTR,
Diamond Tide :biga:
Feb. 14, 2015
HOOVER, Ala. – The Alabama pitching staff combined for its second consecutive shutout on Saturday afternoon, blanking the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, 11-0, inside Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. With the win, the Crimson Tide improves to 2-0 on the young season.
In his first career start, junior-college transfer Will Carter tossed 7.0 innings, recording six strikeouts and allowing just two hits. Alex Watkins and J.C. Wilhite each contributed one inning apiece, and combined for three strikeouts.
“I thought Will Carter, making his first career start at Alabama, came out and was sharp,” said Alabama head coach Mitch Gaspard. “He really stayed in control of the ballgame the whole way. He established all three pitches throughout and competed really well. It was also good to see Alex Watkins and J.C. Wilhite come in the last two innings and pitch well. Both guys commanded the strike zone, made a lot of good pitches and showed good mound presence, as well.”
In consecutive nights, the Crimson Tide starters have combined for 13 strikeouts and allowed just four hits across 13.0 innings of work. As a whole, the UA staff has tossed 18.0 innings and struck out 21 Hawks while allowing only eight hits.
The Alabama offense provided early support for the pitching staff, putting two runs on the board in the bottom of the first. Leading off the inning, Chandler Avant earned a walk and then swiped second, but an errant throw by the catcher allowed the freshman to advance to third base. Alabama then strung together three consecutive singles, with Mikey White knocking in Avant, Casey Hughston advancing White to second on his base knock, and then Kyle Overstreet singling to the outfield to score White and set the Tide ahead 2-0 after one inning of play.
The Crimson Tide struck again in the fourth, adding four runs. Alabama’s first two batters of the inning reached on errors by the Hawks’ left side of the infield, and then loaded the bases thanks to a Ryan Blanchard single. With the bases juiced, back-to-back hit-by-pitches allowed UA to bring two across and end UMES starter Jordan Bone’s day early. Two batters later, Hughston recorded a single to score one. A fielder’s choice grounder by Overstreet allowed the Tide’s fourth run of the inning to cross and give Alabama a 6-0 lead.
In the sixth, UA added three more runs one three hits. With runners on first and second, Overstreet singled to right to score White. In the next at-bat, Chance Vincent doubled to the outfield to plate a pair. An inning later, Alabama added two more runs to finish off the game’s scoring at 11-0.
The Crimson Tide offense collected 14 hits total hits on the afternoon. The offensive attack was led once again by Hughston, with the sophomore contributing a 4-for-4 day and reaching base all five times thanks to a hit-by-pitch. The Tide also received big games from White and Overstreet as the juniors contributed multi-hit and multi-RBI afternoons.
“We had a couple of guys with big games – Casey Hughston again with four hits and Mikey (White) as well,” Gaspard added. “I thought (Ryan) Blanchard and (Daniel Cucjen) played well today coming in and getting their first starts with each recording a couple of hits. I thought overall it was a clean game, and the guys competed. I thought we played nine innings.”
Alabama will go for the sweep on Sunday afternoon with first pitch of the finale between the Tide and Hawks set for 1:05 p.m. CT. The game can be viewed live on SECN+.
Get all the latest information on the team by following AlabamaBSB 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.
-UA-
RTR,
Diamond Tide :biga:
