A blooper into right field plates the go-ahead run and Castillo locks up the win for UA
Feb. 27, 2015
HOOVER, Ala. - With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, a J.C. Wilhite bloop single to right field broke the tie and helped propel Alabama baseball to the eventual 6-4 win over Louisiana-Lafayette on Friday inside Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
"The game comes down to a battle where J.C. competes and finds a way to get it done," said Alabama head coach Mitch Gaspard. "The way you score runs doesn't have to be pretty: He dumps one in to get the lead, and we get another one on a pickoff attempt by Louisiana-Lafayette. Overall, it was a good win for us, and I'm proud of our guys."
Alabama (7-2) used the bottom of the eighth inning to collect the two runs the team would need to claim the win over Louisiana-Lafayette (4-5). The frame began with a Georgie Salem double over the center fielder's head, but a sacrifice attempt by Mikey White turned into an out at third base on the fielder's choice. Two batters later, a ground-ball single to left field by Kyle Overstreet put runners on first and second with two outs and forced a ULL pitching change.
Wilhite battled in his at-bat against the Louisiana-Lafayette reliever, eventually slicing off a bloop single just beyond the infield that fell directly in front of the right fielder and allowed White to score. In the very next at-bat, an errant throw on a pickoff attempt by the ULL reliever allowed Overstreet to cross and give Alabama the insurance it needed at 6-4.
The Crimson Tide opened the night's scoring in the bottom of the third inning when Will Haynie earned a leadoff walk. Chance Vincent followed Haynie with a single, putting runners on first and second with nobody out. A sacrifice bunt from Chandler Avant moved the runners into scoring position, and then a passed ball moved the runners up, bringing Haynie across for the first run.
Salem came to the plate with a runner on third and delivered an RBI-single to extend his streak to nine games in which he has reached base safely. White followed with his second triple of the season, a shot just out of the reach of the ULL center fielder that would bring Salem across for the Tide's third score. Alabama collected its final run thanks to Casey Hughston, with the sophomore grounding out to the right side and allowing White to cross for the 4-0 lead.
Alabama received another strong start from senior Taylor Guilbeau, who went a season-high 7.0 innings, allowing four runs on six hits with a career-high eight punchouts. The lefty was cruising early on, retiring the first 12 ULL players in as many at-bats to help the Crimson Tide maintain its early 4-0 lead.
"I thought Guilbeau was excellent," Gaspard said of the senior's night. "He had a tremendous start and put us in a position to win. In the seventh inning, they stayed on pitches and continued to attack so you have to tip your hat to them. Overall though, I'm really encouraged by what we've seen from Guilbeau with the way he's thrown the ball in his first three starts."
Guilbeau gave up his first hit of the night to lead off the fifth inning, and then proceeded to retire the next six batters, striking out four and recording a double play to cruise through the first six frames. In the top of the seventh, the Ragin' Cajuns would rally to even the score at four apiece. Louisiana-Lafayette strung together four consecutive singles and then used a wild pitch to even things at 4-4, but Guilbeau recorded the third out of the inning before his night came to a close.
Alabama junior reliever Ray Castillo followed Guilbeau and would claim the victory following UA's two-run eighth. Castillo faced six batters in his two frames of work, tossing 15 of his 16 pitches for strikes and recording three punchouts on the way to his first win of the season.
"One thing about Louisiana-Lafayette - they play extremely hard and they are not going to give in," Gaspard added. "We knew that going in, so I thought our guys did a good job of not panicking when the game got tied up. We stayed with our plan, and found a way to win it late."
Alabama and Louisiana-Lafayette will get together again tomorrow for game two of the series. The Crimson Tide and Ragin' Cajuns are set for a 2 p.m. first pitch, with UA throwing junior Will Carter and ULL countering with senior Greg Milhorn.
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.
ALABAMA POSTGAME NOTES
Taylor Guilbeau collected a career-high eight strikeouts this evening. His previous high was seven, which he accomplished twice this season and four times overall across his career.
Guilbeau has recorded 22 strikeouts through three starts this season. He recorded 19 total across 15 appearances a season ago.
The senior starter did not issue a walk in his start this evening for just the second time in his career (other start, May 8, 2013, vs. Troy – 5.0 IP).
Ray Castillo earned his first win of the season, tossing 2.0 IP and striking out three batters. The victory is Castillo’s first since April 5, 2014.
Castillo has now recorded four consecutive relief appearances without issuing a run. During that time, the junior righty has collected two saves and one win.
Kyle Overstreet’s single in the bottom of the eighth inning extended his hitting streak to nine games this season and 12 overall dating back to June 1 of last season. The 12-game hitting streak is the longest of his career. His previous career-high was 11 games from March 15-30, 2014.
Overstreet recorded multiple RBI for the sixth game this season. He had eight total multi-RBI efforts across his 60 starts in 2014.
Georgie Salem’s single in the third inning allowed the center fielder to reach base for the 13th consecutive game. His streak includes all nine games this season and four games last season, dating back to May 31 of last season vs. Florida State. His career-high is 14 games from Feb. 15 to March 19 of 2013 in his first 14 games wearing a Crimson Tide uniform.
Salem has also recorded a hit in each of his last seven games. The junior is batting .346 (9-26) with two doubles, four walks, an RBI, eight runs scored and has registered six of his eight stolen bases during that time.
With his single in the eighth inning, J.C. Wilhite has now recorded a hit in five straight games. The senior is batting .444 (8-18) with two doubles, a home run, four RBI and two runs scored over that time.
Casey Hughston’s hitting streak came to an end after this evening’s contest. Over his eight-game streak, the sophomore outfielder hit .636 (21-33) with six doubles, a triple, two home runs (one grand slam), 15 RBI and 12 runs scored.
Hughston collected seven multi-hit efforts over the streak. He also added at least one extra-base hit in seven of those eight games.
The sophomore outfielder also added at least one run in seven of the eight games, and he recorded one or more RBI in six of those contests.
Mikey White recorded his second triple of the season this evening. The junior recorded two triples all of last season and owns three for his career.
-UA-
RTR,
Diamond Tide :biga:
Feb. 27, 2015
HOOVER, Ala. - With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, a J.C. Wilhite bloop single to right field broke the tie and helped propel Alabama baseball to the eventual 6-4 win over Louisiana-Lafayette on Friday inside Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
"The game comes down to a battle where J.C. competes and finds a way to get it done," said Alabama head coach Mitch Gaspard. "The way you score runs doesn't have to be pretty: He dumps one in to get the lead, and we get another one on a pickoff attempt by Louisiana-Lafayette. Overall, it was a good win for us, and I'm proud of our guys."
Alabama (7-2) used the bottom of the eighth inning to collect the two runs the team would need to claim the win over Louisiana-Lafayette (4-5). The frame began with a Georgie Salem double over the center fielder's head, but a sacrifice attempt by Mikey White turned into an out at third base on the fielder's choice. Two batters later, a ground-ball single to left field by Kyle Overstreet put runners on first and second with two outs and forced a ULL pitching change.
Wilhite battled in his at-bat against the Louisiana-Lafayette reliever, eventually slicing off a bloop single just beyond the infield that fell directly in front of the right fielder and allowed White to score. In the very next at-bat, an errant throw on a pickoff attempt by the ULL reliever allowed Overstreet to cross and give Alabama the insurance it needed at 6-4.
The Crimson Tide opened the night's scoring in the bottom of the third inning when Will Haynie earned a leadoff walk. Chance Vincent followed Haynie with a single, putting runners on first and second with nobody out. A sacrifice bunt from Chandler Avant moved the runners into scoring position, and then a passed ball moved the runners up, bringing Haynie across for the first run.
Salem came to the plate with a runner on third and delivered an RBI-single to extend his streak to nine games in which he has reached base safely. White followed with his second triple of the season, a shot just out of the reach of the ULL center fielder that would bring Salem across for the Tide's third score. Alabama collected its final run thanks to Casey Hughston, with the sophomore grounding out to the right side and allowing White to cross for the 4-0 lead.
Alabama received another strong start from senior Taylor Guilbeau, who went a season-high 7.0 innings, allowing four runs on six hits with a career-high eight punchouts. The lefty was cruising early on, retiring the first 12 ULL players in as many at-bats to help the Crimson Tide maintain its early 4-0 lead.
"I thought Guilbeau was excellent," Gaspard said of the senior's night. "He had a tremendous start and put us in a position to win. In the seventh inning, they stayed on pitches and continued to attack so you have to tip your hat to them. Overall though, I'm really encouraged by what we've seen from Guilbeau with the way he's thrown the ball in his first three starts."
Guilbeau gave up his first hit of the night to lead off the fifth inning, and then proceeded to retire the next six batters, striking out four and recording a double play to cruise through the first six frames. In the top of the seventh, the Ragin' Cajuns would rally to even the score at four apiece. Louisiana-Lafayette strung together four consecutive singles and then used a wild pitch to even things at 4-4, but Guilbeau recorded the third out of the inning before his night came to a close.
Alabama junior reliever Ray Castillo followed Guilbeau and would claim the victory following UA's two-run eighth. Castillo faced six batters in his two frames of work, tossing 15 of his 16 pitches for strikes and recording three punchouts on the way to his first win of the season.
"One thing about Louisiana-Lafayette - they play extremely hard and they are not going to give in," Gaspard added. "We knew that going in, so I thought our guys did a good job of not panicking when the game got tied up. We stayed with our plan, and found a way to win it late."
Alabama and Louisiana-Lafayette will get together again tomorrow for game two of the series. The Crimson Tide and Ragin' Cajuns are set for a 2 p.m. first pitch, with UA throwing junior Will Carter and ULL countering with senior Greg Milhorn.
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.
ALABAMA POSTGAME NOTES
Taylor Guilbeau collected a career-high eight strikeouts this evening. His previous high was seven, which he accomplished twice this season and four times overall across his career.
Guilbeau has recorded 22 strikeouts through three starts this season. He recorded 19 total across 15 appearances a season ago.
The senior starter did not issue a walk in his start this evening for just the second time in his career (other start, May 8, 2013, vs. Troy – 5.0 IP).
Ray Castillo earned his first win of the season, tossing 2.0 IP and striking out three batters. The victory is Castillo’s first since April 5, 2014.
Castillo has now recorded four consecutive relief appearances without issuing a run. During that time, the junior righty has collected two saves and one win.
Kyle Overstreet’s single in the bottom of the eighth inning extended his hitting streak to nine games this season and 12 overall dating back to June 1 of last season. The 12-game hitting streak is the longest of his career. His previous career-high was 11 games from March 15-30, 2014.
Overstreet recorded multiple RBI for the sixth game this season. He had eight total multi-RBI efforts across his 60 starts in 2014.
Georgie Salem’s single in the third inning allowed the center fielder to reach base for the 13th consecutive game. His streak includes all nine games this season and four games last season, dating back to May 31 of last season vs. Florida State. His career-high is 14 games from Feb. 15 to March 19 of 2013 in his first 14 games wearing a Crimson Tide uniform.
Salem has also recorded a hit in each of his last seven games. The junior is batting .346 (9-26) with two doubles, four walks, an RBI, eight runs scored and has registered six of his eight stolen bases during that time.
With his single in the eighth inning, J.C. Wilhite has now recorded a hit in five straight games. The senior is batting .444 (8-18) with two doubles, a home run, four RBI and two runs scored over that time.
Casey Hughston’s hitting streak came to an end after this evening’s contest. Over his eight-game streak, the sophomore outfielder hit .636 (21-33) with six doubles, a triple, two home runs (one grand slam), 15 RBI and 12 runs scored.
Hughston collected seven multi-hit efforts over the streak. He also added at least one extra-base hit in seven of those eight games.
The sophomore outfielder also added at least one run in seven of the eight games, and he recorded one or more RBI in six of those contests.
Mikey White recorded his second triple of the season this evening. The junior recorded two triples all of last season and owns three for his career.
-UA-
RTR,
Diamond Tide :biga:
