Tide used Duarte’s 8.1 innings of one-run baseball and two big innings for the Saturday night win
4/1/2017
TUSCALOOSA, AL – Dylan Duarte's 8.1 innings of one-run baseball paired with two big innings from the Crimson Tide offense propelled Alabama baseball to the 7-1 win over No. 21 Arkansas on Saturday night at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The win moves the Tide to 13-14 on the season and 2-6 in Southeastern Conference play.
"That's the best I've seen any of (our starters) look this year," said Alabama head coach Greg Goff. "That was awesome to watch. Dylan (Duarte) had a lot of courage and competitive spirit, and I was really proud of him. People don't see the practices and development; this guy has bought in to what we've asked him to do, and he's got his body into great shape. Early in the year, he was getting three to four innings and now you see that his hard work has paid off. For him to get to almost 120 pitches tonight is amazing against a really good Arkansas team."
Alabama received a dominant performance from its starter on Saturday. Duarte (2-1) earned his second win of the season behind a career-long 8.1 innings of work. The sophomore allowed only one run on six hits with no walks and tallied four strikeouts spanning a career-high 116 pitches before handing the ball to Davis Vainer in the ninth. Vainer tossed the final two-thirds of the ninth to shut the door on the Tide victory.
The Crimson Tide bats excelled on Saturday, with seven of the nine starters collecting at least one hit in the contest. The offense was paced by multi-hit efforts from Hunter Alexander, Cody Henry and Tanner DeVinny. Alexander collected a pair of hits in four at-bats, while adding one RBI and a season-high two runs scored. Henry tallied his 10th multi-hit game of the season, which ties him for the team lead, going 2-for-4 with one RBI and two runs scored. DeVinny finished his night with a 2-for-3 effort that included one RBI, one walk and a run scored to extend his SEC hitting streak to six games.
Arkansas scored first in Saturday's contest, plating one in the top of the second. The leadoff man reached on a single and later advanced into scoring position on a groundout. A single in the next at-bat crossed the game's first run to give the Razorbacks an early 1-0 lead.
Alabama answered in the next half inning, scoring four runs to gain an advantage. Alexander led off the frame with a double down the left field line and came across to score on a single by Henry. In the next at-bat, DeVinny drew a walk to place runners on first and second for the Tide. One out later, an RBI-double from Connor Short scored one to put Alabama in front, 2-1. Logan Carey followed with a single to plate one before a Cobie Vance groundout pushed one more across, giving the Tide a 4-1 advantage after two full.
The Tide widened the margin in the fifth, using a three-run inning to make it a 7-1 affair. The first man to reach was Chandler Avant, who sent a single through the left side and later advanced to second on a missed pickoff throw at first. One batter later, Alexander collected his second hit of the evening with a single to right that brought Avant across. Henry followed suit with another single to right to put a pair on for DeVinny, who delivered with a single of his own to score one more. With runners on the corners, a wild pitch allowed the third run of the inning to cross, pushing the advantage to 7-1.
Duarte battled into the ninth, but the Tide went to its bullpen arm in Vainer to secure the win. The redshirt-freshman reliever recorded the final two outs of the game with a pair of strikeouts to even the weekend up at one game apiece.
Sunday's game will decide the series between Alabama and Arkansas. The Crimson Tide calls on senior right-hander Nick Eicholtz, while the Razorbacks look to righty Josh Alberius, also a senior, on getaway day. The rubber match will air live on SEC Network.
-UA-
RTR,
Diamond Tide :biga:
4/1/2017
TUSCALOOSA, AL – Dylan Duarte's 8.1 innings of one-run baseball paired with two big innings from the Crimson Tide offense propelled Alabama baseball to the 7-1 win over No. 21 Arkansas on Saturday night at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The win moves the Tide to 13-14 on the season and 2-6 in Southeastern Conference play.
"That's the best I've seen any of (our starters) look this year," said Alabama head coach Greg Goff. "That was awesome to watch. Dylan (Duarte) had a lot of courage and competitive spirit, and I was really proud of him. People don't see the practices and development; this guy has bought in to what we've asked him to do, and he's got his body into great shape. Early in the year, he was getting three to four innings and now you see that his hard work has paid off. For him to get to almost 120 pitches tonight is amazing against a really good Arkansas team."
Alabama received a dominant performance from its starter on Saturday. Duarte (2-1) earned his second win of the season behind a career-long 8.1 innings of work. The sophomore allowed only one run on six hits with no walks and tallied four strikeouts spanning a career-high 116 pitches before handing the ball to Davis Vainer in the ninth. Vainer tossed the final two-thirds of the ninth to shut the door on the Tide victory.
The Crimson Tide bats excelled on Saturday, with seven of the nine starters collecting at least one hit in the contest. The offense was paced by multi-hit efforts from Hunter Alexander, Cody Henry and Tanner DeVinny. Alexander collected a pair of hits in four at-bats, while adding one RBI and a season-high two runs scored. Henry tallied his 10th multi-hit game of the season, which ties him for the team lead, going 2-for-4 with one RBI and two runs scored. DeVinny finished his night with a 2-for-3 effort that included one RBI, one walk and a run scored to extend his SEC hitting streak to six games.
Arkansas scored first in Saturday's contest, plating one in the top of the second. The leadoff man reached on a single and later advanced into scoring position on a groundout. A single in the next at-bat crossed the game's first run to give the Razorbacks an early 1-0 lead.
Alabama answered in the next half inning, scoring four runs to gain an advantage. Alexander led off the frame with a double down the left field line and came across to score on a single by Henry. In the next at-bat, DeVinny drew a walk to place runners on first and second for the Tide. One out later, an RBI-double from Connor Short scored one to put Alabama in front, 2-1. Logan Carey followed with a single to plate one before a Cobie Vance groundout pushed one more across, giving the Tide a 4-1 advantage after two full.
The Tide widened the margin in the fifth, using a three-run inning to make it a 7-1 affair. The first man to reach was Chandler Avant, who sent a single through the left side and later advanced to second on a missed pickoff throw at first. One batter later, Alexander collected his second hit of the evening with a single to right that brought Avant across. Henry followed suit with another single to right to put a pair on for DeVinny, who delivered with a single of his own to score one more. With runners on the corners, a wild pitch allowed the third run of the inning to cross, pushing the advantage to 7-1.
Duarte battled into the ninth, but the Tide went to its bullpen arm in Vainer to secure the win. The redshirt-freshman reliever recorded the final two outs of the game with a pair of strikeouts to even the weekend up at one game apiece.
Sunday's game will decide the series between Alabama and Arkansas. The Crimson Tide calls on senior right-hander Nick Eicholtz, while the Razorbacks look to righty Josh Alberius, also a senior, on getaway day. The rubber match will air live on SEC Network.
-UA-
RTR,
Diamond Tide :biga:
