Alabama Baseball off to Hot Start

Alabama Baseball is off to their fourth 5-0 start in the last five seasons, after its three game sweep of Xavier to go along with midweek wins over Jacksonville State and Alabama State.

The team’s early success has been fueled by timely hitting, and solid defense.

Through five game, the Crimson Tide has 55 hits, including 14 doubles and six home runs.

Sophomore Caden Rose has been Alabama’s hottest hitter, with a .455 batting average. Senior Tommy Seidl (.444 average) and junior Jim Jarvis (.412 average) are also off to strong starts.

Junior Dominic Tamez and senior Drew Williamson are leading the team with two homeruns apiece. Williamson has a team-best six RBI.

The Tide has been able to get quality innings out of their starting pitchers. Newcomer Garrett McMillan started on opening day and pitched six innings against Xavier. He finished the game with five strikeouts, and two walks. Alabama rallied for three runs in the ninth inning, including senior Owen Diodati’s two-run “walk-off” home run for a 5-4 win on opening day.

Two other members of the Alabama pitching staff, Grayson Hitt and Jacob McNairy, put together quality starts. Hitt pitched four innings and picked up the win in Sunday’s series finale against Xavier, and McNairy pitched five innings and allowed just one run in Tuesday’s victory over Jacksonville State.

This weekend, Alabama travels to Austin, Texas for a three games series with the top-ranked Texas Longhorns. The first game is scheduled for Friday at 7:00 p.m.