Bama Evens The Series With Stetson

In commanding fashion from the bullpen, Alabama baseball managed to secure its third walk-off victory of 2021 by beating the Stetson Hatters by a score of 4-3 in 12 innings of play in Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

On the pitching effort from the series-tying victory on Saturday, coach Brad Bohannon said, "... having a guy like Chase (Lee) and Brock Guffey too that are experienced and have done it in high-pressure environments against high-level players, you know, it's invaluable." While the right-handed Texan Dylan Smith wasn't credited with the win on the final stat line, the junior starter only allowed 3 runs and 1 walk with 10 strikeouts in a total of 8.0 innings pitched. Fellow junior right-hander Chase Lee came in for relief in a 3-3 tied ballgame for the ninth inning and would finish the outing as the winning pitcher of record after 4.0 innings with 4 strikeouts and no hits allowed.

Following one of the most dominating games of his career at the Capstone, the junior right-hander Dylan Smith said, "I just attacked the hitters and attacked the zone with my best stuff." The starter who's thrown 20 strikeouts in his last two appearances added that he had indeed thrown over 102 pitches in a live game prior to today, Smith said, "The most I've throw was about 115... In high school."

Though sophomore Zane Denton managed to hit yet another home run, his sixth of the year, Alabama's bats as a team weren't as alive as they've shown to be all of 2021. However, an ever-improving stat for the Tide's offense, strikeouts, was kept to just four on the entire 12-inning pitching matchup. Sophomore Tuscaloosa native Will Hamiter went 3-for-6 at the plate while sophomore shortstop Jim Jarvis managed a solid 2-for-4.

The game was finally won in the 12th inning after Hamiter was able to single before a walk given to junior catcher Sam Praytor. A Stetson fielding error following a Drew Williamson sacrifice bunt would bring in Hamiter to end the long Saturday outing.

Alabama can clinch the series and move to 14-3 in their third and final game with the Stetson Hatters on Sunday at 1 pm. Their next game following the series will take place on the road against Troy on Tuesday, March 16 at 6 PM as the Tide begins a four-game road stretch which ends with a three-game series against the Razorbacks in Fayetteville.

For more content from J.R. and all the talented interns at Tide 100.9, make sure to tune-in for Tide Tonight - Monday 7:00-8:00 pm, as well as, Wednesday and Friday 6:00-7:00 pm. You can hear all of our radio content on the new Tide 100.9 app!