Despite temperatures at Sewell-Thomas Stadium being anything but what players on teams from Alabama are accustomed to, the Crimson Tide took care of Alabama State 15-1 on Wednesday, the team’s second consecutive win by run rule.
Alabama’s pitching staff was perfect through 3.1 innings and had a no-hitter going through 4.1. Right-hander Zach Kittrell made his first Crimson Tide start, and it was six up, six down for him in two innings.
The Hornets (1-4) didn’t get a run across until the final frame, despite loading the bases in the fifth inning. Meanwhile, Crimson Tide right fielder Bryce Fowler was responsible for six runs batted in, all in the first three innings; he hit a grand slam to dead center in the bottom of the third to bring the score to 8-0.
After Alabama (5-0) spent last season with power atop the order in the form of slugging third baseman Gage Miller, Fowler provided shades of the since-turned professional Miller with that blast.
Catcher Will Plattner and center fielder Richie Bonomolo Jr. added RBI singles in the fourth inning, sending the contest into run-rule territory. Second baseman Brennen Norton tacked on another in the fifth, scoring third baseman Jason Torres, who had previously ended a skid of three straight strikeouts in the game with a leadoff double.
Also in the home half of the fifth, Bonomolo took a 3-1 pitch with two men on that was called a strike. He had tossed his bat to jog to first, but upon reassuming his stance, scored both runners with a double on the next pitch. The Crimson Tide initially made the margin two touchdowns with a Will Hodo sacrifice fly in the sixth, sending in Peyton Steele.
The home team’s final run crossed the plate in the form of Torres after a single by team captain Kade Snell. Reliever Jack Ketchum shut the door on the already-slim possibility of the game extending to regulation length in the visitors’ seventh, though Kyler McIntosh hit a single to score Wilbert Espinal. Alabama State mustered only three total hits in the contest.
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