Contributed
(March 15, 2010)

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama escaped an eighth inning jam to hold off the Stony Brook Seawolves 4-3 in the series finale Sunday afternoon at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

Alabama carried a 4-1 lead into the eighth inning and turned the game over to junior right-hander Brett Whitaker, but saw the Seawolves put the first five men on base as they closed the gap to 4-3.

SBU shortstop Chad Marshall greeted Whitaker with a single to center field and third baseman Stephen Marion followed with a ground ball single to right field.  First baseman Robert Dyer singled through the left side of the infield to load the bases with no outs.

Pitcher/designated hitter William Carmona reached on an error by UA first baseman Clay Jones as Marshall scored to narrow the gap to 4-2.  Catcher Justin Echevarria followed with a ground ball single to score Marion as the Seawolves pulled to within 4-3.

Alabama made two errors on Sunday, but came up with several critical defensive plays to thwart SBU rallies. One of those gems came in the eighth when SBU second baseman Maxx Tissenbaum hit a sharp grounder to third baseman Jake Smith, who threw out Dyer at home for the first out, and catcher Cody Trotter fired to Jones at first to retire Tissenbaum.  Jones was injured on the play and left the game after he and Tissenbaum collided at first base.  Sophomore Jon Kelton entered the game as Jones’ replacement.

Pinch-hitter Travis Jankowski hit a slow roller to shortstop Josh Rutledge, who fired late to first base, but Jankowski did not touch the bag and was later ruled out on an appeal play as the Tide maintained its 4-3 lead.

“We went to the pen and all of a sudden in the eighth inning stuff starts happening,” Alabama head coach Mitch Gaspard said.  “It was one of those baseball things, ground balls with eyes.  Whitaker has been sharp all year.  I thought as much as anything when the game really got on the line, he gets a ground ball we get a double play and we get out of it.  I know we had a crazy play at the end, but worked out of it with the lead and White does his job in the ninth inning to shut it down.  It’s always good to win a one-run game; you get better in those games.”

Sophomore right-hander Tyler White worked a perfect ninth inning for his first save of the season, giving the Tide its 12th win in 13 games to open the season.

Alabama (12-1) looked poised for a big day on offense with a four-run first inning, highlighted by Jones’ three-run home run to left field.  Sophomore center fielder Taylor Dugas drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on Rutledge’s base hit to left.  Wilson followed with an RBI double down the right field line to score Dugas with the 1-0 lead.  Jones followed with his fifth home run of the season as the Tide built a quick 4-0 lead just four batters into the game.

Stony Brook starter Adam Brown (0-2) settled down after the rocky start and shutout the Crimson Tide on six hits over the next 6 2/3 innings.  He walked three and struck out five.

Troy salvages final game of series

After two days of too many strikeouts and missed opportunities, the Troy Trojans cut down on the Ks and took better advantage of their scoring chances on Sunday to take a 10-6 victory over Florida Atlantic.

The win salvaged the final game of the opening weekend of Sun Belt Conference play for the Trojans (6-7, 1-2). The loss for the Owls (8-5, 2-1) snapped a five-game win streak.

The Trojans struck only twice in the game after tying a school record with 17 on Saturday. The increased contact resulted in 14 hits, including five that went for extra bases.

“We had a lot of opportunities offensively and I like the way we changed our approach at the plate,” Trojans coach Bobby Pierce said. “The kids responded the way we wanted them to respond and we had a lot of base hits because of that. We had a little bad luck in the first and second innings when we hit into the 1-2-3 double plays, but we looked a whole lot better at the plate.”

Sophomore Tyler Ray (2-2) was the beneficiary of the better offensive production. The right-hander, who battled a stomach virus all week, went six innings, scattering 11 hits and allowing just three earned runs. He did not walk anyone and struck out four.

Junior Nick Ward and senior Robby Loew combined to work the final three innings, with Loew closing the door for his first career save.

“I thought Tyler pitched pretty good, under the circumstances, and I thought Robby Loew pitched really well late,” Pierce said. “We knew Tyler’s stamina was going to be an issue because he was sick all week. He gave a gutsy performance because he didn’t have very good stuff. He made some good pitches here and there to give us a chance and we were able to score some runs for him.”

Freshman Kevin Alexander (1-2) took the loss for the Owls. He worked five innings, allowing seven earned runs on 10 hits.

Sun Devils sweep Auburn

TEMPE, Ariz. - Auburn could not salvage the final game of its series at No. 2 Arizona State, falling 8-3, on Sunday afternoon at Packard Stadium. The loss was the third straight for Auburn, which came into the series with a six-game winning streak.

"Arizona State played extremely well all weekend and they didn’t beat themselves," Auburn Head Coach John Pawlowski said. "We have to improve. This was certainly a wake-up call for everybody, the guys and our staff."

Auburn (9-5) jumped on Arizona State (15-0) starter Jake Borup for three runs in the first two innings but couldn’t muster much offense after that, collecting just one base runner from the third through seventh innings. Borup went five innings, allowing three runs on five hits and a walk, striking out six to go to 4-0 on the season.

The teams traded two-run home runs in the first as Hunter Morris (1-for-4) drove in Justin Hargett (2-for-4) with his second blast of the weekend only to have Riccio Torrez (2-for-5, 3 RBI) answer by depositing a Jon Luke Jacobs pitch back over the centerfield wall in almost the exact same spot as Morris’, capitalizing on a walk to the second hitter in the inning.

Ryan Jenkins’ (1-for-3) RBI double with two outs in the top of the second gave Auburn the lead back, 3-2, bringing Tony Caldwell (0-for2, 2 BB, SB) home after he walked and stole second to start the inning.

Arizona State tied it at 3-3 in the bottom of the third, capitalizing on an Auburn error to score an unearned run off of Jacobs and then knocked the Auburn starter out with a leadoff home run in the bottom fourth to take a 4-3 lead, bringing Grant Dayton in for his first relief appearance since March 18, 2008. Jacobs (0-2) allowed four runs on three hits and two walks to take the loss.

Arizona State, which made its living in the fifth inning during the course of the weekend by scoring nine runs in the first two game combined, tacked on three more on Sunday to take a 7-3 lead, knocking Dayton from the game after he went just one inning, allowing two runs on a hit and three walks.

Arizona State extended its lead to five runs with a run off of Zach Blatt in the bottom of the sixth, staking itself to an 8-3 lead.