Alabama thumps Mississippi State; Ole Miss drops game one to Arkansas
Published 5:28 pm Friday, April 7, 2023
- Alabama baseball player Jim Jarvis (10) turns a double play as Mississippi State's Amani Larry (8) slides into second base during Friday's game in Tuscaloosa. Alabama won, 11-1. (Crimson Tide Photos/UA Athletics)
TUSACLOOSA, Ala. — Mississippi State hit four home runs in its series opener against Alabama. In game two, it didn’t even have that many hits.
Luke Holman allowed one run in 5 2/3 innings, Dominic Tamez homered twice and drove in four runs, and Alabama rolled to an 11-1 run-rule victory over Mississippi State on Friday afternoon.
Mississippi State only had three hits in the game. Its four pitchers combined to issue 12 walks. Starter Jurrangelo Cijntje (3-2) allowed two hits, five walks and five runs in two innings.
“We came out hot. We had some good at-bats and took some borderline pitches to work some walks in,” Alabama coach Brad Bohannon said. “Obviously, the second inning we put up the five-spot, and then Luke (Holman) gave us a great start. Mississippi State helped us today. They walked us and gave us some free baserunners, but to our kids’ credit we got some big hits.”
The loss dampened Mississippi State’s buzz as much as the wet weather dampened uniforms in Tuscaloosa. The Bulldogs (18-14, 2-9 Southeastern Conference) won 12-8 on Thursday for their first victory in an SEC series this season, then fell flat on Friday.
Ed Johnson got the Crimson Tide (23-9, 4-7) started with a three-run home run in the second inning. Drew Williamson also singled in two runs as Alabama took a 5-0 lead.
Mississippi State got on the board in the top of the fifth, when Kellum Clark walked and later scored on a ground out by Amani Larry. Alabama put the hammer down in the bottom of the fifth, however.
Tamez hit a two-run home run and Williamson another RBI single to make it 8-1. Tamez hit his second two-run homer in the sixth, then Will Portera finished the game with an RBI single in the seventh.
Williamson and Johnson both went 2-for-4 with three RBIs.
The Bulldogs and Crimson Tide will finish their series Saturday at 5 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPNU.
Arkansas 11, Ole Miss 2
Caleb Cali and Brady Slavens homered, and Arkansas (24-5, 7-3 SEC) scored six runs in the fifth inning to blow open the first game of a doubleheader against Ole Miss (17-12, 1-9).
Slavens hit a grand slam that gave the Razorbacks an 8-0 lead and was the big blow in the fifth inning. He finished 3-for-4 with five RBIs.
Ole Miss scored both of its runs on Kemp Alderman’s two-run home run in the eighth inning.
The teams will finish their series Saturday at 2 p.m. The game will be televised on the SEC Network.