Baseball splits exhibition doubleheader with Southern Miss

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CW / Hannah Saad

Alabama baseball closed its fall season with two seven-inning exhibition games against Southern Miss on Sunday.

The Crimson Tide dominated the Golden Eagles 10-1 in the first game, with freshman shortstop Jim Jarvis and senior catcher Brett Auerbach contributing four of the team’s 10 runs. Jarvis finished 3-for-4 with a hit by pitch, a single and a home run in the sixth inning.

“Jim has had a great fall,” coach Brad Bohannon said. “Jim to this point has helped us win in several ways.”

Auerbach was also 3-for-4 with a triple, double and a walk. Junior outfielder Tyler Gentry led off the bottom of the second with a home run, the first of five Alabama runs in the inning. Freshman third baseman Zane Denton nearly added a third home run, ripped a ball just foul over the left-field fence in the third inning.

The team was creative with baserunning with three steals in the game.

“We were giving guys the freedom to do some things,” Bohannon said. “We did have a couple guys steal some bases who really feel like running is a part of their game.”

The Tide’s pitching was dominant on the day. Freshman starter Connor Prielipp was dialed in, recording five strikeouts and retiring eight straight batters. Sophomore Connor Shamblin and redshirt freshman Landon Green entered in relief and pitched well to close out the game.

At one point in the game the Crimson Tide retired ten straight batters.

“I don’t think you can leave the ballpark and not be excited about the pitching,” Bohannon said. “We threw a bunch of strikes with multiple pitches.”

Southern Miss used six pitchers during the game, with starter Gabe Shepard and reliever Josh Lewis both struggling. Southern Miss committed three errors in the field and turned one double play.

Alabama had no errors in the field and turned one double play. Sophomore left fielder T.J. Reeves made a diving catch in the outfield in the fourth inning.

In game two of the double-header between the Golden Eagles and the Crimson Tide, Southern Miss evened up the two-game series with a 5-4 victory.

Similar to game one, Alabama took an early lead in the fourth inning thanks to an RBI single by freshman Payton Wilson. The Crimson Tide couldn’t add to its lead as a double-steal backfired as Wilson got caught in the rundown between third and home.

“We really weren’t running the offense today, we gave the freedom for the guys to do somethings and we did have a couple guys steal some bases,” Bohannon said. “That’s something we will more hands on about it in the spring.”

After Southern Miss took the lead in the sixth inning, Alabama had its chance to tie the game but came up short with the bases loaded.

“Today was just really positive day. We played a lot people… and your best offense is not your best defense,” Bohannon said. “It would be really hard for me to make a starting line up right now. We have 12-13 guys I would feel very comfortable playing against a really good team and that’s a good problem to have.”

Alabama will continue fall practice for two weeks before concluding its schedule with the Fall World Series.

“We have until Feb. 14 to work on things we still have a lot of time together the players are allowed to grow and improve,” Bohannon said.