BATON ROUGE, La. – Senior Jake Walters spun a gem on Saturday night to help Alabama baseball come away with a 6-1 win at Alex Box Stadium. The Crimson Tide evened the series up with the victory in game two and is now 26-26 overall and 7-19 in Southeastern Conference play on the season.
“Jake (Walters) was outstanding tonight, and we turned four beautiful double plays behind him,” said Alabama head coach Brad Bohannon. “LSU gave us some free baserunners, and we were able to string some tough at-bats together. I’m really proud of the way we responded after last night’s game, and I expect another great effort out of our kids tomorrow as we go for the series.”
Walters (3-5) worked a career-long 8.0 innings on the night, allowing only one run on four hits and three walks. The Tide starter was aided by an Alabama season-high four double plays and added three strikeouts across his 102 pitches of work before handing it over to Brock Guffey for the final frame. The freshman reliever allowed one hit in his 1.0 scoreless frame to secure the victory for Alabama.
At the plate, the Crimson Tide’s 1-2-3 hitters contributed seven of the team’s nine hits and four of six RBI. Junior Joe Breaux led the way with a 3-for-6 effort that included an RBI, one run scored and a pair of stolen bases. Leadoff man Cobie Vance wrapped up his night at 2-for-5 with a home run and team-leading three RBI to go with a walk and a run, while the Tide’s No. 3 hitter, Chandler Avant, went 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.
Alabama and LSU return to the diamond on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT to decide the series. The Crimson Tide will call on redshirt freshman Garret Rukes, a right-hander, in the start while the Tigers counter with sophomore southpaw Nick Bush. The rubber match can be seen live on SEC Network+.
