Flashes Drop Opener at Alabama
2/17/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Tuscaloosa, Ala. Crimson Tide ace Wade LeBlanc stuck out nine batters over six innings to lift Alabama past Kent State 10-2 Friday night (Feb. 17) and spoil the Flashes season opener. The Tide scored three runs in the first inning, one in the second and never looked back.
KSU stayed within strking distance until the bottom of the sixth, when `Bama scored four runs on five walks in the inning. Golden Flash pitchers totaled 10 walks on the game.
Freshman Brad Winter (Bellefontaine, Ohio/Bellefontaine) lined a fourth inning-double for the Flashes lone extra base hit of the game. Junior catcher Will Vazquez (Berea, Ohio/Berea) later scored in the inning on a groundout but KSU could only get one run across and stranded two.
Vazquez scored again in the seventh on an RBI single off the bat of junior shortstop Emmanuel Burriss (Washington, D.C./Wilson). Burriss went 2-for-4 from the dish with a walk and has now hit safely in eight straight games dating back to May 13, 2005.
After four runs in the first two innings, senior starter Chad Wagler (Hartville, Ohio/Lake) settled down and threw three scoreless innings. Wagler allowed two earned runs over five innings and struck out three.
Senior reliever Phil Bojc (Euclid, Ohio/Euclid) retired four batters and did not allow a run or hit. Senior Jon Miller (Louisville, Ky./Illinois) and sophomore Dominique Rodgers (Copley, Ohio/Copley) also saw action in relief.
The bottom line is when you walk 10 guys youre not going to win, said Head Coach Scott Stricklin. We came into this game wanting to throw strikes and make them beat us but that didnt happen.
On the other side, Alabamas two pitchers combined for 13 strikeouts and just three walks. LeBlanc allowed only three hits over his six innings in his second start of the season. Hes going to pitch in the major leagues some day, said Stricklin.
Alabama catcher Kody Valverde had three hits including a three-run triple in the sixth and a career-high five RBI. We were in the game until that sixth inning, said Stricklin. On the positive side, we played well defensively. We had one costly error in the first and didnt make a mistake after that.
KSU (0-1) and Alabama (3-2) will play game two of the three-game series Saturday with a 5p.m. Central start under the lights at Sewel-Thomas Stadium.
