SKYHAWK BASEBALL UPENDS NO. 22 ALABAMA FOR FIRST VICTORY OF 2021 CAMPAIGN

Wednesday, February 24

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

3 p.m.

UT Martin

1-3

Alabama

4-1

UT Martin

Alabama

SKYHAWK BASEBALL UPENDS NO. 22 ALABAMA FOR FIRST VICTORY OF 2021 CAMPAIGN

2/24/2021 9:32:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score PDF Boxscore

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Tennessee at Martin bats got rolling this afternoon at No. 22 Alabama as the Skyhawks played a clean game all around in a 9-4 triumph at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

With the win, UT Martin has now defeated a nationally ranked opponent for the third time in head coach Ryan Jenkins' four-year tenure (also beating No. 30 South Alabama in 2020 and No. 13 Southern Miss in 2018).

The Skyhawk offense erupted late, pushing all nine runs across over the final five frames. Casey Harford went 3-for-5 with three RBI's and two runs scored out of the 3-hole, finishing just a home run shy of hitting for the cycle. Ethan Whitley (had two hits, two RBI's, two runs scored) and Wil LaFollette each went deep for the Skyhawks' first two homers of the season while Sean Dixson recorded an RBI and a run scored.

Five UT Martin pitchers combined to concede just eight hits to the previously unbeaten Crimson Tide. Sam Folks earned his 10^th career victory as he tossed one inning of relief while freshman Ryan Insco was credited the first save of his young career, allowing no hits over the final two frames.

Mitchell Ford made his first career start and was very effective, fanning three batters over three-plus innings. Matthew Shunk followed by striking out the side in the fourth while Nick Wohlbold was sharp in two frames, racking up a pair of strikeouts over a scoreless appearance.

Ford kept Alabama off the scoreboard until the top of the fourth as the Crimson Tide took a 3-0 advantage off a pair of RBI singles and a passed ball. The Skyhawks cut into their deficit in the top of the fifth as each of the first three batters (Whitley hit by pitch, LaFollette walk, Blake Davis walk) reached base safely. Dixson followed with an RBI groundout to short to make the score 3-1.

Wohlbold entered the contest in the fifth and carved up the heart of the Alabama lineup for a pair of punchouts. That allowed UT Martin to once again nudge closer after a manufactured run in the top of the sixth. Harford led things off with a single and soon advanced 90 feet on a wild pitch. Cleanup hitter Christian Hall lifted a deep fly ball to the warning track in right center which allowed Harford to advance to third. Houston Wright then plated Harford with an RBI groundout to the right side to pull the Skyhawks within a single run.

After Wohlbold allowed a harmless two-out single in the sixth, UT Martin took its first lead of the game in the top of the seventh. Both Jack Culumovic and Dixson walked on four pitches, setting up Harford for a clutch two-run, go-ahead double that one-hopped the wall in left center. The two-out base knock tilted the score in advantage of the Skyhawks at 4-3.

The Crimson Tide got a pair of big two-out hits to tie the score in the bottom half of the seventh but the UT Martin bats were just heating up. Following a leadoff walk by Wright, Whitley jumped on a 2-0 offering and deposited the ball beyond the wall in left field to make the score 6-4. LaFollette then crushed the next pitch to the deepest part of the ballpark, giving the Skyhawks back-to-back round-trippers and a 7-4 lead.

UT Martin tacked on two more insurance runs in the top of the ninth. Will Smith led off with a ground-rule double and came into score after a Harford triple down the right field line. Harford would eventually come in to score on an Alabama error to pad the Skyhawk advantage out to 9-4.

That was more than enough support for Insco, who shut down any chance of a potential Crimson Tide rally. The 6-0 right-hander out of Kirkwood, Mo. made short work of Alabama in the eighth and continued to keep the Crimson Tide off balance in the ninth, inducing three fly balls to left field in the final inning.

UT Martin will look to carry over its momentum into a weekend series at Arkansas State on Feb. 26-28. First pitch times for the series are set for 4 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.