Alabama defeats Bisons behind solid Kilcrease pitching

TUSCALOOSA | The University of Alabama ended a bothersome streak and Josh Rutledge kept a good one alive Tuesday as the Crimson Tide defeated Lipscomb 8-4 on Tuesday at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

Alabama (23-19) breathed a sigh of relief in the fourth inning when Jake Smith threw the ball to first baseman West Henderson to retire the side.

The three-up, three-down buried a 32-inning streak, dating back to the Southern Mississippi game, in which Alabama allowed the opponent to reach base.

'Trust me, it was a party in the dugout,' said UA assistant coach Mitch Gaspard, who filled in for head coach Jim Wells, who was in Baton Rouge, La., to tend to his ill mother. 'It was a long streak. That's baseball. It was nice to break the string and get some three-ups and three-downs in there.'

Starting pitcher Nathan Kilcrease added an exclamation mark by striking out the side in the next inning.

Also in the fourth inning, Rutledge extended his hitting streak to 18 games with a single. He has a hit in 35 of the 40 games he has played. One of those no-hit outings was the season opener. He was tied for third in total hits in the Southeastern Conference going into the game.

'Rutledge is just a stud,' Gaspard said. 'For a true freshman to do what he is doing is unheard of. He's been the model of consistency. He's just solid, night-in and night-out.'

Rutledge said the streak is the longest of his baseball career.

'I'm just seeing the ball well right now,' he said. 'I'm not trying to do too much. I'm just going with it. I try not to think about the streak, but it's hard not to.'

Kilcrease worked six straight shutout innings in his first start of the season. He has been hampered by a back strain in recent weeks. He allowed two unearned runs and five hits in seven innings of work. He struck out seven without walking a batter.

'He was outstanding,' Gaspard said. 'The arm was really fresh tonight. His location was really good. He was really the story of the game. He let us settle in and get some runs. He was dominant on the mound.'

Alabama jumped out early with a four-run second inning. Kent Matthes led off with a single. Ryan Rhoden followed with a single into shallow right-center. A sacrifice bunt by Wes Henderson rode the third base line as Matthes and Rhoden advanced. Kyle Moore was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Jake Smith hit a two-RBI single to left field that scored Matthes and Rhoden. With Moore and Smith on first and second, Rutledge put runners on the corners with a fielder's choice. Moore stole second, and a balk sent him to third and Moore home for a 3-0 lead. Ross Wilson walked and Brandon May laced a two-out single down the middle to score Rutledge. The Tide batted around as Alex Avila retired the inning with a chopper to the pitcher.

Matthes dropped a solo shot over the 365-foot-wall in left field on the first pitch of the third inning to push the lead to 5-0.

Alabama added insurance runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. Lipscomb didn't score until the seventh inning. A single after an error pushed two runs across the plate for the Bisons. They tacked on a run in both the eighth and ninth innings to cut the deficit in half.

The game was Alabama's last regular-season, non-conference home game of the season.

Gaspard said Wells is unlikely to rejoin the team for the South Alabama game in Mobile today at 6 p.m. However, Wells will likely be back for the important weekend home series against Auburn.