Just hours after firing head baseball coach Brad Bohannon for violating the standards, duties and responsibilities of university employees, Alabama rallied behind interim head coach Jason Jackson to defeat No. 5 Vanderbilt 11-2.
Jackson, a pitching coach, took over the coaching duties for Alabama baseball after Bohannon was fired early Thursday, just three days after news broke about there being suspicious wagering activity surrounding Alabama baseball games against No.1 ranked LSU over the weekend. It was later reported by ESPN that “sportsbook surveillance video indicated” that Bohannon was in contact with the person that made the bet that was flagged.
Despite all the chaos surrounding the baseball program, Alabama had no time to sit back and reflect on the events that had transpired over the past few days as they welcomed No. 5 Vanderbilt to Sewell-Thomas Stadium Thursday night.
Vanderbilt took an early lead in the first inning by way of a solo home run from RJ Schreck. The 1-0 lead would be the only time Vanderbilt would hold the lead as it was quickly erased in the bottom half of the inning from an RBI sac fly from Dominic Tamez. In the bottom of the second inning, Alabama received all the run support that they would need after Andrew Pinckney hit a grand slam over the left-field fence.
Alabama took a convincing 7-2 lead into the eighth inning before first baseman Drew Williamson put the game out of reach of the Commodores with a 3-run home run.
Sophomore pitcher Luke Holman received plenty of run support, but he didn’t need much to secure the win with the pitching performance he put on Thursday night. Holman pitched seven strong innings for the Crimson Tide, striking out seven batters and allowing just two runs on four hits. Alton Davis II and Braylon Myers combined for two innings pitched and allowed just one run to close the game out for the 11-2 Alabama victory.
Thursday night's win over No. 5 Vanderbilt was much needed with all the off-the-field chaos surrounding the program. The second game of three scheduled against Vanderbilt this weekend will be Friday, May 5 with first pitch scheduled for 7 P.M.
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