Alabama punched its first ticket to the College World Series since 1999, defeating St. John's 7-2 in Game 2 of the Tuscaloosa Super Regional.
Before the season began, the Crimson Tide were projected to finish near the bottom of the SEC, but after a sweep of St. John’s in the Tuscaloosa Super Regional, Alabama will finish its season as one of the best eight teams in the country.
The Crimson Tide once again combined superb pitching with timely hitting to defeat the Red Storm.
Peyton Steele broke the scoreless tie in the top of the third with an RBI single. Later in the inning, Brady Neal grounded out to second to drive in another Alabama run. The two-run lead would be immediately cut in half after St. John’s answered with a run in the bottom half of the third.
Both teams exchanged runs through the middle innings, making it a 3-2 game heading into the seventh inning. It looked like St. John’s was going to pitch out of a jam after allowing a couple of singles and a walk before Jason Torres walked up to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. Torres watched the first pitch go by, but the second pitch he sent over the fence into the crowd in right field for a grand slam.
With a 7-2 lead, victory was in Alabama’s grasp, then the rain and lightning came. Alabama’s celebration was pushed back a day after a five-hour lightning delay forced the finish of Sunday night’s game to Monday afternoon. Both teams went scoreless for the remainder of the game, and Alabama came away with a 7-2 victory.
Zane Adams picked up his eighth win on the season, pitching 6.1 innings, allowing just two runs on six hits, while striking out eight. Matthew Heiberger recorded the final eight outs of the game, allowing just one hit and holding St. John’s scoreless.
Bryce Fowler and Peyton Steele both had two hits for Alabama but the hero of the game was Jason Torres and his grand slam in the seventh to finish 2-for-5 with four RBI a home run and a double.
Alabama will face the winner of the Lawrence Super Regional between Kansas and Oklahoma in the College World Series on Saturday at 2 p.m. The game will air on ESPN.
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