Alabama held on to the lead late to preserve a 9-7 win over UIC on Sunday to complete the three-game sweep and improve the Crimson Tide record to 12-0 on the season.
Illinois-Chicago started the scoring early, driving in one run apiece in the first two innings, giving them an early 2-0 lead. In the bottom half of the second inning, Alabama took the lead and never gave it back, thanks to a five-run inning led by freshman Colby Shelton's second grand slam in consecutive days. Shelton's grand slam marks the first time in program history that Alabama has hit a grand slam in four straight games.
Zane Probst got his first win of the season, pitching one scoreless inning of relief and striking out the side. Sophomore Braylon Myers came into the game with Alabama in a jam in the eighth inning and closed the game with 1.2 innings of shutout ball, striking out two and getting his third save of the season.
Alabama recorded 13 hits on Sunday, with eight of the nine starters recording at least one hit. Shelton led the Alabama offense finishing 2-for-4 with his four RBI coming from his grand slam. Drew Williamson and Mac Guscette both smashed a home run of their own, adding to the Alabama offense.
With Alabama's victory on Sunday, it extended their winning streak to 12 games to start the season, the third longest winning streak to start the season in program history, with the all-time record of wins to start the season being 15 set in 1997.
"I'm glad to get the win, a sweep, and to be 12-0," said head coach Brad Bohannon after the game. "We came out hot, and we got up 7-2, but I felt like we kind of took our foot off the pedal. I really didn't like the back half of the game except for Braylon Myers and Zane Probst, who were both really sharp out of the bullpen. We just weren't crisp after the fourth inning and gave away some at-bats, but we did enough to win the game."
Next up for Alabama is a short road trip to take on Samford on Tuesday.
Don't miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every weekday morning.
