TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama baseball team plated 11 runs in the third inning on its way to a 14-5 win over Samford Tuesday night at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

"We had one terrible inning on the mound and that was the difference in the game," Samford head coach Tony David said. "I thought we competed well at the plate and swung the bats well enough to have scored more runs than we did."
 
With the loss, Samford fell to 26-14 on the season. Alabama improved to 26-15 with the win.
 
Samford was led in the loss by John Anderson, Cullen Horowicz and Cade Carr with two hits and an RBI each. Garrett Staton homered, going 1-for-5 with two RBI. Alex Gaeto (0-1) pitched a third of an inning, giving up six runs on four hits to take the loss on the mound for Samford.

"It's strange, but when you start to look at positives and negatives on the night, we had more positives," David said. "Noah Bery threw well in his first start. I wanted him to experience the process of starting. He has thrown really well for us and is ready for a bigger role. Whitney and Fryman had good outings, and Blake Bortak was electric in his two innings. I actually thought Matt Manley threw better than his line, he competed well out there. It is important for our guys' development and to give some guys a shot on the mound to show they can help on the weekends."
 
For Alabama, Justin Lebron, T.J. McCants and Evan Sleight all had two-run home runs in that 11-run third inning. Lebron went 3-for-5 with four RBI in the game. Sleight went 2-for-4 with two RBI, while McCants went 1-for-3 with two RBI. Will Hodo and Kade Snell also had two hits each for Alabama. Austin Morris (2-0) pitched 3.0 innings in relief, giving up one run on five hits to pick up the win for the Crimson Tide.
 
Samford jumped on top early with four runs in the top of the second inning. Horowicz doubled to drive in Andrew Bennett for the first run of the game. Carr then singled to drive in Horowicz for a 2-0 Samford lead. Staton then homered to left field for a 4-0 Bulldog lead.
 
Alabama came back with 11 runs in the bottom of the third inning. The Crimson Tide hit three two-run homers to produce most of the runs as Alabama took an 11-4 lead. In the top of the fifth inning, Samford's Anderson singled to drive in Garrett Howe to cut the lead to 11-5.
 
The Crimson Tide added three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to push their lead to 14-5. Hodo drove in one run and Snell drove in two runs as Alabama took a nine-run lead.
 
Samford will return home for a weekend non-conference series against Liberty. The teams are scheduled to play Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 5 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
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