University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Alabama
Alabama Defeats Vols For Second Straight Game, 14-2
March 16, 2002 | Baseball
March 16, 2002
Tuscaloosa, Ala. -- Scott McClanahan drove in five runs and Beau Hearod hit a three-run home run and drove in four as the No. 16 Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the Tennessee Volunteers, 14-2, in the second of three games at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
Alabama posted its seventh straight win to improve to 18-2 and 2-0 in the Southeastern Conference, while Tennessee fell to 10-12 and 0-2 in league action. The Vols will try to salvage a game in the series finale Sunday at 2 p.m. CT.
Hearod and Brent Boyd each had three hits to pace the 15-hit Alabama attack, while Walter Sevilla had two of Tennessee's six hits.
Dennis Gomez homered for the second time in as many games leading off the second for the Vols, while the third of four Tide errors led to Sevilla scoring Tennessee's second run in the fourth.
Sevilla and Hal Bibee both extended their hitting streaks to eight games with singles in the second following Gomez' third home run of the season.
Josh Baker (3-0) picked up the win for Alabama, working six innings while giving up two runs (one earned) on six hits with five strikeouts and one walk.
With the score tied 1-1, McClanahan's three-run double down the left field line capped a four-run second inning for the Tide as they broke the game open in taking a 5-1 lead.
A three-run home run by Hearod, his fourth of the season, extended Alabama's lead to 8-1 in the third.
Vol starter Patrick Hicklen (3-3), who had won his previous three starts, was pulled after giving up five runs on three hits in two innings.
Dusty Johnson got off to a rough start in relief of Hicklen, giving up two hits and Hearod's home run to the first three batters he faced before retiring the next nine hitters. He was lifted in the sixth after giving up a two-run triple to McClanahan that made it 10-2. McClanahan later scored on a sacrifice fly for an 11-2 Alabama lead.
The Tide added two more in the seventh and one in the eighth for the final 14-2 margin.
