Diodati's single gives Alabama 8-7 win over Auburn in extras
Great Lake Canadians DH Owen Diodati (Niagara Falls, Ont.) had two hits and two RBIs, including the walk-off game winner in extras.
April 15, 2021
By Alex Thompson
University of Alabama Athletics
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Owen Diodati’s RBI-single in the 10th helped the Alabama Crimson Tide walk off Auburn, 8-7, on Thursday at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The win moved the Tide to 21-12 on the season, including a 6-7 mark in Southeastern Conference play.
The two teams went back and forth all evening before 2,003, including John Reed, son of legendary Leaside catcher Buck Reed. Auburn scored first, plating one in the second before Alabama answered with two in the home half. The Tide added a pair in the bottom of the third before AU came back with two in the fourth. Alabama crossed one in the home half, but the Tigers countered for three in the fifth to take the lead. The lead would not last for long as the Tide added one in the bottom of the fifth. The teams traded single runs in the eighth before failing to score in the ninth to send the game to extras.
In the 10th, Alabama got the leadoff man on thanks to a single from Zane Denton. He was followed by a single from Sam Praytor to put two on for Diodati (Niagara Falls, Ont.) The Tide DH capitalized on his opportunity, sending the first pitch he saw down the line in right for the walk off win.
Alabama was led on offense by the heart of the order. The trio of Denton, Praytor and Diodati combined for seven hits, five RBIs and three runs scored. Denton and Praytor each homered with Praytor leading UA in hits thanks to a 3-for-5 night. Diodati knocked in a pair of runs with his two singles. Drew Williamson added a third home run for the Tide, his, fourth of the season.
Landon Green (3-0) picked up his third win, tossing 2.0 scoreless frames with four punch outs. The Tide got to Green thanks to an impressive relief effort from William Freeman. Freeman worked four innings, allowing only one run on three hits while striking out two to keep the Tide within striking distance.
From Head Coach Brad Bohannon
“Man, what a great college game, back and forth all night. We told our guys before the game ‘This is the best hitting team we will have played to this point,’ and the ball was flying today. We knew it was going to take some crooked numbers and all four times that Auburn scored we responded in the bottom of the inning. William Freeman and Landon Green were lights-out out of the pen and obviously Diodati got a huge hit, so I’m just really proud of our club.”
How It Happened
T2 | Steven Williams homered to right to get the Tigers on the board first. (1-0, Auburn)
B2 | T.J. Reeves singled with two down to give UA a baserunner. Drew Williamson quickly brought him home in the next at-bat, sending an 0-2 pitch over the wall in left to give the Tide the advantage. (2-1, Alabama)
B3 | A two-out RBI-single from Sam Praytor added to the Tide lead. Owen Diodati followed with an RBI-single of his own to cap the inning’s scoring. (4-1, Alabama)
T4 | The Tigers recorded a two-out triple that was followed by an inside-the-park home run from Kason Howell cut the deficit to one. (4-3, Alabama)
B4 | Alabama pushed the lead to two thanks to an RBI-single from Peyton Wilson. Wilson drove in Jim Jarvis, who reached with a two-out walk and moved into scoring position on a passed ball. (5-3, Alabama)
T5 | Back-to-back singles put two on before a two-run double down the line set the score even. A wild pitch moved the runner to third before a groundout to first scored one more to give AU the lead. (6-5, Auburn)
B5 | The Tide set things even again thanks to a solo shot from Zane Denton. (6-6)
T8 | Howell homered over the wall this time to give the Tigers the lead once again. (7-6, Auburn)
B8 | Praytor recorded a solo shot for his ninth home run of the season. (7-7)
B10 | Denton led off the 10th with a single and was followed by another single from Praytor. Diodati took advantage of the man in scoring position, sending a ball down the line in right to walk it off for the Crimson Tide. (8-7, Alabama)
Postgame Notes
-Alabama has now walked it off in four games this season. The Crimson Tide had a walk-off grand slam from Owen Diodati on March 9 against South Alabama and also had a walk-off win over McNeese on Feb. 20 thanks to a Zane Denton home run. The most recent walk off for UA came against Stetson on March 13 on an errant throw by the Hatters.
-Alabama finished with 12 hits in tonight’s game and has now totaled 10-or-more hits in seven straight games and nine of the last 10 matchups.
-Eight of the nine Alabama starters recorded at least one hit on the night.
-The Crimson Tide is now 15-6 in games with a home run, including an 11-3 mark in games with two-plus home runs.
-Alabama’s three-homer performance was the team’s sixth of the season.
-UA has homered in nine of 13 SEC pairings, totaling 21 home runs in those matchups.
-Sam Praytor homered in tonight’s game to pair with his solo shot against Samford on Tuesday. Praytor’s back-to-back games with a homer marks the sixth time this season that a UA player has homered in consecutive games. Most recently, Zane
-Denton homered in back-to-back contests from March 12-13 against Stetson.
-With his 1-for-5 night, Peyton Wilson extended his hitting streak to an Alabama season-long and career-long 13 games. Across that stretch, the sophomore is batting .417 (25-60) with four doubles, a triple and three home runs to go with 10 RBI, 12 runs scored, three walks, a hit-by-pitch and five stolen bases.
-Wilson also extended his hitting streak in SEC play to 10 straight games. The sophomore is batting .457 (21-46) with three doubles, three home runs, nine RBI, nine runs, two walks, a hit-by-pitch and five stolen bases during that stretch.