Crimson Red Sports

Both Kenny Roberts and Austen Smith smoked three-run home runs in the sixth inning as the No. 22-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide posted a non-conference victory over the Southeastern Louisiana Lions, 9-1, on Tuesday night from Sewell-Thomas Stadium.p>

"I thought for starters on the mound, Tucker [Hawley] gave us a good start and the bullpen came in and did a nice job," Alabama head coach Mitch Gaspard said. "We had some guys that we wanted to get some work in and they all did a pretty solid job. Offensively, we kind of sputtered there for about five innings and it was big with two outs there, Miller starts us out with a walk, [Georgie] Salem gets a single and then Kenny Roberts gets the big three-run blow and we follow it up with another three-run homer. You don't see that as often as you used to - back-to-back three run homers in the same inning. That was good to see and then from there I thought the offense got going and was much better in the back end of the game."

Although the Lions took a 1-0 lead in the top of the sixth, it did not last long. With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Andrew Miller worked a walk then Georgie Salem stroked a base hit to put runners on the corners. Senior third baseman Kenny Roberts swung at the third pitch he saw and sent a firecracker over the left field wall for his first home run of the season. Not to be out done, junior first baseman Austen Smith clubbed his team-leading third home run over the year into the trees in left field to score Ben Moore and Brett Booth. The two three-run home runs with two outs in the sixth staked the Tide to an insurmountable, 6-1, advantage.