May 23, 1998

STANFORD, Calif. - Alabama (45-17) stayed alive in the NCAA West Regional with a 13-5 victory over Loyola Marymount. The Crimson Tide scored in every inning to end the Lions 1998 season with a 34-23-1 record.

Alabama was impressive at the plate the whole game and had a total of four home runs and had 19 hits. G.W. Keller, Drew Bounds and Matt Frick had three hits apiece for the Crimson Tide with Frick hitting a two-run homer in the third, Bounds hitting a solo home run in the fifth and Keller hitting a two-run homer in the sixth. Paul Phillips also had a good day for Alabama, going 2-for-6 with three RBI, including a solo home run in the fourth inning.

The winning pitcher for the Crimson Tide was starter B.J. Green, who improved to 8-2 by pitching 7.0 innings with 11 hits, five runs, five walks and seven strikeouts. The losing pitcher for Loyola Marymount was starter Brian Felten (8-3), who went 5.3 innings with 12 hits, eight earned runs, two walks and two strikeouts. Top hitters for the Lions were Curt Fiore (4-for-5) and Kevin Hook (3-for-4, two doubles, RBI).

"For the second straight game our offense did a great job," said head coach Jim Wells. "We scored in every inning and they (Crimson Tide offense) provided us with ample runs. The main thing is that we were able to win this game and move on to tonight's contest."

Alabama will face North Carolina State at 7 p.m. Saturday

Loyola Marymount    011 001 200 5   12  2
Alabama             122 112 31x 13  19  1

WP:  Green (8-2)        
LP: Felten (8-3)
2B:  Hook 2 (15), Sulentor (11), Ohira (17), Bozanich (18), Bounds (9), Frick (14)
HR:  P. Phillips (11), Keller (15), Bounds (13), Frick (23)
Battery: Felten, Gray, Traber and Walter (LMU). Green, Blankenship and Frick (UA).

POSTGAME QUOTES

LMU HEAD COACH FRANK CRUZ:

"We ran into another buzzsaw out there today. You have to hand it to Alabama. They scored in every inning. The floodgates were open. They hit the heck out of the ball."

on Alabama pitcher B.J. Green - "Green struggled out there but we just didn't get the key hit. To his credit, he stayed in there long enough and gave Alabama some crucial innings that they need in this kind of a tournament."

on Alabama's team - "Alabama has tremendous power. They are as good as anybody we have seen all season."

LMU SHORTSTOP KEVIN HOOK

"We need to play good defensive behind our freshman pitchers in order to win. They stuck their nose out and their and battled the entire tournament."

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ALABAMA HEAD COACH JIM WELLS

"For the second straight game, our offensive did a great job. We scored in every inning and they (Crimson Tide offense) provided us with ample runs. The main thing is that we were able to win this game and move on to tonight's contest."

on tonight's game - "If we do our job in tonight's game then everybody will be on an even playing field tomorrow."

ALABAMA CATCHER MATT FRICK:

on coming back after Friday night's loss to North Carolina State - "Our team was upset after last night's loss, but we told ourselves to forget about it. Today is a new day. Coming back from the loser's bracket is nothing new for this baseball team. We've done it before."

on chances of winning regional - "Whoever scores the most runs is going to win this regional. We have the ability to score a lot of runs."