Tide’s Ben Moore Freshman Honoree

Alabama baseball may be struggling, but one Crimson Tide freshman is having an excellent season. For the second time this season, Alabama outfielder/catcher Ben Moore of Cullman has been named the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week.

Alabama played five games in the week ending Sunday. The Crimson Tide had a 3-2 record and is now 16-25 overall and 6-12 in SEC games. Bama split a midweek doubleheader with Mississippi Valley State and then took two of three games from Vanderbilt.

Moore finished the five-game week with a .579 (11-for-19) batting average, which included an 8-for-11 (.727) performance in the three-game SEC series against Vanderbilt. Additionally, Moore scored five runs, drove in five, had three doubles and hit his second home run of the season. He had 17 total bases for an .895 slugging percentage last week.

Moore was 3-for-8 in the doubleheader against Mississippi Valley State on Wednesday, with a double and a home run. After going 1-for-3 in the series opener against Vandy, he was 3-for-4 in game two and 4-for-4 in the series finale on Sunday. He had a .909 slugging percentage in the series, collecting 10 total bases in 11 at-bats against the Commodores. He has reached base safely in eight of his last nine plate appearances.

He reached base in four of five plate appearance in game two, including a two-out walk in the ninth which came right before Austen Smith’s walk-off 3-run home run in an 8-6 win over the Commodores. In the final game of the series, Moore collected a career-high four hits for his 14th multiple hit game of the season. It’s the fifth time this season he’s had at least three hits in a game.

Following the big week, Moore continues to lead the team with a .369 batting average, while hitting .406 during SEC play, which is fourth in the league for conference games only. Moore leads the team with 55 hits, is tied for the team lead with 10 doubles, and is third on the squad with two home runs and 23 RBI.

Alabama returns to action Tuesday when the Tide travels to Birmingham to take on the Samford Bulldogs at 6 p.m. CDT at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

Bama has a tough SEC assignment this weekend, going to Columbia to take on sixth-ranked South Carolina in games Friday and Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.