ALABAMA COLLEGIANS PLAY THREE GAMES IN CUBA

The University of Alabama’s baseball team got a two-run homer from Kent Matthes and some strong pitching to come away with a 3-3 tie against the Cuban Collegiate All-Stars last Tuesday in Habana in the opener of the three-game Friendship Tournament.

Crimson Tide starter Austin Hyatt settled down after allowing three unearned runs in the first inning, allowing no more runs through the fifth inning while striking out five Cuban batters. Hyatt retired 13 of 14 batters at one point.

The Cubans defeated the Crimson Tide, 6-2, in the second game on Wednesday. Shortstop Adonis Garcia collected three of Cuba’s 11 hits as home team starter Maikel Forch, who pitched for Cuba in the 2008 World University Games, held Bama to just one run on three hits in five innings on the mound.

In the third and final game of the series on Thursday, Cuba defeated Alabama, 7-5. The game was scoreless until Cuba’s Reiner Bello tripled off Tide starter Adam Morgan to drive in Jose Ruiz with the game’s first run. Alabama came back to take their first lead of the series by scoring five times in the top of the fifth, including an RBI single by Alex Kubal. The Cubans came back to score six seventh-inning runs and held on for the win.

After getting approval from the U.S. State Department this summer, the Tide became the first Alabama team to play in Cuba since 1957, two years before Fidel Castro took power.