A 22-year-old college student confessed to killing his mother in Alabama after the two got into a heated argument over his grades.

Tyler Ryan Blansit was arrested Saturday morning for using a baseball to beat his 45-year-old mother, Sherry Ann Blansit, to death. Officials say that her body was found Friday afternoon in the backyard of her home in Mentone, a small town in the northeastern region of Alabama.

When officers arrived to the scene, they found Sherry Ann Blansit's body in the back yard. They also reported that Blansit, who is studying biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, had scratches on his body and a bump on his head, reports CNN affiliate WAFF.

Blansit later confessed to her murder, telling authorities that he hit her over the head with a bat.

"Usually we'll have calls where a parent has whipped a child because of grades, a child has run away because of bad grades, but we've never had anything like this happen," said DeKalb County Sheriff Jimmy Harris. Sheriff Harris also described the scene as "brutal."

Mentone Police Chief Brad Gregg said that the woman died as the result of blunt-force trauma to the head, reports CNN.

"It's just one of those things you can't explain; we'll never be able to explain what went through his mind, why he snapped and did this," Harris said.

According to Blansit's father, Blansit had been home several weeks and they were waiting to receive his grades from school. The father added that he was at work when the incident occurred.

Tyler Blansit was the couple's only child, Gregg said. He is being held at the DeKalb County Detention Center on murder charges.

As of Saturday, it was unclear if he had an attorney.