Alabama Baseball Surrenders Late Shots, Decisive Game Three to Mississippi State
TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— The Alabama baseball team faced a similar fate Sunday as the Crimson Tide softball team did Saturday. A pinch hitter belted a seventh-inning home run, and Mississippi State defeated No. 12 Alabama 4-2 to win the series.
“Thought we pitched well enough to win today, realistically,” Alabama coach Rob Vaughn said. “We made three mistakes on the day… The difference is, those balls left the yard, and that ends up being the game.
The Bulldogs got on the board in the first inning for the third consecutive contest. The first two visiting hitters found success against Crimson Tide starter Tyler Fay; leadoff man Gehrig Frei singled, and shortstop Sawyer Reeves followed with a home run (his second of the series).
Until catcher Ross Highfill’s above-mentioned solo home run, which broke a 2-2 tie, those were the only runs to cross the plate for Mississippi State (22-14, 5-10 SEC). In the game’s early stages, Alabama only got one run. Center fielder Richie Bonomolo Jr. scored catcher Brady Neal on a sacrifice fly in the third.
The Crimson Tide (29-8, 8-7 SEC) tied things up on another sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth. Bulldogs outfielder Reed Stallman, whose relationship with the right-field wall at Sewell Thomas Stadium can best be described as unfriendly (he rammed into it on Friday), made an error allowing shortstop Justin Lebron to reach third to lead off the inning.
Left fielder Kade Snell got Lebron home to even the score. The tie was short lived. Mississippi State home run leader Ace Reese doubled the one-run lead Highfill had given the team in the eighth against sophomore reliever Austin Morris. He mashed a solo of his own to the right-field student section.
Morris and senior Braylon Myers let up the late blasts. Fay was unblemished after his first frame, turning in 3.1 innings and four strikeouts. The Bulldogs got an even four innings out of starting pitcher Karson Ligon, who allowed one hit. Williams entered with two out in the sixth and finished the day.
“Williams just has electricity in his arm,” Vaughn said. “We just weren’t good enough offensively. Just felt like we couldn’t get anything going. When we did set it up, we cashed in.”
Lebron reached on a two-out walk issued by Nate Williams in the eighth, but Snell grounded out in the next at-bat. Vaughn went to closer Carson Ozmer for the ninth despite the game being led by the opposing team. Ozmer sat the Bulldog hitters down in order.
Williams did the same to the Crimson Tide offense in the home half of the ninth. Mississippi native Will Hodo was the last hope to keep the game and series alive. He flied out. Vaughn chalked up much of the result to missed pitches on a day that the arms by and large did what they needed to.
“Fay was great,” Vaughn said. “Heiberger came in and did his job and was outstanding. Braylon Myers… He was great. A-Mo, same stuff, good stuff, just one changeup that stayed up. [Connor] Lehman came and got his guy. Oz was great at the end. We pitched plenty good today.”
Alabama’s bats were too cold to string together much on what otherwise was a decent day to hit (sunny, high 70s). The Crimson Tide, which faces UAB on Tuesday at 6 p.m., recorded two hits. One was a bunt by Neal to beat an infield shift. The other, a double from Hodo that just missed clearing the visitors’ bullpen for a home run in the second inning, resulted in no damage.
“We’ve been on the other side of that game most times this year,” Vaughn said. “We’ve got that big hit late, that pinch hit gets it done. Just felt like we couldn’t quite get it… You credit them because when they made a mistake, we weren’t able to capitalize. When we made some mistakes, the difference was three homers.”