Some say that there are football games that can be decided by just a few select plays. The same can be said for basketball games, where three or four key shots can win or lose a game. Baseball is no different, as the Crimson Tide learned Friday night againstEast Carolina.
Alabama faltered when the pressure was on and lost 3-1 because of it in Alabama’s first of three games in the DRASH Alabama Baseball Classic.
Alabama starting pitcher Charley Sullivan was charged with the loss against the Pirates, but both teams felt he pitched very well. Sullivan pitched a career-high eight innings and struck out five batters while allowing eight hits.
“I thought Sullivan did a super job,” Alabama head coach Mitch Gaspard said. “He pitched eight fantastic inning and gave us a great shot to win.”
East Carolina head coach Billy Godwin added, “He’s got a very good changeup and pitches well with his fastball. We were lucky, we got some good swings on him.”
One of those good swings came on what could be Sullivan’s lone mistake of the evening, when he said he “left a pitch up for [East Carolina third baseman Corey Thompson],” which Thompson smacked to deep centerfield for a two-RBI double.
“It was a punch in the face,” Alabama second baseman Kenny Roberts said. “We came out with so much energy. Charley [Sullivan] set the tone on the mound and when they put up [three runs] right there, it kind of killed us.”
A lack of offensive firepower again hurt the Tide in key moments. With two outs in the bottom of the first inning and the bases loaded, left fielder Cameron Carlisle grounded to the third baseman to end the inning. Gaspard said he could feel the disappointment in the dugout after missing that opportunity.
Alabama continued to fight back after the setback, showing an attitude that Gaspard applauded after the game.
“I thought the positive was we had great energy,” Gaspard said. “We came out and played the game hard and got after it, we just ran into [East Carolinastarting pitcher Kevin Brandt].”
When Brandt was taken out of the game for East Carolina reliever Tanner Merritt for the ninth inning, Alabama third baseman Brett Booth responded to the pressure with a double down the left-field line and moved to third on a Ben Moore infield single.
Then another opportunity slipped away, as substitute right fielder Brandt Hendricks struck out looking at a up-in-the-zone fastball, leaving Booth on third and Moore on first.
“Our guys really need something positive right now,” Gaspard said. “When you’ve had a lot of bad stuff going on for a few weeks I think you’re looking for that really big blow, and that’s what will get us going in the right direction. Someone’s got to come up and get that big hit for us and release the elephant off of our backs.”
