After winning the first two games of a three-game series against Florida Atlantic, the Alabama Crimson Tide dropped the third game, 3-0, Sunday afternoon at FAU Stadium.
The loss marks the first of the season for Alabama, as the Tide drops to 6-1 while FAU improves to 4-3, after snapping a three-game losing streak.
“First of all, you have to tip your cap to Strawn,” head coach Mitch Gaspard said. “He was really effective today, throwing two pitches consistently for strikes and working ahead. We got out of our game plan a little bit today and tried to pull the ball and made some early outs. We never got into a rhythm offensively, but that has a lot to do with the pitcher on the other side and how Florida Atlantic played today.”
The Alabama bats were held at bay Sunday as the Tide collected just four hits against FAU starter Jeremy Strawn. Strawn threw eight scoreless innings, with no walks and six strikeouts, to improve to 1-0. Hugh Adams threw a scoreless ninth to record his second save of the season. UA starting pitcher Spencer Turnbull (0-1) took the loss after throwing six innings, allowing three runs on eight hits with a walk and two strikeouts.
“Turnbull gave us a quality start, and Hubbard did a nice job keeping the game close to give us a chance, and defensively we had an errorless game,” Gaspard said. “It’s a little disappointing to not have more opportunities offensively to score runs, especially when you have a chance to sweep. Overall, on the road, winning two out of three games is a nice start, but our mission is to be good every day, and we took a step backward today offensively.”
Jake Hubbard threw 1.2 scoreless innings, and Justin Kamplain pitched a third of an inning to finish the game for Alabama.
Three of the four Alabama hits came with two outs with Ryan Blanchard getting a hit in the third, Kyle Overstreet a single in the fourth and Georgie Salem a single in the sixth. Brett Booth singled to lead off the Alabama eighth and was the only player for the Tide to get on base to lead off an inning and reach second base against the Owls.
Alabama will return home for a midweek game against Samford Tuesday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. CT, at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Pitching matchups have not yet been determined.
Leading in today’s Crimson White:
Gators hand Crimson Tide 8th straight loss
