?Despite being the comeback kid during Wednesday’s SEC Baseball Tournament game against Auburn, No. 7 Alabama didn’t seem to have the same momentum against No. 2 LSU, losing 3-0 to the Tigers.
?“Overall, they did more to win the game,” Coach Mitch Gaspard said. “We’ll regroup and play again tomorrow.” ? Alabama (33-25) started off the tournament game slow and unfocused, letting LSU score three runs in the first inning. Unlike how they played against Auburn, the Crimson Tide continued to strike out in the first six innings. ?LSU’s dominant first inning left Alabama in the dust. The slight misstep on the defensive end cost the Crimson Tide the game. Though Gaspard said the first inning was a set back, it took a couple more innings to fully get into the game.
?The next couple of innings proved that though Alabama could actually hit the ball, but LSU’s fielding skills proved far superior.
?“Offensively, we couldn’t string the swings together,” senior catcher Brett Booth said.
Alabama managed to get four players on base before they eventually struck out. LSU had about the same average of runners on base before they too struck out. LSU’s starting pitcher, Cody Glenn, continuously challenged the Tide by changing up pitching styles.
“[LSU] kept mixing it up,” sophomore Ben Moore said. “[Cody Glenn’s] fastball has a lot of movement and he was able to put all three batters away. He’s a pretty good pitcher.”
LSU continued to control the rest of the game as the innings passed by without much action. Alabama had a consistent three up, three down routine going on for four innings until the Tide started to turn things around later in the game.
During the seventh inning with two outs, Alabama started to add some fuel to the fire by getting two players onto bases. Junior Austen Smith was hit and walked to first and then Booth recorded a hit to centerfield. Andrew Miller tried to make something happen but was unable to hit the ball hard enough to avoid being out.
Alabama tried once more to come back into the game during the eighth inning but was denied once more. Senior third baseman Kenny Roberts and freshman outfielder Georgie Salem both made it to a base but both freshman second baseman Kyle Overstreet and Moore struck out causing the inning to end. ?Unfortunately, Alabama couldn’t turn the game around and had a quick three up, three down in the ninth. ? “We had the same approach we had last time we faced LSU,” starting pitcher Charley Sullivan said. “It happens every once in a while. But I thought we had the same approach.” ?Though Alabama lost against LSU, the Tide is still in the SEC Tournament and will face off with No. 6 Ole Miss in the loser’s bracket at 9:30 a.m. CST on Thursday. Both Ole Miss and Alabama are coming off of losses against Arkansas and LSU respectively.
?No. 7 Alabama will take on No. 6 Ole Miss on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. at the Hoover Met. The two teams met back in early April, however, Alabama lost all three games to the Rebels. Hoping not to repeat history, Alabama plans to come off of this loss and put its’ best foot forward.
