The Alabama baseball team lost to the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles 10-6 Wednesday. Alabama is now 4-4 on the season, after the Tide’s fourth straight loss. After the loss, head coach Mitch Gaspard said the only thing his team could do was to keep getting better.
“Well, I think right now you just got to go back to work,” Gaspard said. “You practice hard, you fundamentally work on the things where you’re breaking down. You just kind of identify your weaknesses throughout the game, your struggles. Then you get to work on those areas where you’re not performing. And hopefully it’ll turn around quicker rather than later.”
The Crimson Tide scored a run in the first and third innings to take the early lead. Despite giving up its first run of the night, the Tide scored two more in the fourth to extend its lead to 4-1. The Tide seemed to fall apart after that, as the Golden Eagles scored 3 runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to take a 7-4 lead. Alabama couldn’t get out of either inning, and was never able to recover afterward.
“[The fifth and sixth innings] were where we broke down in the middle part of the game,” Gaspard said. “I thought we were pretty good in the first four innings, and then when they made a run at us in the fifth, we broke down both on the mound and defensively. The remainder of the ball game got away from us.”
On the night, Alabama only had nine hits, as opposed to the Golden Eagles’ 11. Gaspard said his team’s hitting was definitely one of the major factors in the loss. “Offensively, I think we took some better passes today,” Gaspard said. “Obviously, still got to have more competitive at-bats. Just put more pressure on the defense. We’re not putting any pressure on the defense.”
Sophomore Andrew Miller said the Tide can’t afford to dwell on the loss, as they now must focus on the weekend series against Northwestern State.
“I think we’re going to do the same approaches we had earlier in the game,” Miller said. “Just getting them hitter’s counts and battling, and I think that’s going to be a big advantage this weekend.”
Gaspard is looking for his team’s next win to help the Tide in terms of confidence. Gaspard said that’s all it will take for the Tide.
“Yeah, no question,” Gaspard said. “You know, when you’re on a losing streak, the only way to turn it is a win. And right now, we’re in a spot where we need to win the game, and we need to play well, and we need to see improvement as we move forward. Obviously this team’s in need of a win right now.”
Miller agreed with Gaspard, saying that the Tide need a positive outcome to get things straightened out.
“That’s what we need right now,” Miller said. “We need to get it turned around. We’re not playing too good right now, but once we get it going, we’ll be all right. Everybody needs a win when they’re on a losing streak, but whenever we get a few wins, we’ll get it turned around. Nobody wants to lose, but we just got to keep going and fight.”
