Most of the damage was done by the end of the third inning in Alabama’s 8-4 loss to Troy. Alabama starter Connor Shamblin was tagged with his first career loss, while Sadler Goodwin finished with the win.

Alabama’s first two pitchers, Shamblin and Wil Freeman, struggled to find consistency in their 2 1/3 innings of work.

Shamblin started the game and threw just 38 pitches. He cruised through the first inning, striking out one batter, but ran into trouble almost instantly in the second.

The first four at bats had two walks sandwiched between a pair of strikeouts. On his next four pitches, Shamblin allowed a walk to load the bases for Troy’s last hitter in the order.

Reed Smith saw just one pitch before launching a home run to left field that landed halfway up the scoreboard for a grand slam.

Alabama catcher Brett Auerbach led off the bottom of the second with a walk and advanced to third when a pickoff attempt went awry. After a pair of walks to load the bases, second baseman Daniel Carinci skied a ball to center, scoring Auerbach. A fly out and strikeout left two runners in scoring position.

The Trojans answered immediately scoring three runs in the top of the third.

Freeman started the inning, which began with a walk, followed by an error by Carinci. With a pair of runners on, Goodwin singled to left field, driving in the first run. After a strikeout and a single, Troy had the bases loaded again.

Another single brought in a run, signaling the end of Freeman’s day.

A ground out to first scored the last run of the inning.

From there, Alabama’s bullpen was on cruise control till the ninth. Over the middle six innings, it allowed just one hit and struck out eight.

“Bullpen did a good enough job giving us a chance, but offensively of scratching back,” coach Brad Bohannon said.

Troy led off the top of the ninth with a walk and a double. Deacon Medders struck out the next two batters before an error scored the runner at third.

Alabama’s only other runs scored off home runs. Justin King hit a home run the other way, clearing the left-field wall in the fourth for a solo shot. In the bottom of the ninth and one out, John Trousdale demolished a pitch to right-center field, scoring the last two runs.

The Crimson Tide finished with only five hits in the loss, two of which belonged to Trousdale. It left eight runners on base.

“We really didn’t do anything good enough to win a ball game,” Bohannon said. “Didn’t pitch well, didn’t defend well and certainly didn’t hit well.”

Alabama is back in action on Thursday when it hosts South Carolina for its weekend series. First pitch is at 6 p.m.