After winning the first game of a three-game series on Thursday, the Alabama baseball team dropped a pair of games against the University of Tennessee in a doubleheader Saturday.
The Tide’s losses to the Volunteers at Sewell-Thomas Stadium put the team’s record to 24-15 overall and 8-7 in the Southeastern Conference. The two wins gave Tennessee a 21-15 overall record and 4-11 in the SEC.
“We just couldn’t find any offense all day long,” head coach Mitch Gaspard said. “We had a few opportunities and just didn’t have enough quality at-bats. We didn’t really put any pressure on them the entire day, and of course their pitching did a nice job. I felt that the last three games we have been really good offensively, and then today was a rough day to play two games. We had a poor offensive approach today, and unfortunately we played two games and were never really able to get out of it. When you score one run in two games, it’s tough to win.”
The Vols defeated the Tide 2-1 in the first game. Junior Adam Morgan (4-3) pitched a complete seven-inning game for Alabama. The Vols had eight hits in the game, while the Tide only had four. Second baseman James Tullidge scored the lone run for the Tide.
“We just couldn’t get anything going all day,” third baseman Brett Booth said. “We had two really good starts today, and we never really could get past go.”
The Vols started the second game with one run off of three hits in the first inning. Sophomore pitcher Trey Pilkington (1-3) started the game on the pitching mound for Alabama, while Nick Blount (1-0) got the start and win for the Vols. The final score of the game was 1-0.
“It was a tough loss today,” Pilkington said. “They were throwing really well. They had some good pitches today, and I had a tough time getting going and that just made it difficult.”
The Tide had a few opportunities to bring in runs but could not capitalize. There were a total of six players left on base. The Tide had five hits, with two coming from sophomore right fielder Andrew Miller. Jared Reaves, Taylor Dugas and David Kindred also had hits for Alabama. Reaves and Miller were the only Tide players with more than one hit in the doubleheader.
The Tide came into the game ranked No. 24 in the Baseball America poll and No. 1 in the SEC West. Tennessee ended their nine-game losing streak and will head back home to play Western Carolina before facing Georgia in a three-game series.
The Tide will play the next seven games away starting at Samford in Birmingham before heading to Gainesville to face the Florida Gators in a three game series.
“It’s frustrating to not be able to get anything going, especially when we have two good starts like we got today,” Booth said. “We have a few days off, and we have got to get back to work, and be ready to go on Tuesday.”
