The Alabama Crimson Tide (15-11) stopped the bleeding on their midweek wounds this season, defeating the South Alabama Jaguars (16-7) 5-4 on Tuesday night.

The game-winning run came across the plate in walk-off fashion when shortstop Jim Jarvis slid onto home plate on a wild pitch by Jaguars pitcher Jackson Boyd.

Jarvis said he was expecting the wild pitch to come sooner or later.

“I was kind of expecting that the entire time,” Jarvis said. “Especially after [Andrew] Pinckney got into an 0-2 count; I figured he was going to go with a lot of breaking balls. As soon as I saw it down, I got the green light and tried to beat the ball.” 

The win moves the Crimson Tide to 4-4 in midweek contests this season. Alabama had lost three midweek games in a row coming into Tuesday night.

“Really glad to get a win over a really good South Alabama team,” Crimson Tide head coach Brad Bohannon said. “We haven’t been great in midweek the last few weeks, and not sure we played our best tonight, but proud of our guys for doing enough to get a win over a good team.”

The Jaguars bit first in the third inning on a two-run home run by center fielder Will Turner.

The Crimson Tide responded in the fourth inning. After beginning the frame with back-to-back outs, Alabama flipped a switch.

South Alabama walked center fielder Andrew Pinckney, and it opened up a can for the Crimson Tide. First baseman Drew Williamson brought Pinckney in, and then second baseman Bryce Eblin stole the show on a three-run shot that soared over the Jaguars’ bullpen to put Alabama up 4-2. The Crimson Tide were an overall whopping 6-for-13 with two outs.

“I was down 1-2 or 0-2,” Eblin said. “I wasn’t trying to do too much. Just trying to get those runners in and somehow put it over the fence. It felt good.”

By the ninth inning, South Alabama tied the game. But Jarvis scored after a leadoff double, earning the Crimson Tide a win over their in-state rival.

Jarvis was the only Alabama hitter with multiple hits, but six others recorded one. The Crimson Tide also worked seven walks.

Freshman Ben Hess once again started for Alabama. Hess surrendered only one hit, but it was a two-run homer. He also walked four South Alabama batters. Hunter Hoopes was great on the mound in a relief role, throwing a season-high three innings. Hoopes allowed just one hit and struck out three.

“It was good to see Ben Hess out there again,” Bohannon said. “He’s got a lot of talent. Still got to get better at commanding the ball, but we’re excited about him. I thought Hunter Hoopes was huge for us. He came in and managed some traffic and then put up a couple of zeros to give us a chance to get back.”

Alabama will host its second SEC series of the season when the Texas A&M Aggies come to The Joe this weekend. First pitches will be Friday at 6 p.m. CT, Saturday at 4 p.m. CT and Sunday at 1 p.m. CT at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Friday’s and Sunday’s games will be on SEC Network+, and Saturday’s game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.