No. 8 Alabama Baseball Posts 7-6 Comeback Victory over No. 29 Tennessee to Clinch Series

The No. 8 ranked Alabama baseball team scored the final six runs of the game and came back from a five-run deficit to defeat the No. 29 Tennessee Volunteers, 7-6, in a Southeastern Conference game from Nelson Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Crimson Tide (28-11, 12-5 SEC) will go for the sweep tomorrow when game three between Alabama and the Vols (24-13, 6-11 SEC) starts at 1 p.m. CT. Alabama is slated to start LHP Jon Keller (5-1, 1.86) and Tennessee will counter with RHP Kyle Serrano (3-2, 4.91).

Alabama scored the first run of the game in the top of the first, Tennessee took a 6-1 lead after five innings. Trailing by five, Alabama responded with two runs in the sixth and three runs in the seventh to tie the game at 6–6, before scoring the game-winning run in the ninth. The game-winning run came when UT’s Josh Peterson hit Chance Vincent with two outs and the bases loaded.

Alabama’s third pitcher of the game, Jay Shaw (2-3) picked up the win after throwing 2.1 innings, allowing no runs on one hit with a walk and a strikeout. Thomas Burrows threw a scoreless ninth inning to pick up his second save of the series and eighth of the season. Tennessee reliever Any Cox (3-1) suffered his first loss of the season, after allowing four runs on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

Offensively the Tide recorded their 22nd game of the season with double digits in hits, collecting 12 against three Vols pitchers. Wade Wass and Kyle Overstreet accounted for half of the Tide’s hits in the game. Wass was 3-for-5 with a home run and his team leading 14^th double of the season, to go along with an RBI and two runs scored and Overstreet was 3-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored

Ben Moore was 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored, Casey Hughston had a pair of singles and Vincent was 1-for-3 with two RBI, as he drove in the game-tying run in the seventh and the game-winning run in the ninth.

Tennessee had nine hits in the game as Pierce Bily was 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI. Christin Stewart was 2-for-5 with a double, a run scored and an RBI and Nick Senzel was 2-for-5 with a triple.

Alabama drew first blood, getting a two-out RBI single by Overstreet to drive in Mikey White, who walked to lead off the game. The Vols answered in the bottom of the first as Will Maddox scored from second on a single Stewart. The Vols looked to extend its lead in the second, but Maddox grounded into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play with the bases loaded.

Tennessee made an Alabama error in the third inning costly, as the Vols scored three unearned runs in the inning. With runners on second and third Derek Lance scored the first run when Vincent made a throwing error to the plate, and after the throw got away from the Bama catcher, Stewart scored the second run. After Taylor Smart stole third, he scored on a sacrifice fly by Bily to make the score 4-1 Vols.

The Vols’ three-run third inning ended the day for Alabama starter Justin Kamplain, who went three innings, allowing four runs (one earned) on four hits with three walks and two strikeouts. Off Alabama reliever Ray Castillo, the Vols extended their lead to 6-1 when Bily hit a two-out, two-run home run off the left field foul pole.

Trailing by five, Alabama answered in the top of the sixth with a pair of runs to cut the Tennessee lead in half. Wass started the inning with a solo home run, his third of the season to extend his hitting streak to seven games. After the Wass long-ball, Overstreet singled and Smith doubled to put runners in scoring position. After a Tennessee pitching change to lefty Andy Cox, Hughston reached on a third strike passed ball then Overstreet scored when Vincent grounded into a double play, making the score 6-3.

Alabama tied the game at 6-6 after scoring three times in the top of the seventh. Georgie Salem was hit by a pitch to start the rally and after singles by Moore and Wass, Overstreet had an RBI single to make it a two-run game. A sac fly by Smith trimmed the deficit to 6-5 and then after Hughston reached on a third-strike wild pitch, Vincent singled up the middle to tie the game at 6-6. The Tide tried to take the lead on the single, but Overstreet was thrown out at the plate by center fielder Johnny Youngblood to end the inning.

Tennessee opened the bottom of the seventh with a leadoff triple by Senzel, but Shaw got a ground out, a strikeout and a fly out to get out of the jam without any damage, setting the stage for the ninth inning game-winning run by the Tide.

Recap and Image Courtesy of UA Media Relations