The University of Alabama baseball team got the final regular season series underway tonight at Sewell Thomas Stadium against the Bulldogs of Mississippi State but the Tide didn’t get the desired outcome as they lost with the score 9-4.
Starting pitchers: Jr. RHP Trevor Fitts (4-3, 2.62 ERA) vs Fr. RHP Geoffrey Bramblett (4-2, 3.71 ERA) Stats before game
The first two innings saw little action from the bats of both teams. Mississippi State got 2 aboard from a walk in the first and then Gavin Collins reaching on wild pitch on the called strikeout. Bama batters were retired in order for the first 2 innings.
The Bulldogs were the first to get on the scoreboard in the 3rd, taking the lead 1-0. The 2 out rally from Mississippi State got started with a C.T. Bradford single to left center before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Alex Detz then singled to bring Bradford across the plate. Bama would once again go in order in the bottom half of the inning.
Alabama would tie the game back up at 1 in the bottom of the 4th. Mikey White led off the frame with a single to left field. He advanced into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt from Georgie Salem. White crossed the plate on the RBI single from Kyle Overstreet.
Mississippi State would jump back into the lead during the top of the 5th inning. Two singles from Jake Vickerson and Bradford put runners on the corners for the Bulldogs. Vickerson scored on a ground out from Alex Detz. The next at bat, Brett Pirtle singled for the RBI to bring Bradford home. Mississippi State scored one more run on the RBI single from Seth Heck to make it 4-1 going into the bottom half of the inning. Bramblett’s day (4.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K) would also be done in the 5th. The Tide got one run back in the bottom of the 5th off of a fielder’s choice from White that allowed Casey Hughston to score to make it 4-2.
The Bulldogs would extend their lead in the top half of the 6th. Reid Humphreys drew a lead off walk for the Bulldogs and that was followed by a single from Vickerson. A sacrifice bunt from Matthew Britton moved both runners into scoring position. Two runs came across from the sacrifice fly from Detz and the RBI single from Bradford. Mississippi State would have a 7-2 lead going into the bottom half of the inning after Seth Heck singled to score Bradford.
Mississippi State would stretch their lead to 9-2 in the top of the 7th after Detz hit a 2 out, 2 RBI single. Bama would get a couple of runs back in the bottom of the 8th. After the bases were loaded from a Ben Moore lead off single, a full count walk from Will Haynie and Overstreet reaching base on an error, Austen Smith would ground into a double play that allowed Moore to score. That was followed by an RBI double from Hughston that scored Haynie to make the score 9-4.
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