Crimson Tide Baseball Falls To South Carolina
Alabama Crimson Tide baseball fell to South Carolina Friday night 4-2 in the second of a three-game series.
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Alabama baseball faced 10th-ranked South Carolina again tonight. The Tide was hoping to even up the series after a loss Thursday. Even with a home run and one walked-in run, Bama couldn’t best the Gamecocks and left an eventual total of 10 runners stranded on base.
Jake Walters started the night on the mound for Crimson Tide at Sewell-Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa. The Gamecocks came out strong with one run off three hits in the first inning. Alabama’s Georgie Salem answered with a home run to center field, evening the score to 1-1. A single and stolen base by Chandler Taylor looked promising, but a strikeout for catcher Will Haynie ended the inning for the Tide.
It was three up, three down for Walters as he retired all of South Carolina’s batters in the second in under four minutes. Cody Henry lead off with a walk, then a couple of strikeouts and one botched bunt quickly shut down Alabama.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | |
| Gamecocks | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Crimson Tide | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Waters struck out seven straight Gamecocks by the end of the top half of the third. The Crimson Tide looked like they were starting to rally with 2 singles and a walk in the third. But Cobie Vance struck out swinging, Chandler Taylor hit a grounder to first, and a fly-out to center by Chance Vincent closed the inning for Alabama with three runners left on base.
The fourth saw three more easy outs for Crimson Tide pitcher Jake Walters, but Bama’s batters never were able to get anything going against South Carolina’s Braden Webb.
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The fifth started with a two-run homerun by Gamecock John Jones, and an amazing catch in the center field stands by an Alabama student. South Carolina tacked on another homer in the 6th to lead Alabama 4-1 through seven. Jake Waters was replaced by Colton Freeman at the top of the eighth. Waters had 8 hits against him with 4 runs, and 2 home runs for the night.
Alabama’s bats got the most action of the night in the eighth, where seven members of Crimson Tide stepped to the plate to face the new left-handed pitcher Josh Reagan. Bama’s Will Haynie started the inning with a stand-up double. First baseman Cody Henry and pinch hitters Connor Short and Ryan Blanchard all received 4 balls to get on base, as Reagan walked in a run for the Tide. Bama closed the score gap slightly, and South Carolina lead 4-2 heading into the ninth.
The Crimson Tide’s Sam Finnerty was brought in to get the final Gamecock out of the night. Alabama sent four up to bat, but in the end, just couldn’t close the deal. South Carolina won the game 4-2, and now leads the last regular season series 2-0 over the Tide.
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Alabama will have one last chance for redemption tomorrow at the New Joe in Tuscaloosa. First pitch is set for2p.m. Central Time on SECN+.