Alabama Baseball Falls in Pitchers’ Duel with No. 5 Vanderbilt, 2-0
Despite an impressive pitching performance by the Crimson Tide staff, Alabama baseball fell, 2-0, in a pitchers’ duel with fifth-ranked Vanderbilt on Sunday afternoon at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Following the holiday pairing, the Tide now holds a 24-17 overall mark, including a 4-14 record in Southeastern Conference play.
“I was really pleased with our pitching,” said Alabama head coach Brad Bohannon. “Jeremy Randolph gave us a really great start; it was tough to have to take him out of the game. Brock Guffey came in with the bases loaded and got a huge out against (JJ) Bleday. Chase Lee was outstanding. Deacon (Medders), obviously, had one of his best outings of the year, and Casey Cobb did a great job bridging the gap. We pitched it really well against a great offensive club, and we just couldn’t quite scratch enough offensively.”
Alabama’s pitchers limited the high-powered Vandy offense to only eight hits and four walks, highlighted by 3.0 scoreless frames from junior Deacon Medders. The right-hander allowed one hit and issued two free passes while striking out a career-high seven batters in relief.
Jeremy Randolph (1-1) suffered the hard-luck loss in his first start as a member of the Crimson Tide. The graduate tossed 2.2 innings, allowing one run on a solo homer and striking out three before turning it over to the bullpen. Junior Casey Cobb gave up one run in his 1.0 inning on the hill with sophomore Brock Guffey and redshirt freshman Chase Lee combining with Medders for 5.1 scoreless frames to close out the afternoon.
Patrick Raby (6-1) earned the win, teaming up with two Commodore relievers to keep the Tide off the board. Raby went 6.0 innings, allowing two hits and issuing four walks while punching out eight. Tyler Brown (9) closed things out with 2.0 frames to record his ninth save of the season. Vanderbilt was able to combine its pitching performance with the game’s only two runs in the third inning, enough for the 2-0 win on getaway day.
The ‘Dores got on the board first with a solo home run in that third. Vandy then doubled and that two-bagger was followed up with an RBI-single to bring in the second tally, making it 2-0 through three innings. Alabama had a chance to tie things up in the seventh. Junior Brett Auerbach drew a leadoff walk and moved to second one out later when fellow junior Kolby Robinson was hit by a pitch. Senior Keith Holcombe then dug in with two down, sending a tailing liner to the gap in left-center but a great catch on the run by the Vanderbilt center fielder ended the potential rally.
Next up for Alabama is a trip to Jacksonville to take on Jacksonville State this Wednesday, April 24. The Crimson Tide and Gamecocks are scheduled for a 6 p.m. CT first pitch on ESPN+.
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