Alabama Baseball Falls on Sunday, 8-2, at Ole Miss
Alabama fell, 8-2, at Ole Miss on Sunday afternoon at Swayze Field. Following the matchup on getaway day, the Crimson Tide sits at 13-19 overall and 2-10 in Southeastern Conference play.
Alabama battled all afternoon, reaching runners in seven of the nine innings and putting runners in scoring position in four of those frames, but coming up just short by day’s end. The Tide offense received multi-hit games from Hunter Alexander, who finished 3-for-4 with an RBI, one run scored and walk, and Gene Wood, who wrapped up his day 2-for-4 with double and a run scored.
Ole Miss scored the game’s first runs on Sunday, plating a pair in the bottom of the first inning. The Rebels began the afternoon with a leadoff single and a walk before a flyout to deep center moved both runners into scoring position. The next at-bat resulted in a 6-3 groundout, but moved the runners 90 feet to cross the game’s first run. The next batter sent a double to right-center to make it a 2-0 affair after one inning.
The Crimson Tide tallied one run of its own in the top of the third to cut the deficit in half. A leadoff double from Wood followed one out later by a single from Cobie Vance put Tide runners on the corners. Alexander proceeded to slap a single to left, scoring Wood from third to make it a 2-1 game. The two teams would go scoreless until the bottom of the seventh.
The home half of the seventh saw the Rebels plate three runs with a two-out rally to make it a 5-1 game. A single and then a home run gave Ole Miss its first two runs of the inning. The third consecutive hit of the sequence was a single, before a balk moved the man into scoring position. Ole Miss registered one more single in the next at-bat to bring across the inning’s final run and widen the gap to four.
Alabama rallied for one in the top of the eighth, scoring a run on three hits. A pair of singles to start the inning from Alexander and Chandler Taylor put two on. One out later, a double inside the bag at third from Logan Carey scored Alexander to set the score at 5-2. The Crimson Tide then loaded the bases with a hit-by-pitch but a flyout to right and a strikeout ended the Tide threat.
Ole Miss made it an 8-2 game with a three-run eighth to put the game out of reach. A leadoff walk and a one-out free pass put a pair on. With two down, the Rebels recorded back-to-back doubles to score all three runs and end the day’s scoring.
Next up for Alabama is a midweek matchup with UAB in Tuscaloosa on Tuesday, April 11. First pitch of the contest between the Crimson Tide and Blazers is set for 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network+. It will be the second time the two teams meet this season, with the first matchup going in favor of Alabama, 4-1, on March 21, at Regions Field in Birmingham.