Alabama Baseball Falls 8-4 to Washington State in Season Opener

Alabama fell in game one of the opening weekend of their three-game series against Washington State, which the Cougars won 8-4, thanks to their bats, with four Washington State players finishing with at least two RBIs.

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Washington State started the game off hot with the Cougars scoring two runs in the top of the first inning after a single from Washington State center fielder Trevor Smith, and Max Hartman getting on base on a hit by pitch which led to a two RBI single to left field from the Cougars' designated hitter Dustin Robinson to give the Cougars an early two run lead.

The Crimson Tide didn't get on the scoreboard until the bottom of the second inning when a double down left field line from Peyton Steele gave Alabama its first run of the 2026 season, and cut the Cougars' run lead down to just one.

Washington State answered back in the top of the third inning when Max Hartman's single to right field drove home the Cougars' third run of the evening. This put WSU back up by two runs going into the bottom of the third inning, which saw Alabama leave two runners stranded on base after Cougars right-handed pitcher Luke Meyers picked up his second strikeout of the game to close the third inning.

In the top of the fourth inning, the Cougars added to their lead with a two-run Ryan Skjonsby home run over right field to increase Washington State's lead to four going into the bottom of the fourth.

The top of the fifth saw Fay's day come to an end after pitching through 3.2 innings, where he allowed five earned runs, five hits, and came away with a career high seven strikeouts. The righty JT Blackwell entered from the bullpen to relieve Fay.

The bottom of the fourth saw Alabama once again leave two runners stranded on base as the Cougars called to their bullpen to relieve Meyers, who pitched 3.2 innings and picked up two strikeouts, only allowing four hits and one run. Gavin Derr, a left-handed sophomore pitcher, came in from the bullpen to relieve Meyers, where he went on to force Alabama second baseman Brennan Holt to ground out to first base to end the fourth inning with the Cougars still holding a commanding 5-1 lead.

Washington State added to its lead once again in the fifth inning with the Cougars adding two more runs in the top half of the inning thanks to a solo homerun from Hartman, and then a RBI single from Robertson gave the Cougars a 7-1 lead, and both players their second RBI of the game.

Alabama had a chance to respond in the bottom half of the fifth with the Crimson Tide having bases loaded with zero outs after three straight walks from Derr who ended up being taken out for Rylan Haider, who allowed Bryce Fowler to advance home when he walked Jason Torres, but didn't allow another run with the junior pitcher striking out two consecutive batters forcing Alabama to leave three baserunners stranded.

The sixth inning saw Austin Morris check in from the bullpen to relieve Blackwood, where he allowed one walk, struck out one batter, and got out of the inning, allowing no runs and forcing the Cougars to leave a runner at first base stranded, unfortunately the Crimson Tide didn't do much with the bats at the bottom half of the sixth with Justin Lebron flying out to left field to end the inning while leaving Bryce Fowler stranded on first base.

in the top of the seventh inning Washington State once again added another run to its lead thanks to Matt Priest outrunning the throw to first base from Lebron, which allowed him to reach first on a fielder's choice, which brought home Hartman from third base, giving the Cougars their eighth run of the game and a six-run lead going into the bottom half of the inning.

In the bottom of the ninth the Crimson Tide attempted to rally back as a two-run homer from Justin Lebron was sent over right field to make it a four-run game with zero outs, unfortunately this wasn't enough as the Cougars would go on to force three straight Alabama batters to ground out or strikeout as the Cougars hold on to win tonight's game 8-4.

Alabama will be back in action tomorrow at 2 p.m. at Sewell Thomas Stadium for game two between the Cougars.

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