Alabama Falls to Kentucky in Extra Innings
Alabama faced a tough loss to Kentucky in extra innings. the Tide fought hard to close the score gap, but it wasn't enough to seal the deal.
Kentucky came in hot during the first inning, bringing in two points right away. Alabama did not get off to a similar start. Jim Jarvis was first up to bat and struck out. Caden Rose had a big swing to the outfield, but it was caught for the second out, then Will Hodo struck out as well.
The second inning looked better for Alabama defensively. Ben Hess pitched back-to-back strikeouts, wrapping Kentucky up quickly. However, Kentucky came right back with a double play on Ed Johnson and Andrew Pinckney to close out the inning.
Devin Burkes brought in another run for Kentucky during the fourth inning, and the Tide could not seem to catch up after three strikeouts in a row.
Alabama finally got themselves on the board at the bottom of the fifth, bringing the score to 3-1 Wildcats and they didn't stop there.
The Tide ended up bringing the game score to a tie at the bottom of the ninth inning, sending the teams into extra innings. First, Hodo hit a single that sent Jarvis home and had the stadium on its feet. Then, Rose ended up scoring off of a wild pitch bringing the scores to even.
The game went to twelve innings with Kentucky the ultimate successor, bringing the final score to 4-3 Kentucky.
The Tide will face Kentucky twice more this weekend.
"They don't need motivation, these guys will be fired up to play," said coach Jackson when asked if the team's motivation is shaky after this close loss.
The rest of the weekend will conclude if Alabama can come back.