Alabama baseball was battered by Tennessee on Wednesday, bringing its SEC Tournament run to a close on the second day of the event. UA put on a midgame rally, but it wasn’t enough to pass the Volunteers, who won 15 to 10.
“Just dug too big a hole to get ourselves out of there,” head coach Rob Vaughn said after the game. “Wish we had played a little bit better there, but we’ll turn our attention to this week and get to work and hopefully play baseball for a couple of weeks.”
As the Crimson Tide regroups ahead of the NCAA Tournament, here’s what to know from Wednesday’s loss.
Different strategy
During Tuesday’s win over Missouri, Tyler Fay went six innings for the Crimson Tide. His efforts allowed UA to preserve its bullpen for Wednesday against the Volunteers.
Rob Vaughn certainly made use of the available arms. In a game that lasted nearly four hours, he went through nine pitchers, none of which went longer than 1.2 innings.
The changes were all for naught though. Alabama allowed its most runs since a 2017 game against Vanderbilt.
Afterward, Vaughn credited the offense of the defending national champions.
“Tony Vitello is one of the best coaches in the country,” Vaughn said. “He does such a good job with these guys and they’ve had their struggles the last few weeks, and just like for everybody, once you get to Hoover it’s kind of a reset.”
The big inning
Tennessee got out to an early lead in the fifth inning, then added to it throughout the game. The Volunteers scored another run in the second, then three in the fourth, while the Tide could only manage one until the fifth.
Then, things got going. Down 4-1, Brennan Norton started the scoring with an RBI single.
Disaster struck for Tennessee when, with the bases loaded, Cade Snell reached first base on a throwing error. Norton scored on the play, along with Brady Neal, tying the game and giving his team a chance to take the lead.
UA got that lead on the next at-bat, when Richie Bonomolo Jr. doubled home a run. Up 6-5, Alabama had a chance to win and advance.
Unfortunately for the Tide, it couldn’t hold together defensively. Tennessee put five runs on the board in the sixth, four in the eighth and sent Alabama back to Tuscaloosa.
“Very honestly a game that felt like we were probably down 10-0 going into (the fifth),” Vaughn said. “So to get to grab a lead there in the middle is exactly where you want to be. And then we just couldn’t stop them. That offense was firing on all cylinders today.”
What’s next?
Alabama might be out of the SEC Tournament, but its postseason is just getting starting. The Crimson Tide is nearly guaranteed a spot in the NCAA Tournament,.
In fact, UA might still host a regional. Baseball America predicted Tuesday before the game that the Crimson Tide will be the overall No. 15 seed, and thus host games in Tuscaloosa.
The projection places Northeastern, Cincinnati and Bryant in the Crimson Tide’s region. The NCAA Tournament selection show is scheduled for Monday.
Vaughn said he thought the Tide hosting was a “no brainer.”
“We won 17 games in the league with a top 12 RPI,” Vaughn said. “I think it’s kind of silly that we’re talking about, are we hosting or are we not. It should be, where are we being seeded in the top 16?”
