Alabama Baseball Falls to Louisiana Monroe, 5-3

Neither the bats nor the pitching were able to get much together in the Crimson Tide's loss

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama baseball suffered its eighth loss over its last nine games, falling 5-3 to Louisiana Monroe on Wednesday afternoon inside Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

"We didn't pitch well enough early, we didn't swing the bats well enough and that's not a very good formula for winning a baseball game," Crimson Tide coach Brad Bohannon said. "I thought we showed a little fight late which was nice."

With freshman left-handed pitcher Grayson Hitt starting on the mound for Alabama, the Warhawks got off to a strong start in the top of the first with a two-out, three-run home run by junior first baseman Danny Desimone.

The Crimson Tide responded with two runs in the bottom of the third, with sophomore designated hitter Will Hamiter hitting a sac-fly and sophomore third baseman Zane Denton driving in a run with a one-out double.

In the top of the eighth, ULM built on its lead with a two-run single by freshman shortstop Michael Cervantes. Alabama picked up another run in the bottom of the ninth off of a single by Denton, but the Crimson Tide couldn't overcome the Warhawks' lead.

Hitt (1-3) was saddled with the loss for Alabama, while junior Lucas Wepf (1-0) was credited with the win for the Warhawks. Redshirt-freshman Carson Orton (3) picked up the save.

"Really disgusted with our effort today," Bohannon said. "I'm responsible for getting the team ready to play — that's my job — and I obviously did a very, very poor job of having us ready to play today."

With the loss, Alabama now drops to 16-12. ULM is 11-14.

Up next, the Crimson Tide will take to the road for a three-game series at Texas A&M. The series' first game is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. CT first pitch (SEC Network+).

"It's not going to get any easier this weekend," Bohannon said. "We've got to clear out minds and get on the plane tomorrow, go to College Station. It's a huge, huge weekend."