Alabama Baseball Unable to Avoid Sweep at No. 1 Texas, 6-1
No matter the sport, it always adds a level of difficulty playing on the road. For Alabama baseball, its first road challenge of the year came at No. 1 Texas. The Longhorns kept Alabama scoreless in the first two matchups, and despite getting on the board on Sunday, Alabama was unable to find a way to win as Texas put together some late rallies to win 6-1.
"Texas kind of took it to us today, had us on our heels early," Alabama head coach Brad Bohannon said postgame. "I felt like the first two games were 50-50 games, so I wasn't pleased with the way we played today."
Alabama (5-3) got a decent start from LHP Grayson Hitt, as he kept Texas off the board through three innings. In the bottom of the fourth, the Longhorns were able to load the bases with no outs after a double, a walk, and an error by Hitt on a bunt.
Texas only mounted one run, though, as Hitt gave up the RBI groundout. Landon Green came in for Alabama to shut the rally down. Hitt pitched 3.1 innings on the day, yielding four hits and the one run. Green pitched through the fifth, and he kept Texas scoreless and allowed just one hit.
In the top of the fifth, Alabama broke the no-hitter and shutout with a statement swing. Owen Diodati blasted the ball just past the right field foul pole and into the Texas bullpen on a 1-2 count, putting Alabama on the board for the first time in the series. It was Diodati's second homer of the year and his sixth RBI.
Alabama Athletics
Freshman Luke Holman began the sixth on the mound for Alabama, and with his outing began a Longhorn three-spot. Following a leadoff double from Mitchell Daly, Jim Jarvis made a diving tag on a ground ball to get the lead runner unassisted. Holman walked the next batter, and then a bouncing ground ball got past him on the mound because the sun was in his eyes.
Two singles for the Longhorns followed as Brock Guffey toed the rubber for Alabama in relief, giving Texas three RBIs in the sixth and a 4-1 lead. Guffey kept the Longhorns scoreless in the seventh despite giving up back-to-back two-out singles, so he finished with no earned runs on his line.
Much like earlier in this series, Alabama failed to come through with runners in scoring position. Tommy Seidl led off the seventh with a bunt single, and Caden Rose was hit on the left hand by a pitch to put Seidl at second with no outs. Nothing came of the Crimson Tide scoring threat, though, as Will Portera and Andrew Pinckney were retired along with Rose being picked off at first. Overall, Alabama was 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position on Sunday and 0-for-18 in the series.
Hunter Hoopes had his third outing of the year in the eighth for Alabama, and that's when Texas added some insult to injury. Hoopes issued a one-out walk, and Douglas Hodo III hit a single down the left field line to give Texas runners at the corners. A balk from Hoopes and a triple from Stehly that hit off Pinckney's glove in right center added two more runs, and Alabama had a five run deficit to overcome in the ninth.
For the third time in the game, Alabama got its leadoff runner on base as Tamez singled to right field to start the ninth. Strikeouts from Diodati and Rose took the wind out of Alabama's sails, and Texas kept the Crimson Tide winless on the road.
Seidl totaled three hits on the day for Alabama, which is his best in a Crimson Tide jersey. Drew Williamson also extended his hitting streak to seven games. Starting pitcher Tanner Witt got the win for the Longhorns, and Holman was given his first loss for Alabama.
"This was an awesome experience for our kids. We needed this experience going on the road and playing the No. 1 team in the country in a good environment," Bohannon said. "We'll grow from this. There were a lot of positives that we learned about our club and a lot that we need to improve upon."
The Crimson Tide will return to Sewell-Thomas Stadium for a Tuesday afternoon matchup with UT-Martin at 3 p.m. CT.
