Alabama Baseball's Ninth-Inning Rally Falls Short in 10-8 Loss to Louisiana Tech

It looked good and sounded even better.

With runners on the corners and two outs, a fly out to deep-right field off the bat of Zane Denton ended Alabama baseball's season with a 10-8 loss to host Louisiana Tech at JC Love Field at Pat Patterson Park on Sunday afternoon.

"Tough way to end the season," Crimson Tide coach Brad Bohannon said postgame. "Tough way to end a tough weekend. Really proud of our fight late. Louisiana Tech is a really good club."

The elimination contest between Alabama and the Bulldogs started with a bang, with 14 runs scored in the first seven frames. 12 of the game's first 15 runs came off of seven home runs combined between both squads.

Alabama's All-SEC catcher Sam Praytor smashed a 2-run shot to center field in the first inning to give the Crimson Tide a 2-1 lead after an RBI groundout from Bulldogs designated hitter Steele Netterville.

That lead lasted all of two at-bats before Louisiana Tech right fielder Philip Matulia responded with a 2-run homer of his own. In the bottom half of the second, Alabama left fielder Jackson Tate hit his second solo home run of the Ruston Regional, tying it at 3.

However, a three-run homer from Bulldogs left fielder Cole McConnell in the third, a two-run homer from Netterville and RBI single from Matulia in the fourth gave the hosts all the cushion it needed to advance to the regional final against NC State.

Denton kept the Crimson Tide in it with a two-run home run of his own in the bottom of the third. Shortstop Ben Eblin, who was making his first appearance of the weekend, added an RBI double in the sixth.

Eblin and Tate were the only Alabama batters with multi-hit performances. All in all, the Crimson Tide finished with seven hits compared the the Bulldogs' 11.

“We just couldn’t do enough offensively," Bohannon said. "We got some big hits but we didn’t string together enough big hits.”

In the seventh, first baseman Manny Garcia crushed a ball over the left-center field wall to give Louisiana Tech a four-run lead before the Crimson Tide plated two more runs in the ninth, one on a passed ball to score Peyton Wilson and an RBI groundout from William Hamiter.

“I feel like, generally speaking — and they’re not perfect — this group gave us everything they had,” Bohannon said. “I’m certainly hopeful that all the kids that are back next year can bring those intangibles back into the locker room next year and we can continue to move our program forward.”

Junior right-hander Jacob McNairy started on the mound for Alabama and only lasted two innings, giving up six earned runs on six hits and two walks before being pulled. Bulldogs righty Kyle Crigger picked up the win after tossing 4.1 innings and allowing three runs on three hits and three walks.

After its first trip to the NCAA tournament since 2014, the Crimson Tide concluded it's 2021 season with a 32-26 record and a 14-19 mark in the Southeastern Conference. Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne shared his support of the program following the game with a tweet that read: "Proud of the progress! Thanks to our upperclassman for their hard work & resiliency. Appreciate the efforts of our younger guys to show continued improvement. [Bohannon] & his staff are working their tail off to keep us moving forward."

Proud of the progress @AlabamaBSB!

Thanks to our upperclassman for their hard work & resiliency. Appreciate the efforts of our younger guys to show continued improvement. @CoachBo_Bama & his staff are working their tail off to keep us moving forward. #BrightFuture #RollTide https://t.co/yanjR1AmTA
— Greg Byrne (@Greg_Byrne) June 6, 2021

“We’re getting better every year,” Bohannon added. “It hasn’t been as fast as we all liked, but we’ve won more games every year. We finally got to a regional and certainly the hope and expectation for next year is we win even more games and get even further.

“I’m proud that we got here.”