Alabama Pitching Falters in 15-4 Loss at Tennessee
If runs were raindrops, there would have been a deluge at Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Easter Sunday as the No. 1 Tennessee Volunteers deftly handled No. 24 Alabama baseball, 15-4.
After winning Friday's game 6-3, Alabama's pitching and bats both faltered over the last pair of games, with the Volunteers outscoring the Crimson Tide a combined 24-6.
“Tennessee is really good team, they're No. 1 in the country for a reason, and we ran into a buzzsaw today,” Alabama head coach Brad Bohannon said. “The biggest thing we can take away from these last two weeks is that we've gone on the road to two of the toughest places to play in the country and finished 4-2.
“We've got to flush today, refocus and come back with a great day of practice tomorrow to get ready for the new week.”
In Sunday's game, Alabama jumped on the scoreboard early in the top of the first when first baseman Drew Williamson hit a solo home run to right field. However, it didn't take Tennessee long to respond.
In the bottom of the second, an RBI-double followed by a pair of RBI-singles — all with two outs — rocketed the Volunteers back on top to take a 3-1 lead. The Crimson Tide cut the lead to one run in the top of the third with another solo home run, this time by shortstop Jim Jarvis.
In the bottom of the fourth, Tennessee second baseman Jorel Ortega blasted a three-run home run to right-center field, blowing the game wide open. In the bottom of the fifth, it was more of the same — another home run, this time by Volunteers third baseman Trey Lipscomb.
Alabama third baseman Zane Denton hit the third solo home run of the game for the Crimson Tide, but the game was quickly slipping away. Lipscomb hit Tennessee's second three-run home run of the afternoon in the bottom of the sixth, signaling the beginning of the end for Alabama.
After a two-run home run for Tennessee in the bottom of the eighth by right fielder Jordan Beck, an RBI-double and a sac-fly finally ended the deluge of runs for the Volunteers.
An RBI-groundout by Alabama left fielder Tommy Seidl in the top of the ninth scored one last run for the Crimson Tide, but it was too little, too late as Alabama fell by a final score of 15-4.
For Tennessee, starting pitcher Drew Beam (8-0) was issued the win. Alabama starter Grayson Hitt (3-1) was saddled with the loss.
With the win, the Volunteers took home the series, besting the Crimson Tide two games to one. After picking up the hard-fought win on Friday night to start the series, it was nothing but downhill afterwards.
Over the course of the series, Alabama hit an impressive seven home runs. Tennessee one-upped the Crimson Tide, though, totaling eight home runs over the course of the three-game series.
Both Friday starter Garrett McMillan and Saturday starter Jacob McNairy continued to show resolute play on the mound, holding the top-ranked Volunteers to six runs and 11 hits through 10 and one-third innings pitched. Outside of Hitt's start on Sunday, the bullpen was where the real pitching woes appeared: 14 runs off of 13 hits while walking six batters and striking out five over the last two games alone.
While hitting can be quite streaky at times — just look at Alabama over the last several weeks to see that in a real-life example — pitching is a shortcoming that can see improvement only over time rather than immediately. While the midway point of SEC play might be a late time to start, the Crimson Tide will have to continue to sort out its pitching issues through trial and error.
That might not be what Alabama fans want to hear, but it's the only way that the pitching shortcomings on the team will be sorted out.
With the loss, Alabama moves to 23-14 overall on the season and is 8-7 in SEC play. Tennessee moves to 33-3 overall and is 14-1 in the conference. The Crimson Tide will now head back to Tuscaloosa, where it will host UAB on Tuesday afternoon (6 p.m. CT, SEC Network+).
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