No. 24 Alabama Baseball Escapes Being No-Hit, But Takes 4-2 loss to Stetson

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The new white cleats worn by a few Alabama players needed some dirt stains before the Crimson Tide baseball team was able to capture any momentum Friday evening. Even after being aided by two Stetson errors, it was a case of too little, too late, in a 4-2 loss at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

"I was glad to see some fight late," Crimson Tide coach Brad Bohannon said after the first game of a weekend series. "That's about the only good thing I can say about today's game ... just a really disgusting effort by our position players today."

After a scoreless first, Stetson redshirt junior outfielder Nick DiPonzio reached on an error by sophomore shortstop Jim Jarvis, then took second base on a jog after an overthrow into center field was caused by his bluffed attempt to steal, fooling redshirt junior catcher Sam Praytor.

DiPonzio eventually scored on a redemptive ground ball to Jarvis, though the run was unearned for junior starter Tyler Ras (2-1).

The damage was done, partially at least. Lefty graduate student Jackson Olson lifted a missile to right field and doubled the Hatters' lead with a solo home run to help set the tone for the night.

Meanwhile, redshirt freshman Nick Durgin silenced the Crimson Tide bats, keeping alive a no-hitter through more than eight innings and supplying juice to a Stetson offense that showed no deference.

"We're an immature team. We're a young team," Bohannon said, "That's not an excuse, you know? SEC play starts in seven days."

Three scoreless innings by Ras kept Alabama close, though run support was absent through five. Jarvis' night got worse in the top of the sixth, as he committed his second error of the night on another high throw to first. Bohannon subsequently replaced Ras with freshman Grayson Hitt who threw a wild pitch against the first batter he faced, loading the bases with no outs.

"I absolutely think, with young players, there's a correlation between their at-bats and their defense," Bohannon said, "We've got to grow up and we've got to grow up in a hurry or we're going to have some more night like tonight."

Back-to-back sacrifice fly balls to centerfield scored two and extended Stetson's lead to 4-0.

Durgin (2-1) continued to shut down the lineup, having collected seven strikeouts and only two walks upon his 100th pitch in the bottom of the seventh.

After having his no-hitter was stripped from Stetson history in the ninth, Durgin was pulled in favor of redshirt sophomore Danny Garcia, who struggled to notch his second save of the season.

Junior Drew Williamson reached base on a single followed by Denton cranking a two-run shot to right-center, cutting halfway into Stetson's lead.

Only that was the extent of the comeback as Alabama took its second loss of the season (13-2). With runners on second and third, sophomore Peyton Wilson grounded out to end the game.

Game two against Stetson is Saturday, with first pitch at 2:00 p.m.