No. 6 Mississippi State Completes Three-Game Sweep of Alabama Baseball, 7-3

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — On a bright Saturday afternoon inside Sewell-Thomas Stadium, Alabama baseball needed a win to keep its quickly-fading NCAA regional hopes alive.

Heading into this weekend's three-game series against No. 6 Mississippi State, the Crimson Tide was still a contender for a potential spot in a regional should the team pull off at least one victory against the Bulldogs.

On Saturday, Alabama's chances dramatically slimmed once again with a 7-3 loss at the hands of Mississippi State, completing the Bulldogs' sweep and effectively ending the Crimson Tide's NCAA Regional chances barring a deep run in the SEC Tournament.

“Another tough day for us," Alabama coach Brad Bohannon said. "Did some good things today. Mississippi State’s a legitimate top-five team in the country. Really, really good club and on top of that they’re hot — they played well."

Jacob McNairy started on the mound for the Crimson Tide. While it was his 13th appearance this season, Saturday marked his first start of the season. McNairy provided a strong start through the first two innings, holding the Bulldogs to no runs off two hits.

With McNairy's pitching, Alabama offense also started the game with some positive momentum. In the bottom of the first, an RBI-single by first baseman Zane Denton scored two for the Crimson Tide, putting Alabama on the board first.

In the second, an RBI-ground out by second baseman Peyton Wilson put the Crimson Tide up 3-0, and with Connor Shamblin relieving McNairy on the mound in the fourth, things were looking good for Alabama.

In the top of the fifth, back-to-back singled put runners at the corners for the Bulldogs with nobody out. One out later, an RBI-single by shortstop Lane Forsythe scored Mississippi State's first run of the game.

The run caused Alabama to head to the bullpen once again, this time for Landon Green. After putting only one out under his belt, Green allowed three more runs to score and put Mississippi State up 4-3.

Alabama was forced to bring out closer Chase Lee early, who put away the final out of the side.

In the top of the sixth, Lee experienced a rough side, allowing three runs off of three hits and two errors by his fielders. The result put the Bulldogs up 7-3 over the Crimson Tide — a lead that Alabama ultimately would not be able to overcome.

"The story of the game is the fifth and sixth innings," Bohannon said. "I mean, they got two singles in the fifth, two singles in the sixth and they scored seven runs. We misplayed two bunts, we made two infield errors, we tried to catch a line drive with our quad or our shin, we walked a couple of guys, we hit a guy — you’re not going to beat a team like that doing that."

Lee pitched through the end of the eighth — his longest outing of the season. In 50 pitches, Lee allowed a total of three runs off five hits in 16 batters faced. He also threw his first wild pitch of the season, which would be his only one in 32 and two-thirds innings.

While Lee had the deepest outing of the game, Green (3-1) was tagged with the loss for Alabama. Houston Harding (6-2) of Mississippi State was credited with the Bulldogs victory.

While the regular season might have ended on a sour note for the Crimson Tide, one bright spot is that Alabama will be playing in its first SEC Tournament since 2016. While its seeding has yet to be officially determined, the Crimson Tide will likely be an eight or nine seed. Should Alabama make a deep run through next week, its regional chances could possibly still be alive — albeit quite faint.

Alabama concludes the regular season with an overall record of 29-22 and is 12-17 in the SEC. Mississippi State's final regular-season record improved to 40-13 with its win over the Crimson Tide, and the Bulldogs finished with a 20-10 SEC record.

Up next, Alabama will enter the SEC Tournament as a 10-seed, facing 7-seed South Carolina on Tuesday in the tournament's opening round.

"Disappointed in the execution," Bohannon said. "I thought our kids’ effort was really good — the execution was obviously poor. I thought the five guys that pitched today just really battled — really competed — and pitched enough for us to get a good win over a really good club and we just didn’t do a good enough job — our position players — of defending the field and swinging the bats today.”