The Extra Point: Was the Mississippi State Series a Sign of Growth for Alabama Baseball?
The good news for the Alabama baseball team is that they had a lead heading into the bottom of the ninth inning in all three games this weekend against the reigning national champions.
The bad news is that they were unable to hold onto the lead in two of those games as the Mississippi State Bulldogs rallied to win two out of the three games and take the overall series.
The Alabama Crimson Tide (14-11, 2-4) have consistently struggled to finish games this season with eight of their eleven losses being decided by two runs or less.
While Alabama certainly wishes all of those close losses would have ended in victories, it also proves that the Crimson Tide has the talent and ability to compete with any team in the country and this weekend's series against Mississippi State was no different.
The Alabama lineup scored at least six runs in every game against a good Mississippi State pitching staff with significant contributions coming from a variety of hitters. No one player carried the Crimson Tide offense, but seven players had at least three hits over the weekend.
Alabama's starting pitchers also had a good series with every starter going at least five innings and giving up no more than two runs. The best performance was from Grayson Hitt who pitched six strong innings giving up only four hits and one run in the Crimson Tide's lone victory over the Bulldogs.
The main problem for Alabama was the bullpen. Crimson Tide relievers gave up 13 runs in the three game series including seven in the ninth inning or later. Obviously, those numbers need to be improved if Alabama wants to win close games against tough SEC competition.
The 14-11 record doesn't necessarily look good on paper but the Alabama baseball team has shown they have the potential to be a good team and will look to string together some wins and finish close games as they continue forward in conference play.
This weekend they will take on the Texas A&M Aggies in a three game series at Thomas Sewell Stadium as try to climb up the conference standings.
Check out the video at the top of the page where BamaCentral's Clay Miller and Joey Blackwell discuss Alabama baseball's series against Mississippi State.
The Extra Point: Was the Mississippi State Series a Sign of Growth for Alabama Baseball?
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