Alabama Baseball Yields Big Lead, Falls 7-6 to Florida in Gainesville Opener

The Crimson Tide relinquished a five-run lead for the second time in three series.

Garrett Staton (27) against Florida. / Alabama Athletics

The Alabama baseball team won last weekend's series at home against Georgia with victories in the latter two games. To triumph in the series at No. 23 Florida this time around, the No. 18 Crimson Tide will have to do the same. Alabama gave up a five-run lead in Thursday's game and lost 7-6.

Center fielder Richie Bonomolo Jr. and shortstop Justin Lebron belted a pair of two-run home runs off Gators starter Liam Peterson for the game's first four runs, and third baseman Jason Torres added an RBI single in the top of the third. Alabama (39-14, 15-13 SEC) scored just once more on the night.

"Both teams made some mistakes, but they did little better job capitalizing," Crimson Tide associate head coach Jason Jackson said. "Their bullpen did a great job in those last four innings. We need to be cleaner and execute better tomorrow. This group has been great at responding.”

Lebron's home run was his 18th of the season, which leads the Crimson Tide. He also struck out four times in the contest, making him a recipient of the golden sombrero. Torres did it in the opening game at LSU last month.

Peterson calmed down in the face of adversity that hit his team in more ways than just via the Alabama bats. Catcher Luke Heyman was hit on the wrist by a Tyler Fay pitch in the first inning and was later seen in the dugout with a sling. Second baseman Justin Nadeau exited in the fourth inning after turning a double play, causing Blake Brookins to burn his redshirt after not playing all year.

Florida (36-18, 14-14 SEC) utilized starting first baseman Brody Donay behind the plate after Heyman's exit, which paid dividends. Heyman's replacement in the batting order, Landon Stripling, also impacted the scoring column.

That tandem first entered the scoring conversation when Stripling raced home on a wild pitch by Fay in the fourth. In the fifth, Fay got the first two outs in the bottom of the fifth before a soul-sucking error by second baseman Garrett Staton gave the home team new life.

The Gators plated three runs in the fifth and chased Fay; Stripling and Donay each had RBI singles. Between those hits, designated hitter Ty Evans scored third baseman Brendan Lawson on a double. A Florida throwing error, by Lawson, scored Alabama first baseman Will Hodo from second in the visiting half of the sixth.

"Tyler gave us a solid start but couldn’t quite get us off the field in the fifth and [we] ended up giving up three two-out runs," Jackson said. His assessment of events did not directly account for the fact that those runs were not Fay's fault. Only one of the Alabama starter's runs was earned in 4.2 innings.

Leadoff hitter Bobby Boser made it a one-run game again with a single in the sixth, scoring Brookins for his first run of the season. The Crimson Tide went down in order in the top half of the seventh, and after a leadoff walk in the home half, turned to righty JT Blackwood out of the bullpen.

Blackwood's ERA in league play was just over 12 when he first toed the slab on Thursday evening. Donay blasted a one-out home run to his team's bullpen to give Florida its first lead of the night. Unbeaten this spring when leading after seven innings, the Gators stayed that way with six more outs.

"We had some really good [at-bats] early and a couple of big home runs... A couple of free passes hurt us and then obviously the homer by Donay in the seventh," Jackson said.

Jake Clemente retired the side against Alabama in the last two innings. The Crimson Tide left two men in scoring position in the eighth and did not get any form of production from the top of its order in the ninth. Florida is now .500 in SEC play following a 1-11 start.

Without Staton's error, and all else held equal, the Crimson Tide would have won this game. Alabama, however, has only won one SEC series opener since March. The visitors still had their chances after the fifth inning went sideways. Friday's game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network+.

Alabama also blew a five-run lead in a May 4 loss at Vanderbilt, taking a 7-2 lead into the bottom of the eighth in a tied series. Had the Crimson Tide held on then and on Thursday, it would have 17 wins and be comfortably inside the NCAA Tournament hosting bubble.

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