McNairy’s Rough Start Sends Alabama Baseball Home from SEC Tournament

HOOVER, Ala. — All good things come to an end.

Alabama baseball took two of three against the Vanderbilt Commodores at the end of the regular season.

The Crimson Tide (40-19, 16-14 SEC) didn’t have the same luck in Hoover on Tuesday night — suffering a 9-2 loss to the Commodores on Friday night at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.

Vanderbilt (39-18, 19-11 SEC) jumped on Alabama early, throwing five runs up on the board within minutes. RHP Jacob McNairy was never able to recover from the poor start — allowing eight runs, seven of them earned, in 4.1 innings. He surrendered nine hits and four walks.

"First of all, great job by Vanderbilt," interim head coach Jason Jackson said. "They did a great job tonight, came out and jumped on us early, and Jacob [McNairy] had a rough first. He's been one of the best pitchers in this league for the last month, and he's given us some really great outings down the stretch here."

"I thought we had some good at-bats. We hit some balls hard, hit some balls hard right at guys. Just couldn't ever get much going offensively. Again, you've got to give them credit — they did a good job, as well."

The Commodores scored just four total runs during that series in early May — they piled on over double that in just nine innings on Friday.

Both McNairy and Vanderbilt LHP Devin Futrell were excellent when they started against each other on May 6.

Only Futrell was able to repeat that.

Futrell went five full innings, allowing two runs on four hits and three walks.

The lone highlight of the night for the Crimson Tide was a two-run home run for Colby Shelton in the third inning — the 22nd of what has been a brilliant freshman season.

"There was like a couple — the two innings that kind of separated it, and there was like one or two balls in those innings that if they go our way, it's a completely different game," Jim Jarvis said. "They found some holes and we didn't, and that's just kind of how baseball works. There's nothing you can really do about it. You're trying to hit the ball as hard as you can. They're doing the same thing. The ball just fell their way tonight."

There are absolutely silver linings. Alabama made the fourth round of the SEC tournament for the second year in a row. The Crimson Tide is expected to hear its name called as one of the 16 national seeds on Sunday evening — for the first time since 2006.

"I hope that our resume speaks for itself," Jackson said. "I know it's a tough job, but I feel good about where we're at. I think our guys have done a great job, and they've earned it."

It won’t be an SEC tournament title in 2023 for Alabama — but there is much more on the horizon.

"This season has been just an incredible journey," Jarvis said. "All the guys on the team are just really, really special."

"When I decided to come back this year and got to come back in the fall and see all the guys that I'd been with for my entire time here and then all the new guys coming in — everyone was really excited to get the season going and everyone was really driven. There was just a lot of good things and good pieces on this team that made everything — even like the downs this year, it's all been really fun. Like you get back on the bus even after a tough loss like tonight, and just — my guys. We're going to have fun. It's a special team."

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