Mistakes Continue To Pile On As Alabama Baseball Drops Fourth Straight Game

Alabama baseball dropped its fourth straight game, 6-3 to South Alabama on Tuesday night in Mobile, in what currently stands as one of the ugliest performances of the season. The Crimson Tide committed a season-high five errors, allowed 23 Jaguar baserunners on, and got just one runner into scoring position over the game's final five innings.

"Just one of those nights that we just didn't play good, plain and simple," head coach Rob Vaughn said. "That's the reality."

Alabama's bullpen was playing with fire the entire game as the Jaguars scored just one run through the first six innings but stranded 15 runners. There were some impressive high-leverage pitches thrown to get out of jams, as South Alabama left the bases loaded four times, but it was clear that it was only a matter of time before somebody broke through.

The one run the Jaguars scored in that time came in the bottom of the fifth, when Justin Lebron was unable to field a routine grounder with the bases loaded and two outs. It was Lebron's eighth error of the season, putting him just one away from matching his total from all of last year. Vaughn has remained unconcerned throughout the season about the junior's fielding.

"Obviously, we've got the best player in the country standing at shortstop, and he just wasn't able to make a play," Vaughn said.

Despite the error, Alabama held onto a 3-1 lead entering the bottom of the seventh, which is where the well finally broke. Jason Torres, who has been much improved defensively at third base this year, was unable to field a grounder hit at him, loading the bases for South Alabama with two outs.

Evan Steckmesser then entered the game for Ashton Crowther and gave up a base hit through the right side, scoring two runs. Peyton Steele threw the ball home to catcher Brady Neal, who just missed it with his glove, allowing runners to advance to second and third. That was Neal's second error of the day, and it would cost Alabama, as another base hit would score both.

After finally securing the third out, Alabama returned to the dugout trailing 5-3, with none of the runs earned. It marked the culmination of weeks of sloppy fielding from the majority of the team, which has now committed 31 errors in 22 games, tied with lowly South Carolina for worst in the conference.

The Crimson Tide's bats were nowhere to be found down the stretch. Bryce Fowler, who scored on a wild pitch in the seventh, was the only Alabama runner to move into scoring position over the game's final five innings. Alabama got a baserunner on in the eighth and ninth via a Justin Osterhouse single and Lebron walk, respectively, but did not come close to bringing either home.

With the loss, Alabama drops to 15-7 on the season and is on a four-game losing streak. The external pressure is beginning to mount. As the criticisms of the team grow louder, the message to the roster remains the same as Vaughn urges his players to stay the course.

"When you're walking through hell like these guys are now, everything seems to bounce the other way," Vaughn said. "We can either feel bad for ourselves and point fingers and start to play tight and press and believe all the noise, or we can put our heads down and keep working."