The Turning Point: Tommy Seidl Legs Out a Bad Throw
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Sewell-Thomas Stadium was hushed.
The Alabama baseball team was down 8-7 but seemed on the cusp of a ninth-inning rally. Ed Johnson flew out to lead off the frame, but pinch hitter Will Hodo and center fielder Caden Rose worked back-to-back walks. The sellout crowd was feeling it. The lineup card turned over, but shortstop Jim Jarvis flew out. The runners tagged, both reaching safely. Two were now down, with runners on second and third.
Left fielder Tommy Seidl is one of the best hitters on this Crimson Tide team. He exited last week's SEC Tournament game against Auburn with a hamstring injury. He returned to the lineup on Friday night as a designated hitter. On Saturday night, he was back in the field.
He had a pair of RBIs earlier in the game, scoring Rose and Jarvis, the latter of whom reached the plate on an error. Unlike Hodo and Rose, Seidl wasn't waiting around. He took a swing at Noah Manning's 1-0, and it went straight to shortstop Tremayne Cobb Jr.
Seidl, still in obvious pain, ran down the line with everything he had. It was a routine play. If Cobb's throw was online, Alabama would be staring down the barrel of an elimination game on Sunday afternoon, followed by another in the evening.
The play was anything but routine. Cobb's throw sailed.
Troy first baseman William Sullivan reached for it, but his mitt came up empty. Nobody in a crimson jersey stopped running.
"I thought I could get there, and I wasn't able to," said Sullivan.
Hodo ran home first to tie the game. The speedy Rose had one thing on his mind- the lead. He never even thought about holding 90 feet away. Both players were safe.
"We're down by one, [we] hit the ball, I do a little shimmy in front of the shortstop to try to make something happen," Rose said. "I get to third base, and they throw it away, and I'm all out trying to score right there, trying to take the lead. Just playing ball."
The Crimson Tide aggressively ran the bases all night. Rose tagging from first to second when Hodo moved to third was one major example of that. Right fielder Andrew Pinckney, who saw both positive and negative outcomes when he ran hard during the game, said his team wanted to throw the first punch.
"You want to be the aggressor in every game," he said. "That's what we've been trying to do, to get the defense on their heels, and it proved to help us out tonight."
Sewell-Thomas Stadium was raucous beyond belief. Fans who had not seen a regional come through Tuscaloosa since many current Alabama students were small children came unglued.
That bad throw was the catalyst for two more Alabama runs. Troy had no response in the bottom of the ninth, and ultimately lost 11-8. The Crimson Tide had won a game in its own park as the designated road team.
Troy head coach Skylar Meade said his team has to find different things to do to correct its defensive woes.
"It's been an issue for us throughout the year," Meade said. "We just sometimes have to make the play. It's hard to say, but sometimes it just happens. As well as a guy made a couple plays for us in the ninth inning [Friday], it didn't happen for us today.
With the unlikely, incredible comeback win, Alabama moved on to the regional final. Troy will play Boston College on a quick turnaround Sunday afternoon. In the nightcap of Sunday's action, the winner of that game plays the Crimson Tide. If Alabama wins, it will be the first super regional berth for the program since 2010. First pitch is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT.
See Also:
Montana Fouts Leaves Legacy of Loyalty, Leadership, Love
Pitchers' Duel Highlights NCAA Baseball Tournament's Tuscaloosa Return
