Veterans Steer Alabama Baseball to Nail-Biting Win
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — In its first game hosting the NCAA tournament in almost two decades, the Alabama baseball team got all it could handle from the Nicholls Colonels.
The champions of the Southland Conference went step-for-step with a Crimson Tide squad that won 40 games and entered the tournament nationally ranked. The Colonels did this largely on the strength of the phenomenal arm of Jacob Mayers. Four of his 5.2 innings in the game were hitless.
Like battle-tested superheroes called upon to save the day, a trio of SEC baseball veterans stepped up when their team needed them most, en route to a 4-3 win in one of the most dramatic games of the campaign.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, first baseman Drew Williamson tied things up at two runs apiece with a double that scored center fielder Caden Rose. The hit brought new life to the Sewell-Thomas Stadium crowd.
"Drew could have gotten frustrated," Alabama interim head coach Jason Jackson said. "He adjusted to what they had been doing to him and was able to deliver that big double."
In the home half of the seventh, just after the stretch, catcher Mac Guscette flipped the switch on one of his career's biggest moments. In 2022, his SEC tournament home run for the Florida Gators all but eliminated the Crimson Tide from the postseason. On Friday night, he lifted a ball to left for a home run that helped save an NCAA tournament game while wearing crimson and white.
These hits were huge, but none was bigger than the game-winning base knock by shortstop Jim Jarvis in the ninth. Left fielder William Hamiter walked and Guscette bunted him over. Rose struck out, but the lineup card turned over. Jarvis stepped to the dish and swung at the 0-1. The ball found a hole on the left side. Hamiter raced home, not thinking twice about running all the way to the plate.
Game over.
"I try to just stay on the fastball," Jarvis said. "The main thing was just trying to stay in rhythm, not letting the moment speed me up. [...] It's a good start to the postseason, to have a close game and see how everyone reacts to it. We did a good job of keeping our cool and pulling out the win."
As a reward for the victory, Alabama advances to the winners' bracket. Awaiting it is Troy, an opponent the Crimson Tide has faced — and beaten — twice this season.
First pitch is at 8 p.m. CT on Saturday night.
See Also:
Gritty Effort from Montana Fouts Not Enough as Alabama Eliminated From WCWS
Nick Saban Comments on SEC's Decision to Keep Eight-Game Conference Schedule in 2024
2025 Four-Star RB Anthony Rogers Commits to Alabama Football
