What Went Wrong For Alabama Pitching In 15-10 SEC Tournament Loss To Tennessee

HOOVER, Ala. - Alabama's bullpen put forth a disastrous showing in Alabama's 15-10 loss to Tennessee in the second round of the SEC Tournament. The Crimson Tide gave up 20 hits, the team's most in a game since 2017, as nine different pitchers took the mound for Alabama.

"We just couldn't stop them," Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn said. "That offense was firing on all cylinders today. They didn't make mistakes. They capitalized on stuff. At the end of the day, we just couldn't slow them down."

Aeden Finateri got the start for the Crimson Tide. The right-hander gave up an RBI double in the first and was pulled after allowing a Gavin Kilen RBI single in the second that gave the Vols a 2-0 lead with a runner in scoring position. Matthew Heiberger, second on the team with 23 appearances, came into the game, an early call to the mound for a player who does almost all of his work in the latter half of games.

Heiberger ended the second and got through the third without allowing a run, but ran into trouble early in the fourth inning. Kilen drove in two more runs with a single through the left side, and Andrew Fischer followed it up with a single that brought Kilen to third (Fischer advanced to second on the throw). Heiberger's day was done, and it was Braylon Myers up next for Alabama.

Myers threw a wild pitch in his first at-bat, scoring Kilen and putting the Volunteers up 5-1, but got out of the inning with a fielder's choice that got Fischer out at home and a strikeout. Alabama took a 6-5 lead after a five-run top of the fifth, but Tennessee evened it up in the bottom with an RBI single from Cannon Peebles. All things considered, Alabama was in a good spot through five innings, tied 6-6 with the defending national champions.

That facade deteriorated in the sixth. Zane Adams was brought in for Myers to start the frame, marking the sophomore's first relief appearance of the season. It quickly became apparent that he was not ready for the task at hand. Adams walked Kilen to start the frame, advanced him to second on a wild pitch, and allowed him to score off a Dalton Bargo single. Adams also walked Hunter Ensley in the middle of that, leaving a runner in scoring position with just one out when he was pulled.

"He wasn't sharp," Vaughn said of Adams. "You know, we get two freebies there to the middle, and that's when we need him to calm down and kind of shut that down. And believe me, it ain't a lack of effort for that kid. I mean, he made himself available today and wanted to pitch today."

The 0.1 inning outing marks the shortest appearance of Adams' career. Adams was coming off one of his worst outings of the season over the weekend, giving up four runs (for just the fourth time all year) in 3.1 innings in Saturday's rubber match loss to Florida. Riley Quick, who had started the day before against the Gators, had been petitioning Vaughn to play against Tennessee, but was kept off the field for a myriad of reasons, including his wear and tear, injury history, and status as a probable first-round MLB Draft pick in a couple of months.

"Zane felt fresher, didn't throw nearly as many pitches last week, felt like he could do it," Vaughn said. "We wanted Zane to get a clean inning. We weren't going to bring him in, in the middle of a mess, and we thought that was a window with the top of the lineup coming up."

Things started to spiral for Alabama from there. Hagan Banks lasted just two batters, giving up two singles and allowing two more Tennessee runs. JT Blackwood was promptly brought in and fared no better, giving up consecutive RBIs to the Volunteers. That marked five straight hits for Tennessee, with four of them driving in runs. The inning could have very well continued for even longer, but Tennessee was called out on the basepaths twice to end the frame.

Blackwood settled down in the seventh, and Alabama made it through an inning without giving up a run for just the second time of the day. That immediately changed in the eighth, as Dean Curley hit a leadoff single before Reese Chapman hit a two-run blast that looked like the exclamation point on a dominant offensive day for Tennessee.

Blackwood was pulled for Austin Morris, but the onslaught was not done. First, Justin Lebron committed his second error of the day, allowing Levi Clark to get on base. Peebles walked on six pitches and then scored a moment later alongside pinch runner Colby Backus, as nine-hole hitter Manny Marin ripped a double down the left field line.

Beau Bryans was brought in, marking just his fifth appearance since the start of April, and recorded the first out of the inning. That was all that the junior could manage as he walked the next two batters to load the bases with one out. Alabama, trailing 15-6, was just one hit or walk away from being run-ruled in the SEC Tournament: an embarrassment nobody wants to bear, especially against one of your biggest rivals, and especially when you are fighting to host a regional.

Coulson Buchanan entered the game, the ninth and final pitcher for the Crimson Tide. His outing lasted just five pitches as Stone Lawless grounded into a double play, and, mercifully, Alabama's defense left the diamond at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium for the final time.

The Crimson Tide offense added another four runs in the ninth to make the game appear closer than it was, but the fact of the matter is that Alabama's pitching had its worst showing of the season in its biggest game. It will now be five days of suspense in Tuscaloosa as Alabama eagerly awaits to learn its NCAA Tournament fate.