The Crimson Tide and Gamecocks traded leads, with SC coming out on top
May 21, 2016
TUSCALOOSA, AL - Alabama baseball fell in the series finale with No. 10 South Carolina, 9-7, on Saturday afternoon at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Following the season finale, the Crimson Tide will head to the SEC Tournament with a 31-24 overall record, including a 15-15 mark in SEC play.
"Today was much like the series: Every time we kind of made a little run at them, they held us from taking the lead in most spots," said Alabama head coach Mitch Gaspard. "We got a short-lived lead today, but they just continued to respond. South Carolina is a really a hot team. There's some areas here that we've got to take from the weekend and work on. You start fresh again on Tuesday in the SEC Tournament. We've got to put our game together, clean some areas up and execute overall just a little bit better."
The two teams went back and forth, responding to one another with runs at nearly every opportunity. Alabama took a 4-3 lead after three innings, but the Gamecocks would answer with one in the fourth, two in the fifth and single tallies in each of the final three innings. The Crimson Tide scored one in the fifth and then one apiece in the seventh and eighth, but came up short by day's end.
South Carolina scored three in the first to take an early in game three of the series. The Gamecocks led off with a single before rallying with two outs, using a pair of singles and then a double to make it a 3-0 contest after a half inning of play.
In the bottom of the third, the Crimson Tide rallied with two outs, scoring four runs on three hits. Keith Holcombe began the inning, beating out a grounder to the first base side, and was followed by Cobie Vance, who drew a walk on 3-2 to give the Tide two baserunners. Georgie Salem followed with a double over the center fielder's head to score a pair, before Chandler Taylor rounded out the sequence with a home run to left-center, giving the Tide a 4-3 lead heading to the fourth. The home run was Taylor's team-high tying ninth of the season.
South Carolina regained its lead with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases, before a two-out single to left scored two. Alabama answered back with one in the bottom of the frame, using three straight singles from Holcombe, Vance and then Salem to plate one. The Gamecocks added one more in the top of the seventh with a bases-loaded sac fly to right to make it 7-5.
In the bottom of the seventh, Holcombe led off with a single and one out later Salem singled to put runners on the corners for Taylor. The freshman delivered with a single down the right field line to make it 7-6. South Carolina came right back with one of its own in the top of the eighth, using a two-out grounder to second and then a bloop fly in no-man's land to bring one across and push the advantage back to two.
Alabama answered with one of its own in the bottom of the eighth, as a walk from Hunter Webb and a hit-by-pitch to Holcombe put two on with one down and forced a SC pitching change. The new Gamecock arm got a ground ball from Vance, but an errant throw by the shortstop allowed Vance to reach and then move to second while Webb crossed the plate to make it 8-7 heading to the ninth. South Carolina tailed a final run in the ninth to make it a 9-7 game, the eventual final.
The Tide's 1-through-4 hitters batted a combined .530 (9-17) with a double, one home run, six RBI, six runs scored and a stolen base. Taylor finished 2-for-5 with a home run, one run scored, a stolen base and a team-high tying three RBI. Also contributing three RBI was Salem, who went 3-for-5 with a double and added one run. Holcombe finished with a career-high and team-high three runs scored, while Vance led the Tide with two walks and added a 1-for-3 day that included a run scored.
Alabama will next head to the 2016 SEC Baseball Tournament. The Crimson Tide will participate in one of Tuesday's single-elimination matchups, taking on Kentucky in the 4:30 p.m. CT game at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. The winner of that game will advance to the double-elimination portion of the tournament on Wednesday.
Get all the latest information on the team by following AlabamaBSB on Twitter and Instagram and on Facebook at Alabama Baseball. General athletic news can be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.
-UA-
RTR,
Diamond Tide :biga:
May 21, 2016
TUSCALOOSA, AL - Alabama baseball fell in the series finale with No. 10 South Carolina, 9-7, on Saturday afternoon at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Following the season finale, the Crimson Tide will head to the SEC Tournament with a 31-24 overall record, including a 15-15 mark in SEC play.
"Today was much like the series: Every time we kind of made a little run at them, they held us from taking the lead in most spots," said Alabama head coach Mitch Gaspard. "We got a short-lived lead today, but they just continued to respond. South Carolina is a really a hot team. There's some areas here that we've got to take from the weekend and work on. You start fresh again on Tuesday in the SEC Tournament. We've got to put our game together, clean some areas up and execute overall just a little bit better."
The two teams went back and forth, responding to one another with runs at nearly every opportunity. Alabama took a 4-3 lead after three innings, but the Gamecocks would answer with one in the fourth, two in the fifth and single tallies in each of the final three innings. The Crimson Tide scored one in the fifth and then one apiece in the seventh and eighth, but came up short by day's end.
South Carolina scored three in the first to take an early in game three of the series. The Gamecocks led off with a single before rallying with two outs, using a pair of singles and then a double to make it a 3-0 contest after a half inning of play.
In the bottom of the third, the Crimson Tide rallied with two outs, scoring four runs on three hits. Keith Holcombe began the inning, beating out a grounder to the first base side, and was followed by Cobie Vance, who drew a walk on 3-2 to give the Tide two baserunners. Georgie Salem followed with a double over the center fielder's head to score a pair, before Chandler Taylor rounded out the sequence with a home run to left-center, giving the Tide a 4-3 lead heading to the fourth. The home run was Taylor's team-high tying ninth of the season.
South Carolina regained its lead with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases, before a two-out single to left scored two. Alabama answered back with one in the bottom of the frame, using three straight singles from Holcombe, Vance and then Salem to plate one. The Gamecocks added one more in the top of the seventh with a bases-loaded sac fly to right to make it 7-5.
In the bottom of the seventh, Holcombe led off with a single and one out later Salem singled to put runners on the corners for Taylor. The freshman delivered with a single down the right field line to make it 7-6. South Carolina came right back with one of its own in the top of the eighth, using a two-out grounder to second and then a bloop fly in no-man's land to bring one across and push the advantage back to two.
Alabama answered with one of its own in the bottom of the eighth, as a walk from Hunter Webb and a hit-by-pitch to Holcombe put two on with one down and forced a SC pitching change. The new Gamecock arm got a ground ball from Vance, but an errant throw by the shortstop allowed Vance to reach and then move to second while Webb crossed the plate to make it 8-7 heading to the ninth. South Carolina tailed a final run in the ninth to make it a 9-7 game, the eventual final.
The Tide's 1-through-4 hitters batted a combined .530 (9-17) with a double, one home run, six RBI, six runs scored and a stolen base. Taylor finished 2-for-5 with a home run, one run scored, a stolen base and a team-high tying three RBI. Also contributing three RBI was Salem, who went 3-for-5 with a double and added one run. Holcombe finished with a career-high and team-high three runs scored, while Vance led the Tide with two walks and added a 1-for-3 day that included a run scored.
Alabama will next head to the 2016 SEC Baseball Tournament. The Crimson Tide will participate in one of Tuesday's single-elimination matchups, taking on Kentucky in the 4:30 p.m. CT game at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. The winner of that game will advance to the double-elimination portion of the tournament on Wednesday.
Get all the latest information on the team by following AlabamaBSB on Twitter and Instagram and on Facebook at Alabama Baseball. General athletic news can be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.
-UA-
RTR,
Diamond Tide :biga:
