Tide suffers first loss of the young season
3/2/2018
NORMAN, OK – Alabama baseball fell to Oklahoma, 2-1, in extra innings on Friday evening at L. Dale Mitchell Park. The loss is the first of the season for the Crimson Tide and moves UA to 9-1 overall.
"That was a really great college baseball game tonight that could have gone either way," said Alabama head coach Brad Bohannon. "Unfortunately, they made one more big play than we did. I'm really proud of the way our kids competed. Hats off to (Oklahoma starter) Jake Irvin and Oklahoma's bullpen tonight; they were impressive. Sam Finnerty and Kyle Cameron did a great job of giving us an opportunity to win this game. I'm excited to see how we respond tomorrow."
In a pitcher's duel, each team's starter provided its club with a quality start followed by a strong outing from the bullpen. Sam Finnerty tossed a career-long 8.0 innings and a career-high 102 pitches. The junior right-hander allowed one earned run on eight hits and two walks while punching out a pair. Redshirt sophomore Kyle Cameron entered for the final 2.1 innings of relief, allowing one unearned run in the bottom of the 11th, which would prove the difference in the game.
Jake Irvin, the Oklahoma starter, worked 7.0 innings of one-run baseball with 11 strikeouts before handing it over to his pen. The four Sooner relievers combined for 4.0 innings of scoreless baseball in the win, striking out six and allowing only one hit.
Oklahoma took a 1-0 lead after one inning of play. The first batter of the day got aboard with a walk to start the inning, and a sacrifice bunt moved the Sooner leadoff man into scoring position. A single in the next at-bat put the runner 90 feet away before a sac fly to center crossed the game's first run.
The two teams went scoreless until the Tide evened things up in the top of the sixth. Hunter Alexander led off the inning with a walk. Two outs later, junior Keith Holcombe doubled to left field to bring the senior Alexander home and make it a 1-1 game.
Alabama had a chance to take the lead in the 10th, advancing a man into scoring position with two down, but was unable to capitalize on the opportunity. In the 11th, the Tide used a leadoff walk and a two-out walk to put a man in scoring position once again but could not gain the lead.
In the bottom of the 11th, a fielding error to lead off the inning put one on for the Sooners. A sac bunt moved the runner to second and the very next hitter sent a single to center to walk it off for Oklahoma.
Alabama's offense was led by Holcombe who finished 2-for-5 with a double and the Tide's lone RBI of the night. The junior extended his hitting streak to eight games with the multi-hit performance. Senior Chandler Avant also extended his hitting streak, this one to 10 games, with a 1-for-4 evening.
The Crimson Tide looks to even the series up tomorrow afternoon. Alabama will call on senior right-hander Jake Walters in the start while Oklahoma sends Devon Perez, also a senior righty, to the hill on Saturday. Game two of the series can be seen on Fox Sports Oklahoma+ with a 4 p.m. CT first pitch.
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:
3/2/2018
NORMAN, OK – Alabama baseball fell to Oklahoma, 2-1, in extra innings on Friday evening at L. Dale Mitchell Park. The loss is the first of the season for the Crimson Tide and moves UA to 9-1 overall.
"That was a really great college baseball game tonight that could have gone either way," said Alabama head coach Brad Bohannon. "Unfortunately, they made one more big play than we did. I'm really proud of the way our kids competed. Hats off to (Oklahoma starter) Jake Irvin and Oklahoma's bullpen tonight; they were impressive. Sam Finnerty and Kyle Cameron did a great job of giving us an opportunity to win this game. I'm excited to see how we respond tomorrow."
In a pitcher's duel, each team's starter provided its club with a quality start followed by a strong outing from the bullpen. Sam Finnerty tossed a career-long 8.0 innings and a career-high 102 pitches. The junior right-hander allowed one earned run on eight hits and two walks while punching out a pair. Redshirt sophomore Kyle Cameron entered for the final 2.1 innings of relief, allowing one unearned run in the bottom of the 11th, which would prove the difference in the game.
Jake Irvin, the Oklahoma starter, worked 7.0 innings of one-run baseball with 11 strikeouts before handing it over to his pen. The four Sooner relievers combined for 4.0 innings of scoreless baseball in the win, striking out six and allowing only one hit.
Oklahoma took a 1-0 lead after one inning of play. The first batter of the day got aboard with a walk to start the inning, and a sacrifice bunt moved the Sooner leadoff man into scoring position. A single in the next at-bat put the runner 90 feet away before a sac fly to center crossed the game's first run.
The two teams went scoreless until the Tide evened things up in the top of the sixth. Hunter Alexander led off the inning with a walk. Two outs later, junior Keith Holcombe doubled to left field to bring the senior Alexander home and make it a 1-1 game.
Alabama had a chance to take the lead in the 10th, advancing a man into scoring position with two down, but was unable to capitalize on the opportunity. In the 11th, the Tide used a leadoff walk and a two-out walk to put a man in scoring position once again but could not gain the lead.
In the bottom of the 11th, a fielding error to lead off the inning put one on for the Sooners. A sac bunt moved the runner to second and the very next hitter sent a single to center to walk it off for Oklahoma.
Alabama's offense was led by Holcombe who finished 2-for-5 with a double and the Tide's lone RBI of the night. The junior extended his hitting streak to eight games with the multi-hit performance. Senior Chandler Avant also extended his hitting streak, this one to 10 games, with a 1-for-4 evening.
The Crimson Tide looks to even the series up tomorrow afternoon. Alabama will call on senior right-hander Jake Walters in the start while Oklahoma sends Devon Perez, also a senior righty, to the hill on Saturday. Game two of the series can be seen on Fox Sports Oklahoma+ with a 4 p.m. CT first pitch.
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:
