⚾ 🥎 Baseball Comes Up Short on Sunday at 15th-Ranked Florida, 6-3

[UA Press Release]

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama continues its stretch on the road with a three-game series in Gainesville this weekend against 15th-ranked Florida. The Crimson Tide and the Gators are scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. CT first pitch on both Friday and Saturday followed by a Noon CT start on Sunday. The three games at McKethan Stadium can be seen live on SEC Network+.

FOLLOW THE TIDE
Fans can follow this weekend's games via the below outlets:
Watch: SEC Network+
Listen: 102.9 FM / CTSN / TuneIn App
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB
Live Stats: FloridaGators.com

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
FRIDAY: UA – Sam Finnerty (Sr., RHP) vs. UF – Tommy Mace (So., RHP)
SATURDAY: UA – Brock Love (R-Jr., RHP) vs. UF – Tyler Dyson (Jr., RHP)
SUNDAY: UA – TBA vs. UF – Jack Leftwich (So., RHP)

LEADING OFF
• Alabama and Florida will meet for the 118th time in series history when the two teams square off for the series opener on Friday night at Alfred A. McKethan Stadium. Florida holds the all-time series advantage, 60-57, including a 30-18 mark in Gainesville.
• The two conference foes last met for a series from May 12-14, 2017, in Tuscaloosa, with the seventh-ranked Gators earning the sweep. The Crimson Tide came up short in the opener, 2-1. The Crimson Tide received a quality start from Jake Walters who tossed 7.0 innings of one-run baseball, allowing only two hits while striking out a season-high tying eight batters. Walters' lone mistake of the night came on a 3-1 pitch to JJ Schwarz for a solo home run in the seventh. Florida continued with a 13-6 win on Saturday night and a 10-5 victory on Sunday afternoon to secure the sweep.
• Alabama enters the weekend in Gainesville with senior right-hander Sam Finnerty slotted in the Friday night starter spot. The Crimson Tide will send righty Brock Love, a redshirt junior, to the hill on Saturday with Sunday's starter still to be announced.
• Florida will use a trio of righties this weekend. The Gators call on sophomore Tommy Mace on Friday to open the series followed by junior Tyler Dyson on Saturday. Sophomore Jack Leftwich will get the nod on Sunday in game three of the series.

ABOUT ALABAMA
• Alabama enters the weekend in Gainesville having gone 2-2 over the last four games. The Crimson Tide pitched a 10-0 shutout of ninth-ranked Arkansas last Saturday as part of the weekend series before downing No. 12 Auburn by a score of 6-3 in the annual MAX Capital City Classic in Montgomery on Tuesday evening.
• The Crimson Tide suffered a 12-3 loss at the hands of ninth-ranked Arkansas on Friday. The Razorbacks scored one in the first before putting up six in the second and another single tally in the third to put the game out of reach. Arkansas widened their lead with two apiece in both the eighth and the ninth to end their scoring at 12. Alabama was able to post three runs in the ninth, but the late rally was not enough in the end.
• Alabama turned the tables on Saturday, blanking the Razorbacks by a score of 10-0. Alabama excelled on both sides of the ball, posting 10 runs while shutting out the high-powered Razorback offense. All nine Crimson Tide starters reached base safely, with eight of the nine collecting at least one RBI and seven of the starters recording one or more runs scored.
• Keith Holcombe finished his day at 2-for-5 with a double and his third home run of the season. The senior added one RBI and a team-high tying two runs scored. Also recording two hits was Kolby Robinson, with the junior going 2-for-5 and crossing a team-high three RBI to go with his one run scored.
• On the mound, redshirt junior Brock Love earned his third win of the season thanks to a career-long 5.1 scoreless frames. The right-hander allowed two hits and three walks while striking out one across his 83 pitches before turning it over to the bullpen. Brock Guffey followed, with the sophomore matching his career-long for innings at 2.2 before freshman Connor Shamblin closed things out with a scoreless ninth.
• The Crimson Tide fell to Arkansas by a score of 10-2 on Sunday afternoon. The Razorbacks got on the board first with two runs apiece in the first and third frames. Alabama cut the early lead in half with a two-run fourth, but four runs in the fifth and another pair in the eighth secured the series-clinching win for the Hogs.
• A three-run eighth helped Alabama secure the 6-3 win over 12th-ranked Auburn on Tuesday at Riverwalk Stadium. The victory was UA's first in the neutral site matchup since 2014.
• The Crimson Tide offense was led by Drew Williamson who earned MVP honors in the Capital City Classic. The freshman finished a perfect 4-for-4 with a double and two runs scored. Senior Joe Breaux also contributed a multi-hit effort, finishing 2-for-3 with a double plus a team-high three RBI and two walks.
• Alabama utilized a season-high eight arms on the mound with Jeremy Randolph earning his first win of the season. The graduate transfer tossed the final 2.1 scoreless innings, striking out two, including the game's final out.
• The Tide and Tigers played the game in front of a Riverwalk Stadium record-setting attendance total of 7,896.
• Alabama returned 13 letterwinners while losing 18 from the 2018 squad. The 2019 Crimson Tide welcomed back three positional starters and two starting pitchers while hosting 22 newcomers.

ABOUT FLORIDA
• Kevin O'Sullivan is in his 12th season with the Gators in 2019 and entered the new campaign with a career record of 497-229 - all in Gainesville. His time at UF is highlighted by five SEC Championships, seven NCAA College World Series appearances and one National Championship in 2017. O'Sullivan is joined by assistant coaches Craig Bell and Brad Weitzel along with volunteer assistant coach Lars Davis.
• Florida returned 15 letterwinners, including five positional starters and seven pitchers, from the 2018 team that finished 49-21 overall and 20-10 in SEC action to finish first in the East. The Gators went on to advance to the CWS where they were eliminated by Arkansas. The 2019 roster is without 12 lettermen from a season ago, a number that includes four positional starters and seven pitchers. The 2019 UF roster features 15 newcomers, 11 of which are freshmen.
• The Gators were selected to finish second in the East and third overall in the SEC in the league's preseason poll, as voted on by the conference's head coaches.

 

[UA Press Release]

Low-Scoring Affair Favors the Gators in Baseball’s 3-1 Loss at 15th-Ranked Florida - University of Alabama Athletics

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A tight game between Alabama and Florida saw the 15th-ranked Gators come away with a 3-1 win on Friday evening at McKethan Stadium. The loss moves the Crimson Tide's record to 20-7 overall, including a 2-5 mark in Southeastern Conference play.

"Their starter Tommy Mace was outstanding. He did a great job," said Alabama head coach Brad Bohannon. "We didn't play bad, but we gave them a little bit more than they gave us. They played a really, really clean game. I thought we were a little tentative tonight – that's what I talked to the team about, and I'm really anxious for us to come back out tomorrow and be a little more aggressive."

Florida starter Tommy Mace (5-2) allowed only one run across his complete game effort. The sophomore allowed three hits and issued a walk while striking out seven for the win on Friday night. Sam Finnerty (4-3) suffered the loss, giving up three runs on five hits and three walks with a pair of strikeouts across his 4.0-plus innings of work. Finnerty saw his night end in the fifth when he ran into trouble, but redshirt freshman Chase Lee and junior Casey Cobbentered in relief, combining for the final 4.0 innings and keeping the UF offense at bay.

The Gators were first on the board in Friday's matchup, scoring one in the bottom of the first for the early 1-0 lead. Alabama evened things up in the top of the third thanks to an RBI-single from Kolby Robinson. The junior crossed freshman T.J. Reeves, who got aboard with a one-out single before eventually coming around to score on the Robinson two-out single.

Both teams went scoreless through the fourth before the Gators tallied a pair in the fifth for a 3-1 advantage. Alabama threatened in the sixth with a leadoff walk, but a double play and a strikeout followed. In the ninth, the Tide was able to reach the leadoff man once again but then went down in order, with Mace using a strikeout, popup and groundout to end things at 3-1 in favor of the Gators.

Alabama will look to even the series up on Saturday evening when the Crimson Tide and Gators meet for a 5:30 p.m. CT first pitch at McKethan Stadium. The game two matchup will feature a pair of righties with redshirt junior Brock Love getting the nod for UA while Florida counters with Tyler Dyson, a junior. The game will air live on SEC Network+.

 

[UA Press Release]

Baseball Falls, 12-3, at No. 15 Florida on Saturday Evening - Alabama Athletics

Alabama baseball suffered a 12-3 loss to No. 15 Florida on Saturday night at McKethan Stadium. Following game two of the series, the Crimson Tide is 20-8 ove...

rolltide.com

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Alabama baseball suffered a 12-3 loss to No. 15 Florida on Saturday night at McKethan Stadium. Following game two of the series, the Crimson Tide is 20-8 overall, 2-6 in Southeastern Conference action.

"It was a really tough night for us," said Alabama head coach Brad Bohannon. "To Florida's credit, they really hit a lot of balls hard – 16 hits and five home runs. They're starting to look like the team that everyone anticipated going into the season. When you're facing a really talented team, you have to get ahead in the count; keep the ball down and out of the middle of the plate; and you have to be able to throw some secondary stuff for a strike; and we didn't do enough of that tonight."

Home runs were the story of the game on Saturday as the Gators tallied five with three solo shots and a pair of two-run homers to secure the series-clinching win. Florida reliever Christian Scott (3-1) earned the win for the Gators with 4.2 innings of one-run baseball, while Alabama starter Brock Love (3-1) suffered his first loss of the season.

A solo home run by both teams made it a 1-1 game after two innings of play. The Gators tallied a solo shot in the first to kick off the scoring, followed by freshman Drew Williamson recording his first home run of the season in the next half inning to even things up. Florida then used three home runs in the third to make it a 5-1 contest. Two of the three roundtrippers were solo shots with the third going for two runs.

Alabama was able to score one more in the top of the fourth with a sacrifice fly from senior Joe Breaux scoring T.J. Reeves from third. The freshman began the run-scoring sequence with a hit-by-pitch and moved to second on a walk before a passed ball put him 90 feet away for Breaux to cross him.

The Gators added two more in the bottom of the fourth. Two singles started things off and forced a Tide pitching change. The next batter dropped a sacrifice bunt to move the runners into scoring position before a third single in the inning scored the pair, making it 7-2 through four full.

Both teams would go scoreless until the top of the seventh when Alabama rallied for a run. Breaux led things off with a single and moved around to third before a passed ball allowed the center fielder to score to cut the Gator advantage to four at 7-3. Florida would add two in the seventh and three in the eighth to make it a 12-3 game, the eventual final.

The two teams return to the diamond on Sunday for an 11 a.m. CT first pitch at McKethan Stadium. Alabama will send freshman Tyler Ras, a righty, to the hill while Florida calls on sophomore right-hander Jack Leftwich in the series finale. Fans can catch all the action live on SEC Network+.

 

[UA Press Release]

Baseball Comes Up Short on Sunday at 15th-Ranked Florida, 6-3 - University of Alabama Athletics

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Alabama baseball scored two runs late but was unable to complete the comeback in a 6-3 loss at No. 15 Florida on Sunday afternoon at McKethan Stadium. The Crimson Tide is now 20-9 on the season and 2-7 in Southeastern Conference play.

The Tide jumped out front early with one in the second but was countered in the home half by a pair of Florida runs. The Gators added two more in both the fourth and the eighth to take a 6-1 lead. A two-out walk for junior Brett Auerbach in the ninth put one on for pinch-hitter T.J. Reeves. The freshman homered to straightaway center to narrow the gap to 6-3 and give the Tide life, but a groundout ended things in favor of Florida.

Reliever Hunter Ruth (1-0) earned the win for Florida with 7.2 innings of relief. Ruth allowed one run on four hits with a walk while striking out five. Alabama freshman starter Tyler Ras (1-2) suffered the loss.

Alabama struck first on Sunday, scoring one in the top of the second. A leadoff single from Drew Williamson followed by a walk put the freshman in scoring position before a sacrifice bunt moved him 90 feet away. An infield groundout in the next at-bat led to a rundown at both second and third, but an errant throw by the Florida first baseman went over the catcher and to the backstop, crossing Williamson to give UA a 1-0 lead.

Florida answered with two in the bottom of the second to take its first lead of the day at 2-1. In the fourth, the Gators used a two-run home run to double their tally for a three-run lead of 4-1 through four full. The scoring stalled until the bottom of the eighth, when Florida added two more for a 6-1 advantage.

In the ninth, the Crimson Tide got a two-out walk from Auerbach and pinch-hit Reeves in the next at-bat. Reeves sent an 0-1 pitch to center to cut the lead to three, but the Tide was unable to come any closer as a groundout ended the Sunday game.

Alabama will now return home for a four-game stretch at Sewell-Thomas Stadium starting on Tuesday, April 2. The Crimson Tide will play host to the Troy Trojans for a 6 p.m. CT matchup in Tuscaloosa. The midweek matchup can be seen live on SEC Network+.