Baseball’s Late Rally Not Enough in 5-3 Loss to Top-Ranked Arkansas

Friday, April 12

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

6 p.m. CT

Alabama

22-12, 4-9

Arkansas

30-3, 12-1

Arkansas

Alabama

Baseball’s Late Rally Not Enough in 5-3 Loss to Top-Ranked Arkansas

4/12/2024 9:48:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery Postgame Press Conference

The Crimson Tide battled for three runs in the eighth but could get no closer

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama baseball suffered a 5-3 loss to top-ranked Arkansas on Friday evening at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Following the opener, the 16^th-ranked Crimson Tide moved to 22-12 overall and 4-9 in Southeastern Conference play.

Arkansas belted back-to-back homers in the first to take an early 3-0 lead. The Hogs then followed with a pair of runs in the third to make it 5-0, where the score would stay until the home half of the eighth. In that eighth, Alabama scratched across three runs. Bryce Eblin and Gage Miller started the rally with back-to-back singles followed by consecutive RBI-singles from Ian Petrutz and Justin Lebron. Following a walk to load the bases, the Tide added another tally on a TJ McCants sacrifice fly and had the tying runs on base with one down, but a strikeout and a groundout ended the inning at 5-3, the eventual final.

Hagen Smith (7-0) earned the win for Arkansas, striking out six, walking three and allowing two hits in his 6.0 scoreless frames. Gabe Gaeckle recorded the final five outs of the series-opener to register his sixth save of the season. Ben Hess (3-3) was charged with the loss, allowing five runs on five hits and three walks with eight strikeouts in 5.0 innings of work.

From Head Coach Rob Vaughn

"I do not believe in moral victories – at the end of the day we lost 5-3 at home and that's not something that we'll ever be okay with. But I saw something different from our kids tonight. Our competitiveness was elite at the plate; those guys competed their tails off while they were in the box. We didn't do that at Kentucky or against South Alabama, but we went out there and competed tonight. We didn't get it done, but when I see a team that is coming in and battling each day the way that we did tonight, then we are going to be just fine when the dust settles."

How It Happened

T1 | A one-out single was followed by a two-run homer from Ben McLaughlin. Jared Sprague-Lott went yard in the next at-bat for a solo shot. (3-0, Arkansas)
T3 | With runners on the corners and two down, an RBI-single followed by a wild pitch added a pair of runs for the Hogs. (5-0, Arkansas)
B8 | Bryce Eblin and Gage Miller began the inning with back-to-back singles. Ian Petrutz followed with an RBI-single to left to plate a run with Justin Lebron matching him, tallying an RBI-single of his own. After an Arkansas pitching change and a Will Hodo walk to load the bases, TJ McCants sent a sacrifice fly into left to bring home the Tide's shortstop. (5-3, Arkansas)

Postgame Notes

The Crimson Tide pitchers totaled 10 strikeouts on the night and have posted double-digit Ks in 17 total games.
Gage Miller has reached base safely in all 33 games that he has played in. That is the longest reached base streak by a Crimson Tide hitter since Taylor Dugas' 34-game streak to start the 2012 season. The 34-game stretch was part of Dugas' 46-game streak overall that included the final 12 games of the 2011 campaign.
ATTENDANCE: 5,524

Alabama and Arkansas will meet for game two of the series on Saturday evening at The Joe. The Crimson Tide will call on senior left-hander Greg Farone while the Razorbacks counter with junior Mason Molina, also a lefty. Game two is set for a 5 p.m. CT start with the contest airing on SEC Network+.

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