Alabama Baseball Handles Texas A&M, Wins Series

A five-run fourth inning gave the Crimson Tide a lead that the Aggies were never able to overcome.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — After a quiet first few innings, Alabama baseball's bats went to work with a five-run fourth inning, giving the Crimson Tide what would ultimately be an insurmountable lead as it beat Texas A&M 8-4 on Sunday afternoon at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

With the win, the Crimson Tide won its first SEC series of the season and has now won four of its last five games.

"Really glad to get a series win," Alabama coach Brad Bohannon said after the game. "You wanna just play a day at a time, but after losing on Friday, I'm really proud of the way the kids responded.

"We got 70 percent of our league schedule left, but when you play at home you need to win those series. So really glad to get a series and thought we played pretty good this weekend."

In the top of the second, Texas A&M scored first when third baseman Ryan Targac hit a two-run home run over the wall in center field.

In the bottom of the fourth, it was Alabama's chance to respond. Designated hitter William Hamiter, who saw his first start since Feb. 26 at Texas due to a broken foot, doubled to center field for a two-run RBI and tied the game. Another double by catcher Dominic Tamez brought Hamiter home from second, giving the Crimson Tide the lead.

Alabama wasn't done in the fourth, though. An RBI-single by third baseman Zane Denton and an RBI-double by Drew Williamson gave the Crimson Tide two additional runs, making it a five-run fourth inning for Alabama.

"Wasn't happy with my performance up until today," Denton said. "But I tried to just let go of the result and try to simplify my approach: just put the ball in play and luckily it worked out today."

The fifth and sixth innings went by relatively uneventful, with neither side recording runs. However, in the bottom of the seventh, Pinckney reached first on a fielder's choice with runners at the corners. Second baseman Bryce Eblin advanced to second, while right fielder Tommy Seidl beat the throw home for the Crimson Tide's sixth run.

Alabama added another run when Denton was hitch by a pitch with the bases loaded. Pinckney scored, giving the Crimson Tide its seventh run.

Texas A&M added another run in the top of the eighth when a wild pitch from Alabama reliever Landon Green gave Aggies catcher Troy Claunch time to advance home from third. Alabama responded with an RBI-double by Eblin in the bottom of the inning, bringing the Crimson Tide's lead back to five runs.

With Alabama reliever Brock Guffey on the mound in the top of the ninth, Texas A&M left fielder Dylan Rock hit a solo home run, but it was the final of the day for the Aggies as the Crimson Tide won by a final score of 8-4.

On the mound, reliever Hunter Furtado (3-2) was credited with the win for Alabama. Micah Dallas (3-1) was saddled with the loss for the Aggies.

With the win, Alabama moves to 17-12 on the season and is now 4-5 in SEC play. Texas A&M drops to 16-11 on the year and is 4-5 in the conference. Up next, the Crimson Tide will face the Samford Bulldogs on Tuesday at Sewell-Thomas Stadium (6 p.m. CT, SEC Network+).

"We certainly made some mistakes, but I think all three days we did a lot of good things," Bohannon said. "Did some good things offensively today, I thought we pitched well and played good defense — at least on Friday and Sunday.

"Pretty good weekend for us and hopefully we can keep it going on Tuesday."

Gallery: Alabama Baseball vs Texas A&M Highlights