Late Run Downs Alabama Baseball in 6-5 Loss at South Carolina

After blowing a five-run lead, the Gamecocks came back to walk off Alabama in the ninth.

Alabama baseball suffered a 6-5 loss to South Carolina on Thursday evening at Founders Park. The Crimson Tide is now 25-18 on the season and 9-10 in Southeastern Conference play.

The Gamecocks used three home runs to build a 5-0 lead after three innings of play. Alabama would not back down, scratching across one run apiece in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to send the game to the ninth at 5-3. With two down, Drew Williamson delivered a two-run single to make it a 5-5 ballgame. The Gamecocks were able to put runners on the corners with one down in the home half before a blooper fell just beyond the reach of three Tide defenders for the game-winning single.

“I’m really proud of the way the kids fought back and competed," said Alabama head coach Brad Bohannon. "I told them ‘We didn’t lose the game in the ninth inning. We lost it by kicking a double play ball that led to a three-run homer in the third’. We also had second and third with nobody out, but we didn’t score. Those kinds of things come back to bite you when you’re playing on the road in this league.”

Garrett McMillan was solid in his start. The junior tossed 6.2 innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on five hits and two walks with four strikeouts on a career-high 119 pitches. Brock Guffey (2-2) followed for 1.2 innings, suffering the loss after allowing the run in the ninth. Cade Austin (4-1) was tabbed with the win for the Gamecocks.

How It Happened

• B2 | A solo homer by Andrew Eyster opened the game’s scoring. (1-0, South Carolina)
• B3 | Michael Braswell led off the inning with a home run. Josiah Sightler then recorded the inning’s second homer, this one a three-run shot. (5-0, South Carolina)
• T4 | The Tide was able to load the bases with William Hamiter’s fielder’s choice allowing one to score. (5-1, South Carolina)
• T5 | Bryce Eblin led off with a single before Caden Rose doubled to put both runners in scoring position. A single to center from Jim Jarvis crossed Eblin for a Tide run. (5-2, South Carolina)
• T6 | Andrew Pinckney led things off with a double to right-center. A lineout to right allowed Pinckney to move to third before Dominic Tamez brought him in with a sacrifice fly. (5-3, South Carolina)
• T9 | Will Hodo reached on a fielder’s choice followed by a walk to Jarvis. Then, with two down, Williamson singled to straightaway center to score the pair, highlighted by a nice slide under the tag from Jarvis. (5-5)
• B9 | A blooper dropped just beyond the reach of three Tide defenders for an RBI-single. (6-5, South Carolina)

Postgame Notes

• The Tide has now totaled double-digit hits in 24 games this season.
• With his 2-for-3 night, Drew Williamson has recorded a hit in nine straight games. Over that streak, the senior is batting .378 (14-37) with two doubles, one triple, two home runs, seven RBI, five runs scored and three walks.
• Williamson has reached base safely in 19 straight games dating back to March 27.

Alabama and South Carolina return to the diamond on Friday for game two of the series. The Crimson Tide will send senior right-hander Jacob McNairy to the mound while the Gamecocks counter with junior Noah Hall, also a righty. The Friday matchup will air on SEC Network+ starting at 6 p.m. CT.