Alabama Baseball Drops Its First Game of the Season to Columbia 10-7

The Tide had the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning, but couldn't capitalize and lost to the Lions.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Alabama baseball lost its first game of the season as the Columbia Lions defeated the Tide 10-7.

A slow start offensively and defensive mishaps were the culprit tonight as Brad Bohannon's squad was held hitless for the first two innings while giving up two errors and a couple of wild pitches over the course of the game.

"For as well as we played the first 14 games of the year, we were every bit as bad tonight," Bohannon said after the game. "Just really poor in every area. We pitched very, very poorly. The number of times we missed the mitt by three or four feet was just unacceptable.

"We didn't defend the field very well, and I did not like the quality of the at-bats. Just really poor effort by our club tonight."

Columbia's Hayden Schott hit a solo home run in the top of the eighth inning, but that was the icing on the cake as the Lions had a base runner every inning except the last one.

The Lions got on the board in the second inning after Anton Lazits walked and Seth Dardar drove him in with an RBI-triple. Dardar soon scored the second run after Grayson Hitt threw a wild pitch.

Alabama finally got its first hit in the bottom of the third after Tommy Seidl hit a single to right field. After advancing to second on a wild pitch, Will Hodo drove him in for the Tide's first run.

Columbia responded by scoring three runs in the top of the fourth inning, followed by Caden Rose's solo homer in the bottom half to make the score 5-2.

Things started to fall apart in the top of the fifth, which is where an attempt by Guscette to get the runner out at third turned into an error, allowing a run to score and another runner to advance and eventually score to make it 7-2.

In the top of the seventh, Columbia scored another run as a result of an error by Colby Shelton and a wild pitch by Hunter Furtado. The Lions scored another run and it looked like the gap would be too much, until Will Hodo hit a three-run homer in the bottom half to make the score 9-5.

Each club added one more run in the eighth inning, making it 10-6 going into the bottom of the ninth. Alabama was able to load the bases for Drew Williamson who hit a ground ball that bounced over the first baseman and drove in a run.

With the score 10-7, the bases were loaded again and Mac Guscette was at the plate. It looked like he would sneak another hit over the shortstop, but Andy Blake made a running over-the-shoulder catch to end the game.

With the loss, the Tide fell to 14-1. Alabama will play Columbia in a doubleheader on Saturday with the first game at 1 p.m. CT and the second approximately 45 minutes after. Both games will be broadcast on SEC Network+.

How it happened...

FINAL - Columbia 10, Alabama 7

Alabama Box Score

Columbia Box Score

Bottom 9

• The shortstop makes and over-the-shoulder catch to end the game

• Hamiter was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs. Mac Guscette will bat

• William Hamiter pinch-hits for Caden Rose

• Jarvis pops out

• Williamson hits a high bounce over the first baseman for a single. Shelton scores and Pinckney moves to third. Score is 10-7 Columbia

• Justin Tucker is the new pitcher for the Lions

• Pinckney is walked. Runners are on the corners with Williamson to bat and one out

• Shelton advances to third on the wild pitch

• Hodo is out on the fielder's choice. Shelton moves to second with Pinckney up to bat

• Shelton earns a walk. Will Hodo will bat

• Colby Shelton will lead off for Alabama

Top 9

• Ball has a 1-2-3 inning for Alabama

• Jack Kail will lead off for Columbia

Bottom 8

• Seidl strikes out to end the inning

• The ball bounces off the wall and Johnson reaches third base on an RBI-triple. Tommy Seidl will bat, score is 10-6 Columbia

• Guscette ground into a third-to-first double play, meaning Jarvis, the lead runner, was out. Rose advanced to second with Ed Johnson to the plate.

• Caden Rose also draws a walk. Mac Guscette will bat with two on and no outs

• Jim Jarvis draws a walk to start the inning

• Camron Hubble is the new pitcher for the Lions

Top 8

• Rose catches the fly ball to end the inning

• After retiring the next two batters, Ball gives up a single to Skye Selinsky

• Hayden Schott hits a home run on the first pitch. Score is 10-5 Columbia

• Connor Ball is in to pitch for Alabama

Bottom 7

• The ball reaches the warning track, but Williamson flies out to end the inning

• Pinckney strikes out swinging. Williamson will bat with two outs

• Hodo hits a three-run home run to right center field. Score is 9-5 Columbia

• Shelton hits a double to deep left field. Hodo will bat with two runners in scoring position and one out

• Seidl strikes out looking. Colby Shelton will bat

• Johnson is walked. Tommy Seidl walks to the plate

• Ed Johnson leads off for Alabama

Top 7

• Williamson catches the flyout to end the inning

• Furtado strikes out the batter while Cole Hage steals second

• Johnson throws out the runner at second for the fielder's choice for the first out

• Jack Kail hits a bloop single to left center. A run scores to make it 9-2 Columbia

• Griffin Palfrey was hit by a pitch. Runners on the corners with no one out

• A wild pitch by Furtado allows Dardar to slide headfirst into home plate, just beating the tag from Guscette. Score is 8-2 Columbia

• Ed Johnson overthrew Williamson at first, allowing Dardar Skye Selinsky to reach second and third

• Dardar hits a single to left field

• Seth Dardar to lead off for Columbia

Bottom 6

• Guscetter strikes out swinging to end the inning

• Rose pops out to the second baseman. Mac Guscette to bat

• Williamson was caught trying to steal third for the first out

• Miscommunication between the shortstop and third baseman allowed Jarvis to reach first base. Caden Rose will bat with no outs and two runners on base

• The left fielder slipped as he was trying to make the catch, allowing Williamson to reach second.

• Drew Williamson leads off for Alabama

• Will Parkinson will pitch for Columbia

Top 6

• Furtado gets a strikeout to end the inning

• Eberly steals second supplies from her kids

• Scott strikes out swingnig. 

• Eberly is walks. Hayden Schott to bat around

•  Andy Blake flies out to start the inning

Bottom 5

• Pinckney strikes out to end he inning

• Hodo hits a single to right field

• Colby Shelton flies out. Will Hodo to bat

• Seidl flies out to deep center field

• Tommy Seidl will lead off for Alabama

Top 5

• Furtado srikes out the last batter to end the inning

• Jarvis gets the out but the runner scores on the fielder's choice. Score is 7-2 Alabama

• Hunter Furtado to pitch for Alabama

• Blatter gets the strikeout, but Guscette makes a bad throw trying to get the runner at thir. Lazits scored on the error, making it 6-2 Columbia

• Seth Dardar is walked. Two runners on and no outs with Skye Selinsky to bat

• Lazits advances to second on a wild pitch

• Lazits is walked

• Ed Johnson replaces Bryce Eblin at second base

• Anton Lazits will lead off for Columbia

Bottom 4

• Eblin grounds into a double play to end the inning

• Mac Guscette hits a single to right field. Bryce Eblin to bat with one out

• Rose send the ball over the left field fence. Score is 5-2 Columbia

• Jarvis strikes out looking. Caden Rose is up to bat

• Jim Jarvis will lead off for Alabama

Top 4

• Hayden Schott flies out to end the inning

• Weston Eberly is walked

• Andy Blake legs out an RBI-double for Columbia. 5-1 Lions

• Blatter strikes out Cole Hage

• Brock Blatter is in to pitch for Alabama

• Jack Kail grounds out but drives in another run. 4-1 Columbia

• Griffin Palfrey hits an RBI-double down the line. Score is 3-1 Columbia

• Dardar gets on base with a walk, followed by a Selinsky single

• Seth Dardar will lead off for Columbia

Bottom 3

• Williamson flies out to end the inning

• The throw from the third baseman pulls the first baseman off the bag. He tries to tag Pinckney but he misses. Two runners are on with two outs and Drew Williamson is up to bat

• Hodo hits an RBI-single up the middle. Score is 2-1 with Andrew Pinckney at the plate and two outs

• Shelton flies out. WIll Hodo to bat with two outs

• Seidl advances to second on a wild pitch

• Seidl gets the first hit of the night for Alabama. Colby Shelton to bat

• Eblin grounds out. Tommy Seidl to bat

• Bryce Eblin leads off for Alabama

Top 3

• Hitt strikes out the last batter to avoid another run and end the inning

• After striking out the first two batters, Hitt gives up back-to-back singles

• Cole Hage leads off for Columbia

Bottom 2 

• Rose strikes out to end the inning

• Jarvis advances to third on a wild pitch

• Rose pops out in foul territory. Mac Guscette to hit with two outs

• Jarvis advances to second on a passed ball

• Jarvis is hit by pitch. Caden Rose to bat

• Williamson strikes out. Jim Jarvis to bat

• Drew Williamson will take his first at-bat of the night

Top 2

• Hitt strikes out the next three batters to minimize the damage. The score is 2-0 Columbia with Alabama to bat

• Selinsky strikes out

• Dardar was able to score on a wild pitch from Hitt. Score is 2-0 Columbia

• Dardar hits an RBI-triple. Skye Selinsky will bat with the score 1-0 Columbia

• Lazits was walked. Seth Dardar to the plate.

• Anton Lazits will lead off for Columbia

Bottom 1 (Alabama Hitting)

• Pinckney couldn't beat the throw as the inning comes to an end

• Hodo almost beat the throw as the first baseman fumbled it, but the play was made. Andrew Pinckney will bat with two outs

• Shelton strikes out. Will Hodo to bat

• Colby Shelton will lead off for Alabama

Top 1 (Columbia Hitting)

• Hitt gets another strikeout to end the inning 

• Shelton throws out the runner for the second out of the inning

• Hage steals second

• Hitt gets his first strikeout

• Columbia's Cole Hage hits a single to right field

• Grayson Hitt throws the first pitch and the game is underway

Pregame

• First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT

• Umpires for the game
• HP - Brian Hale
• 1B - Derek Mollica
• 2B - Danny Cricks
• 3B - Eric Goshay

🐘 #RollTide pic.twitter.com/TWvSxZAvNw

— Alabama Baseball (@AlabamaBSB) March 10, 2023