Controversial Call Costs Alabama Baseball Game 1 of Super Regional at No. 1 Wake Forest

The Crimson Tide is faced with a must-win game on Sunday afternoon after losing the opener.

Austin Hannon | Jun 10, 2023

Alabama Athletics

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Alabama baseball is on the brink of its season ending.

The Crimson Tide (43-20, 16-14 SEC) fought hard against the top team in the country, but lost 5-4 to No. 1 overall seed Wake Forest in Game 1 of the Winston-Salem Super Regional on Saturday afternoon at David F. Couch Ballpark.

“Really good college baseball game,” interim head coach Jason Jackson said. “They got us today, but we’ll be back at it tomorrow.”

The ballgame came down to one run — and perhaps it could have gone a different way. With two outs in the fifth inning, the contest was tied 3-3 after a two-run shot from Colby Shelton. With Danny Corona at the plate, Luke Holman threw a pitch out of the zone that it appeared Corona may have swung at. After it was ruled a ball, Corona smashed an inside pitch for a home run that put the Demon Deacons (51-10, 22-7 ACC) up a run — and it ended up being the difference in the game.

“Check swings are tough,” Jackson said. “Those guys got a tough job on that. From where we’re at in the dugout, obviously we thought it was strike three. It’s an emotional game. That’s a big swing — the next guy hits a home run. [...] I thought he went but that’s always a tough call for umpires.”

With the loss, Alabama is against the wall. With a loss on Sunday, the Crimson Tide’s impressive run will come to an end. With a win, there will be a win-or-go-home contest on Monday.

Caden Rose hit two towering home runs in the game, continuing his strong stretch of performances. Shelton, Alabama’s home run leader, pushed his freshman total to 23 long balls on the season.

“No offense to this ballpark, but it doesn’t play the biggest,” Rose said. “You get it up here — it’s gonna go out.”

Holman didn’t have his best stuff on the mound, but he was solid at times during his biggest start of the season. He allowed four earned runs in 5.2 innings while striking out eight and walking nobody.

Despite the loss, it appears that the Crimson Tide is capable of competing with the national championship favorite. It will need to do more than compete to keep its season alive on Sunday.

“This is the two best teams in the country going at it right now,” Rose said. “I don’t care what they have us ranked — this is the best two teams in the country slugging it out. Whoever makes more mistakes — that’s usually the thing that loses. We made one too many mistakes today and that’s something that we’ve got to flush and come back out tomorrow and play our best baseball.”

“This is two teams that haven’t been to Omaha in a really long time trying to get back, so its definitely going to be emotional. But we treat it just like it’s any other game. In a weekend series, you lose on Friday night — you can’t just lay down and give them the next two. You’ve got to come back and play your best baseball the next day.”

Sunday brings an elimination game for Alabama. First pitch from Winston-Salem is set for 11 a.m. CT.

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