Ides of March: Tale of Two Starts Dooms Alabama Baseball in SEC Opener

While Alabama's Ben Hess wasn't at his sharpest, Tennessee's AJ Causey spun a gem, pacing the Volunteers en route to a win in the SEC opener.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— It was the bottom of the first inning in Friday's game at Sewell-Thomas Stadium between No. 14 Alabama and No. 5 Tennessee. After retiring Crimson Tide leadoff man Gage Miller, whose 16-game hitting streak ultimately went by the boards, Volunteer starter AJ Causey gave up back-to-back home runs to outfielders TJ McCants and Ian Petrutz. 

Alabama ace Ben Hess had been worked hard in the top of the inning, stranding the bases loaded but giving up a run. His offense had gotten two back for him. His second inning concluded in shutout fashion, as did Causey's.

From there, the two starters went in drastically different directions. Causey, who entered the game with a sub-2 earned run average, ended up throwing 111 pitches across 6.2 innings of work. Hess was lifted for Aidan Moza following five walks and four runs, all earned. Causey won the strikeout battle by a margin of eight to six.

"The story tonight was AJ Causey, to be honest with you," Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn said. "We kinda threw a good haymaker there in the first, I thought took some really good swings on him, and I thought our at-bats against him were really good tonight. But that guy just attacks the strike zone with three different pitches, tough [sidearm] arm slot."

Causey anchored his team and didn't allow another run beyond the first inning. Tennessee coach Tony Vitello continued to ride with the junior right-hander, who picked up the win. The Volunteers (17-1, 1-0 SEC) were victorious 11-3 on the strength of three home runs in addition to the strong start on the hill.

Hess had trouble staying ahead in counts on Friday. His fastball hovered in the mid-90s. Velocity wasn't an issue. "We just couldn't quite put them away early," Vaughn said. "You'd look up and it was 0-2, and it turns into a three-ball count, they spoil some stuff. When you do that, it does a couple things. The hitter gets more comfortable the more pitches he sees, and two, it just drives that pitch count up." 

The Crimson Tide starter saw 27 of his 83 pitches cross the plate in the first inning alone. Payoffs were abundant. A bases-loaded walk scored the first run of the night in a rain-delayed contest. Hess was tagged with the loss, leaving with his ERA at 3.92.

Vaughn praised Causey's continued willingness to attack with his stuff and pound the zone despite Alabama jumping on him early. This full-forward strategy paid dividends. Alabama's offense was scoreless in seven of nine innings played Friday. Causey going long gave opposing hitters the chance to see a pitcher three times through the order. One through nine each saw him thrice. Vitello pulled his starter when the lineup card turned over in the seventh.

"That's big," Vaughn said about the opportunity to experience that. "The more pitches you see, the more comfortable those guys are, especially with a guy like Causey tonight, [with] a different slot." He was good from his arm side and his glove side. "The more you see [them], at least you know what the stuff looks like... You've got a feel for the way the stuff's moving." Vaughn wants to see his team continue sending its stuff, even if they get smacked in the mouth as the offense initially did to the Volunteers.

Saturday's pitching matchup is a bit different, with junior Drew Beam taking the bump for the visitors. Beam's fastball stuff alone adds a different dimension to the offerings Alabama (15-3, 0-1 SEC) will be up against in the series encore as compared to Friday's game. He's akin to Hess in multiple ways and doesn't have the sidearm delivery of Causey that Alabama batters just spent the better part of an entire game facing. Crimson Tide left-hander Greg Farone gets the ball against one of the best pitchers in the conference.

"He's [Farone] been really good, he attacks with the heater, he's got two different breaking balls," Vaughn said. "Drew Beam, the guy can really pitch. He's done it for a couple of years. He's really good. I just need Greg to go out and be Greg. If Greg's Greg, he gives us a shot." The series is still very much in play. "[We've] kind of got some horses ready to go for tomorrow," added Vaughn. Names he mentioned as ready to go were Tyler Fay and Alton Davis II. "I just need Greg to be Greg, and I need our hitters to go out and just run good at-bats off as consistently as possible."

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No. 14 Alabama Baseball Falls to No. 5 Tennessee in SEC Opener