TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama baseball completed the comeback against North Alabama for an 8-6 win on Tuesday evening at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The win moves the Crimson Tide to 23-13 on the season.
The two teams were knotted up at three apiece after two innings of play. North Alabama plated two in the sixth to take the lead before the Tide answered with a pair in the bottom of the seventh to set things even once again. The Lions added one in the top of the eighth, but a three-run home half pushed UA in front for good for the eventual 8-6 win.
Alabama’s offense was led by Sam Praytor. The Tide’s designated hitter wrapped up his night 3-for-4 with a double, a home run, four RBI and one run scored. William Hamiter finished behind him in RBI with two, with both RBI coming on Hamiter’s go-ahead, two-run single in the bottom of the eighth.
Chase Lee (6-0) picked up the win. The Crimson Tide reliever worked the final 1.2 frames, striking out the side in the ninth for his team-leading sixth victory of the season. Alabama’s bullpen was tasked with throwing 8.2 of 9.0 innings on the night, highlighted by Lee’s effort along with another strong outing from William Freeman. Freeman entered in a jam in the top of the first and got the final two outs to limit the damage. He went on to record 2.2 scoreless frames with two punchouts.
From Head Coach Brad Bohannon
“Not how we scripted it this morning when we were in the office talking about the game, but I’m glad to get the win. Winning is hard and there have probably been times in the past when we wouldn’t have found a way to win a game like this. North Alabama certainly helped a little bit at the end, but I’m proud of our guys for taking advantage and finishing the game.”
How It Happened
- T1 | A wild pitch with the bases loaded brought in the game’s first run. That same at-bat resulted in a 4-3 groundout to cross one more before a Tide miscue allowed a third run to come in for the Lions. (3-0, North Alabama)
- B1 | Peyton Wilson led off the game with a walk. Two outs later, Sam Praytor sent a ball over the wall in left for his team-leading 11th home run of the season. (3-2, North Alabama)
- B2 | Jackson Tate reached on an error to start the second. He would come around two batters later when a sacrifice fly from Johnny Hawk tied things up. (3-3)
- T6 | The Lions took the lead back with a two-out, two-run single. (5-3, North Alabama)
- B7 | Alabama loaded the bases for Praytor. With two down, Tide DH doubled off the wall in left for two runs to set the score even once again. (5-5)
- T8 | With runners on the corners, UNA singled through the left side to take the lead right back. (6-5, North Alabama)
- B8 | Tate walked to start the inning. A balk moved him to second before a wild pitch put the leadoff man on third. A walk to Drew Williamson and a hit-by-pitch for Jarvis loaded them up. Pinch-hitter Andrew Pinckney brought home the tying run in the next at-bat with a sacrifice fly to right. One out later, the Crimson Tide took the lead for good with a two-run single from William Hamiter. (8-6, Alabama)
Postgame Notes
- Chase Lee picked up his sixth win of the season. The six wins are the most by an Alabama pitcher since Sam Finnerty finished 6-8 at the end of the 2019 season. Lee is 6-0 so far in 2021.
- Jake Eddington tossed a career-high 2.1 innings in tonight’s contest. Eddington’s previous high for innings was 2.0 which he had on three previous occasions, most recently against Samford on April 13.
- Alabama is now 17-6 in games with a home run.
- The Crimson Tide has had players hit home runs in two consecutive games on seven occasions.
- Sam Praytor homered in tonight’s game after also notching a homer against Auburn on April 17. The back-to-back games with a home run marked the second time Praytor has achieved the feat this season. Praytor also homered in two consecutive games from April 13 against Samford to April 15 against the Tigers.
- Praytor has homered in four of his last five games.
- The redshirt junior has also reached base safely in 13 straight games dating back to March 27.
- ATTENDANCE: 2,018
Alabama now travels to Lexington for a three-game series with the Kentucky Wildcats. Things get started on Friday with a 5:30 p.m. CT first pitch at Kentucky Pride Park. Saturday’s matchup is slated for 1 p.m. with the series finale scheduled to start at 12 p.m. All three games will air live on SEC Network+.
Get all the latest information on the team by following @AlabmaBSB on Twitter and Instagram and on Facebook at Alabama Baseball. General athletic news can be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.
