Diamond Notes : #21 Alabama Falls to Southern Miss, 2-1

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Crimson Tide drops first road game of the 2014 season

Feb. 26, 2014

HATTIESBURG, Miss. –
Southern Mississippi got a game-winning, RBI single by pinch hitter Breck Kline with one-out in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the Golden Eagles to a 2-1 victory over the No. 21 Alabama Crimson Tide on Wednesday night from Pete Taylor Park.

The Golden Eagles (4-5) got the leadoff batter aboard on the eighth inning when Mason Robbins singled to right field. After a sacrifice bunt moved Robbins to second, Alabama reliever Taylor Guilbeau intentionally walked Dylan Burdeaux to put runners on first and second. Southern Miss went to the bench and pinch hitter Breck Kline delivered a single to left field and Robbins beat the throw home to score the eventual game-winning run.

“Pitching continues to be consistent and it was an excellent start from Nick Eicholtz” Alabama head coach Mitch Gaspard said. “Taylor Guilbeau came in and threw the ball very well. We were right there and had a number of opportunities with one or two outs and couldn’t get the big hit. They got the hit late and we couldn’t deliver one. We have to give our best at-bats in those most critical situations.”

After the Golden Eagles took the lead in the eighth inning, Bradley Roney (2) took the mound in the top of the night and earned the save when he recorded a pair of strikeouts in the inning. Reliever Jay Myrick (1-1) got the win getting the final two outs of the eighth inning in relief of USM starter Christian Talley. Talley went 7.1 innings, allowing an unearned run on seven hits with one walk and five strikeouts.

Alabama (4-3) got a good start on the mound as freshman Nick Eicholtz threw five innings, allowing just one unearned run on four hits with a walk and four strikeouts. Guilbeau (0-1) took the loss after allowing one run on three hits with three walks and two strikeouts.

Offensively, Alabama had seven hits in the game, as Kyle Overstreet led the way going 2-for-3 with a walk. Wade Wass was 1-for -4 and had the only extra base hit of the night, a double in the eighth inning, Casey Hughston was 1-for-3 with a walk and William Elliott was 1-for-4 and scored the lone run for the Crimson Tide.

Along with his save, Roney had two of Southern Miss’ seven hits and he scored a run. Burdeaux was 1-for-2 with two walks and Robbins was 1-for-4 with a run scored.

“We had too many missed opportunities tonight” Gaspard said. “We had a number of scoring situations and couldn’t deliver the hit when we needed it. That’s an area we have to improve on. We’re seven games into the season and were not scoring enough runs to get on top and put teams away.”

After four scoreless innings to start the game, the Tide manufactured a run in the fifth inning thanks to some help by the Southern Miss defense. Elliott got an infield single to start the inning then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Chance Vincent. After Georgie Salem grounded out to second, Elliott scored when Mikey White reached on a fielding error by the Golden Eagles second baseman.

Southern Miss answered in the bottom of the fifth win an unearned run as well. USM’s leadoff hitter Connor Barron had a bunt single and advanced to second on a throwing error. A sacrifice bunt moved Barron to third and he scored on a groundout to first base, tying the score at 1-1.

The score remained tied until the bottom of the eight when Kline delivered the game-winning RBI single.

The Tide travels to Lafayette, La., for a weekend matchup with the No. 10 ranked Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns. First pitch is slated for 6:00 p.m. on Friday, 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, and 1:00 p.m. on Sunday. Saturday’s matchup will be broadcast on MyKLAF and ESPN3.

Get all the latest information on the team by following AlabamaBSB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.



Alabama Game Notes

*Tonight’s game marked the 99th meeting all-time between Alabama and Southern Miss in baseball.
* Following the loss, the Crimson Tide is 71-28 all-time against the Golden Eagles.
* Mitch Gaspard is now 4-7 all-time against the Golden Eagles, including a 4-3 record as the head coach at Alabama.
* In his first career start, freshman RHP Nick Eicholtz threw five innings, allowing one unearned run on four hits with four strikeouts and one walk.
* In three appearances and 10 innings pitched, Eicholtz has allowed just one run and has yet to give up an earned run this season.
* As the designated hitter, freshman outfielder William Elliott went 1-for-4 in his first career start.
* Second baseman Kyle Overstreet was 2-for-3 to notch his second multiple hit game of the season and 20th of his career.



-UA-


RTR,

Diamond Tide
:biga:
 

Play Ball!

1st Team
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Your better players usually don't make good coaches because they have to get down to another level to TEACH. It comes naturally to those top level guys.


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rolltydebb

BamaNation Citizen
Jun 10, 2002
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Andy should have been fired last year. Mitch will never fire him because they are best friends. MM should have never let the hire happen, now we are in bed with it. Only way to rid ourselves of the situation is for Andy to quit, Mitch be fired, or the AD step in and fire/tell Mitch to fire Andy which is extremely unlikely.

Offense is a joke and so is the recruiting. Hate it for Andy but he came into this position severly underequipped for the role.

I'll go back to my hole, I told myself I was not going to post unless I could post something nice, but ship is headed in the wrong direction yet again. This after CMG told us how good this club was
 

bamamick

All-American
Feb 22, 2005
2,047
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On paper this SHOULD be a good team, and the arms are as good as advertised. They just can not execute things like bunts, hitting behind the runner, that sort of thing.

We have lost three 2-1 games, and yes, we could easily be 7-0. We have also hit so poorly that we could easily be 2-5. And with this roster that would be almost criminal.

I did not renew my tickets this year and said I would boycott unless changes were made. Well, I haven't done too well with that. I guess I just care too much. But it is such a shame to see us do nothing but spinning our wheels season after season.

rtr
 

Hoot30

All-SEC
Jan 12, 2005
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On paper this SHOULD be a good team, and the arms are as good as advertised. They just can not execute things like bunts, hitting behind the runner, that sort of thing.

We have lost three 2-1 games, and yes, we could easily be 7-0. We have also hit so poorly that we could easily be 2-5. And with this roster that would be almost criminal.

I did not renew my tickets this year and said I would boycott unless changes were made. Well, I haven't done too well with that. I guess I just care too much. But it is such a shame to see us do nothing but spinning our wheels season after season.

rtr
It's early, but the team batting average is .239. That's good for 13th in the SEC ahead of Auburn at .230. OTOH, team ERA is 1.48, which is good for 3rd behind USC and LSU.

With our pitching and defense, we should be competitive with ULL. However, they are coming off a weekend sweep at Southern Miss, and a 4-1 win at LSU.
 
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ptw1961

1st Team
Dec 8, 2011
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Yea, it is time to build that new baseball stadium (which will help recruiting immensley) and get a coaching staff that knows how to win. (that too will be easier with the new stadium). A .239 batting average against these teams does not bode well. I know it is still early and the weather is cold but it is time for Alabama baseball to be what it once was and what it can be again. The talent in this state is too good for the current state of the program. Gaspard needs to show great improvement this season and I hope it happens- just not too optimistic about these early returns.
 

Play Ball!

1st Team
Oct 11, 2001
332
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Birmingham
I feel the staff has recruited very well, considering. We have talent, but has the signed talent gotten better over the last 3 years? Let's hope the success comes very soon and turns this thing around so we can get to this season we hoped it would be.


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