Alabama Fends Off Jax State’s Ninth-Inning Surge in Thrilling Victory

Alabama held on in Tuesday's 6-5 midweek win over Jacksonville State, which saw the Crimson Tide curb the Gamecocks' ninth-inning rally attempt with Jax State scoring two runs before Alabama's left fielder and Tuscaloosa native Eric Hines fielded a line drive out to left field to spoil the Gamecocks' comeback.

Get our free mobile app

The Crimson Tide came out of the gates swinging with Rob Vaughn's squad racking up three runs in the bottom of the first inning, thanks to a two-run homer from Alabama's designated hitter Brady Neal, which was his third time going yard this year. Later on in the inning, the Crimson Tide's third baseman drove in one more run when he singled to the Gamecocks pitcher, which allowed Luke Vaughn to advance home, making it a 3-0 game going into the second inning.

Jacksonville State answered back immediately at the top of the second inning when the Gamecocks' left fielder Luke Williams drove two runners home on a single to left field, which cut into Alabama's three-run deficit, making it a one-run ball game going into the bottom half of the second.

Alabama didn't do much on offense until the bottom of the third inning, when the Crimson Tide's third baseman picked up his second RBI of the game, with this one being from a double to center field, which drove home Neal, who had been walked at the beginning of the bottom frame of the third inning. This made it a 4-2 game going into the fourth inning.

This game saw the Crimson Tide feature four different pitchers with Bobby Alcock starting the day off on the mound before being pulled going into the fourth inning with the right-handed pitcher scattering two hits, allowing two earned runs, while picking up only one strikeout throughout three innings before trotting out Sam Mitchell from the bullpen with the redshirt sophomore pitcher, going on to pitch 1.2 innings where he allowed two hits and only one run which came in the top of the fifth inning when Jax State's second baseman Cooper Blauser grounded out to shortstop. Still, it did allow for one run to sneak home, making it a 4-3 game going into the bottom of the fifth.

Following Jacksonville State's run in the fifth inning, the Crimson Tide decided to make a pitching change, with Vaughn and company bringing out Ashton Crowther from the dugout to relieve Mitchell, with the South Carolina transfer going on to pitch for two innings, where he allowed zero runs or hits, and struck out two batters.

In the meantime, Alabama's offense added a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning thanks to an RBI single from Brennan Holt, which drove home left fielder Justin Osterhouse, who suffered a quad injury on his way to home plate and didn't return to the game, with Hines taking his spot at left field. The Tide's second run of the inning resulted from a sac fly from shortstop Justin Lebron to give the Tide a 6-3 lead going into the seventh inning.

This game remained quiet until the top of the ninth inning, where Jax State attempted to rally back from the Crimson Tide's three-run cushion with the Gamecocks third baseman, Matthew Cash, driving home two runners on a double to center field. This made it a one-run game with a runner on second and two outs. Fortunately, Alabama's closer Hagan Banks, who came in to relieve Crowther back in the eighth inning, went on to force a line drive, which was fielded by Hines in left field. This gave Banks his third save of the season and Crowther his first win of the season.

Alabama will be back in action tomorrow in Montgomery, Alabama, where the Crimson Tide will face Alabama State, looking to complete a sweep after beating the Hornets 2-1 last month.

Follow @Micahnichols0 on X (formerly known as Twitter) and tune into Tide100.9 for all your Alabama baseball, football, and basketball coverage.