No. 23 Alabama Baseball Overcomes Adversity, Takes Series Finale from No. 16 Mississippi State

There was some tough sledding this weekend for the No. 23 Alabama baseball team. A lot of of it had nothing to do with the fact that the Crimson Tide faced the always-daunting task of a weekend series against Mississippi State at Dudy Noble Field.

The team battled an illness all weekend, and was absent two regular starters on Sunday. This was an improvement over Saturday, which saw three initially off the lineup card and a further three exit mid-game. The No. 16 Bulldogs won on Friday and Saturday, but Alabama triumphed 10-5 on Sunday to take one in Starkville.

"State's playing some of the best baseball in the country right now," Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn said. "There's no secret we were pretty banged up this weekend. I got a text from [Alabama softball] coach [Patrick] Murphy a little bit ago saying, 'Your group's gonna be battle tested come tournament time.'"

Starting pitcher Ben Hess wasn't well enough Saturday to join his teammates at the ballpark, then came out Sunday afternoon and tossed four innings with only a single run allowed. His breaking ball was on point for as long as he was out there. "I thought that was some of the best he competed all year for us," said Vaughn. "Very unselfish."

The scoring started in inning number two when Bryce Eblin notched an RBI groundout with the bases loaded. Eblin was playing third base in place of Gage Miller, who was one of the players that tried to tough it out Saturday but wound up leaving the contest.

The man playing Eblin's usual spot at second base was due up after him, and Max Grant cleaned out the basepaths with a three-run home run to right. Grant started and hit a home run in two games in a row. He has six hits this season, and three of them are long balls.

Mississippi State (32-16, 14-10 SEC) third baseman Logan Kohler greeted Hess with a solo shot that would have halved the deficit with one swing had Connor Hujsak not been picked off at first. Until the eighth inning, that was the only score for the home team.

Meanwhile, the Crimson Tide added three more runs in the fifth inning, aided by a throwing error and a William Hamiter RBI single, Hamiter, who had a productive weekend, was in for Evan Sleight. Alabama's everyday right fielder missed the last two games of this weekend's series due to illness. Catcher Mac Guscette recorded an RBI single of his own in the sixth.

Hujsak and Kohler each hit solo home runs off Braylon Myers in the seventh inning, cutting what had been an 8-1 gap to 8-3. The Crimson Tide got one of the runs back in the eighth with a Kade Snell sacrifice fly. He returned to the lineup Sunday following an early exit Saturday afternoon.

In the bottom half of the eighth, Dakota Jordan and Hujsak recorded RBI hits against Alabama closer Alton Davis II, making it a four-run game. A lightning delay ensued. Weather concerns forced the start time on Sunday to be moved up by an hour. After a relatively short break, play resumed. Eblin hit a solo home run in the ninth to send his team's scoring into double digits.

"You could feel the energy at this stadium just dissipate for a little while. This ain't an easy place to win, especially late," Vaughn said. "Big swing by Ebz [Eblin]."

The Bulldogs could not claw back any further. "We're really fortunate to have a guy like Alton Davis," said Vaughn, "to be able to trust him to get these last three outs in Starkville. That's not an easy thing to do."

The Bulldogs took a by-committee approach to pitching in the game, utilizing seven different arms. Despite that, starter Brooks Auger was the one ultimately tagged with the loss. He went the second-longest distance of any Bulldog on Sunday by innings pitched, falling short by one third to Cole Cheatham. Myers was credited with the win.

Up next for Alabama is another tough test in Troy. Skylar Meade's Trojans have won two consecutive series against ranked foes, bouncing Coastal Carolina all the way out of D1Baseball's ranks with a sweep on the road last weekend. Troy then took the first two at home from Louisiana, another of the Sun Belt's best, and also has a win over Southern Miss. It also overcame a six-run deficit going into the bottom of the ninth against Louisiana Sunday to tie the game.

Vaughn said his team will not travel to Troy, an in-state school, until game day on Tuesday as they continue their recovery from this weekend's bouts with illness. "We'll have a good matchup," he said. "Hopefully, we're back full strength on Tuesday."