re: Official Alabama Baseball Season Thread | 32-26 (15-15)

Just got back from the tournament. Had a great time. Will Haynie man, what a monster.

Me too

Thanks for the pics. I was watching on TV. Did we have a good advantage yesterday with the fans?

Recap from rolltide.com

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HOOVER, Ala. -- Ninth-seeded Alabama baseball advanced to the second round of the 2016 SEC Baseball Tournament with a 5-2 win over No. 8 seed Kentucky on Tuesday at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. The victory moves the Crimson Tide's overall record to 32-24 and guarantees UA at least two more games in the conference's postseason tournament.

"I'm really proud of our team today," said Alabama head coach Mitch Gaspard. "Obviously, it was a real pressure-packed game with a lot on the line. When you have a game like that, it's really helpful to get a great start on the mound. I thought Nick (Eicholtz) did a great job. He was able to hand it to the bullpen with (Matt) Foster and (Thomas) Burrows, who I thought also pitched well. It was nice to get an early lead, and take advantage of some Kentucky mistakes."

Alabama starter Nick Eicholtz (4-3) picked up his fourth win of the season and his second over the Wildcats in 2016, throwing 6.2 innings and allowing two runs on three hits with a pair of walks and three strikeouts. Eicholtz began the game hot, retiring the first nine hitters he faced, before giving up a solo home run to break the streak. The junior limited UK in the middle innings, but ran into trouble in the bottom of the seventh. Reliever Matt Foster followed the Tide starter, and came in to record a groundout to first to end any threat.

Foster went on to record the first two outs of the eighth before a fielding error allowed one to reach and ended his night. Alabama turned the ball over to its closer, Thomas Burrows, who recorded the final out of the eighth and then sat the Wildcats down in order in the ninth to record his career-high 12th save of the season.

The Crimson Tide offense was highlighted by Will Haynie and Hunter Webb, who each finished 3-for-5 with two RBI apiece on the day. Haynie notched his team-high 10th home run and added a pair of runs scored to his stat line, as well.

The Crimson Tide struck first in the game, bringing across three runs in the top of the second. Haynie singled and was followed by a base hit from Cody Henry to give UA a pair of baserunners for Chance Vincent. The senior grounded up the middle but a fielding error allowed all three runners to remain on base, loading them for Daniel Cucjen, who would draw a walk to score the game's first run. Webb would follow up with a single to center, scoring a pair and giving Alabama a 3-0 lead.

Eicholtz cruised through the first three frames, before Kentucky got on the board with a solo home run to start off the bottom of the fourth and make it a 3-1 contest. The two teams then went scoreless until the bottom of the seventh, when a one-out walk and a stolen base put one Wildcat in scoring position. A double one out later brought home the runner to make it a 3-2 contest heading into the final stretch. Kentucky reached one in the bottom of the eighth, but the change to Burrows resulted in the final out -- a strikeout swinging -- to get Alabama out of any danger.

The Tide added to its lead in the ninth thanks to Haynie's two-run home run. Chandler Taylor drew a two-out walk to put one on for the Alabama catcher, and Haynie brought them both home with a roundtripper to left to push the lead to 5-2. Burrows worked a perfect 1-2-3 ninth to secure the save and advance the Crimson Tide to the double-elimination portion of the tournament.

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Thanks for the pics. I was watching on TV. Did we have a good advantage yesterday with the fans?

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Yeah we did, but not nearly as much as we're used to having. I have to work it again today, so I expect a lot more.

Tell you what, I'll give LSU fans a ton of flack, but those frickers naturally enjoy and love baseball. It was an awesome experience. I stayed afterwards to watch some of their game, and sat with a good bit of them. They offered me a beer, but I declined. We talked about food, the stadium, and baseball.

Probable Pitching Matchup
MSU's Jr. RHP Zac Houston (4-0, 2.25 ERA) vs. Alabama's Geoffrey Bramblett (5-3, 2.76 ERA)

Watch: SECN

Live Updates: @Alabamabsb

Note: We are not seeing one of MSU's weekend guys today. Houston has only started 4 games. I am not saying he is not good, but I sure am glad that there not throwing their ace like we are.

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I have to work it again today

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What do you do if I may ask?

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What do you do if I may ask?

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I'm just a volunteer, doing corporate hospitality. Just some good experience to get before I graduate.

Lot of work, but still really fun. You meet a lot of great people.

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Would love for more of our fans to get more emotionally invested into our baseball program like them.

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This. It seems like a lot of the baseball fans we have are very casual fans. We should have a great home environment that teams don't want to come to. Instead it's like half empty a lot of the time. I don't get to many of the games because I don't have time to make the drive. If I lived in Tuscaloosa I would practically live at the Joe.