Lite crowd at the Joe last night and but a huge conference win. Not lost in the glory were the freshman pitchers who rose to the occasion when Bama needed them the most: Zane Adams, Matthew Heiberger & Tyler Fay. Bama needed them to grow up fast and last night was most encouraging. Win the series tonight!

quote:
Alabama baseball clawed back from an early deficit for a 4-3 win over 10th-ranked South Carolina on Thursday evening at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. With the victory, the 15th-ranked Crimson Tide improves to 20-6 overall and 3-4 in Southeastern Conference play.

South Carolina gained the early advantage with a two-run first. The Tide was able to cut the lead in half with a single tally in the fifth, only to be answered by SC with one run in the top of the seventh to move the lead back to two. Following the stretch, Alabama evened things up with a two-run seventh, highlighted by a game-tying RBI-double from TJ McCants. The Crimson Tide then took the lead for good in the eighth, when a two-out wild pitch with runners on the corners brought Evan Sleight across for the go-ahead and eventual game-winning run.

Alton Davis II (2-1) got the win, entering in the eighth and getting out of a bases-loaded jam before recording the final three outs in the ninth. He allowed one hit and issued a walk while striking out a pair in his 1.1 innings of work. Prior to Davis II, the Tide used a trio of freshman arms in Zane Adams, Matthew Heiberger and Tyler Fay. Adams highlighted the group, allowing two runs on three hits and two walks with four strikeouts across 4.0 innings of work in his first SEC start of the season.

Alabama's offense posted 10 hits, led by 2-for-4 showings from Ian Petrutz, Justin Lebron and Kade Snell. Snell added a double and a run scored to his line.

From Head Coach Rob Vaughn
"It wasn't the prettiest win, but they don't all have to be. It's about being gritty. I told the boys after that game that I want to be the grittiest and toughest group on the field, and I thought we showed a lot of toughness and resiliency out there tonight. It was a great start to the weekend, but we got two more big games ahead of us."