The Alabama Crimson Tide just keeps finding ways to win.
For the second day in a row, Alabama grabbed a win by taking an early lead and fighting off a comeback attempt by their opponent in the SEC Tournament. On Wednesday, the victim was Arkansas, who Alabama defeated, 4-3 at the Hoover Met.
After defeating Georgia on Tuesday to move into the double-elimination portion of the bracket at the SEC Tournament, Alabama got a tough draw in the no. 3 seed Arkansas Razorbacks.
While Arkansas has been a top-10 team all season, they have faltered in recent weeks, especially against Alabama. The Crimson Tide closed the regular season by taking two-of-three games from the Razorbacks in Tuscaloosa and had another shot to keep their momentum going.
Alabama struck first in the 2nd inning. With the bases loaded [autotag]Tommy Siedl[/autotag] reached base with a fielder’s choice, which allowed [autotag]Dominic Tamez[/autotag] to score to give Alabama the 1-0 lead. However, a throwing error by Arkansas allowed an additional run. After [autotag]Zane Denton[/autotag] crossed the plate, the Tide found themselves up, 2-0.
The Tide extended their lead by two runs over the next two innings. [autotag]Caden Rose[/autotag] scored on a sacrifice fly by [autotag]Drew Williamson[/autotag]in the 3rd inning, and another Razorback error led to Siedl scoring, setting up Alabama with a 4-1 lead.
Much like Tuesday’s game with Georgia, Arkansas used the long ball to trim the Tide lead, but it would not be enough. Jalen Battles hit a solo home run to left center in the 3rd inning, and Chris Lanzilli hit a two-run blast in the 6th to cut the lead to 4-3.
In a game that saw just nine hits total by both teams, Drew Williamson recorded two of Alabama’s four hits. Zane Denton and [autotag]Bryce Eblin[/autotag] picked up the other two.
The Crimson Tide used five pitchers in the game, with [autotag]Antoine Jean[/autotag] grabbing the win for Alabama. [autotag]Dylan Ray[/autotag] was instrumental for the second straight day, as he picked up his 8th save of the season by striking out the only batter he faced in the 9th.
Alabama will now await the winner of Tennessee-Vanderbilt. Due to weather yet again altering the schedule, Tennessee will face Vanderbilt at 9:30 a.m. CDT Thursday morning, meaning that Alabama’s next game will be determined at a later time.