Alabama Baseball Outlasts UAB on Tuesday Evening, 7-6

Chandler Avant’s RBI-triple in the bottom of the eighth scored the go-ahead run for Alabama as the Crimson Tide secured the 7-6 win over UAB on Tuesday night. With the win, UA moves to 20-13 overall, including a 12-4 mark at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

“It was good to come back,” said Alabama head coach Mitch Gaspard. “We got a little help there in the bottom of the eighth, but we put pressure on them and that’s what you’ve got to do to win games.”

After giving up a four-run lead in the seventh, the Alabama offense rallied for the winning run in the bottom of the eighth. The scoring sequence began with an infield single by Hunter Webb, who crossed in the next at-bat. Chandler Avant sent a 1-2 pitch deep to left-center field where the two Blazer outfielders converged but could not make a play, allowing Webb to score and putting the Tide in front. Thomas Burrows entered in the ninth to lock down his eighth save of the season with three strikeouts.

Brock Love highlighted the bullpen effort, working a career-high 4.1 innings to keep the game in reach, before Matt Foster (4-2) worked 1.2 scoreless innings with four strikeouts for his team-leading fourth win of the year. Burrows earned his eighth save of the season, his most stops since he had 11 as a freshman in 2014.

UAB struck first in the game, scoring one run in the top of the first. The Blazers used a pair of walks and a double steal to put two in scoring position before an infield groundout crossed the game’s first run.

The Tide bounced back in the bottom of the first, putting runners aboard with one down. The first man to reach was Cobie Vance, who was hit by a pitch, before a Chandler Taylor single deep behind the first baseman moved Vance to third. Taylor proceeded to steal second to put two in scoring position for Chance Vincent, with the senior sending a grounder to second that resulted in an error and crossed the game’s first run. Will Haynie followed with a walk to load the bases, and Georgie Salem knocked in a pair with a single to right that placed runners on the corners. Both would move up in the next at-bat, as a balk by the UAB starter brought in the inning’s fourth and final run to give the Crimson Tide a 4-1 lead.

UAB added one in the top of the second with a pair of singles to narrow the gap to 4-2, but Alabama matched with one of its own in the bottom of the inning to make it a 5-2 affair. A bases-loaded walk from Cody Henry scored Avant, who reached on a fielder’s choice in the second at-bat of the inning.

In the sixth, Webb reached on a two-out error before Avant brought him home with a double to left to improve the Tide’s lead to 6-2. UAB evened things up with a four-run seventh, using five hits and a walk to make it a 6-6 contest. Alabama retook the lead in the bottom of the eighth thanks to Webb’s single and Avant’s triple before Burrows closed out the win in the ninth.

Alabama will continue its six-game homestand with a weekend series against No. 8 Ole Miss. The Crimson Tide and Rebels are scheduled for a 7 p.m. CT start on Friday evening before a 5 p.m. first pitch on Saturday. The series finale on Sunday is slated to begin at 1 p.m. CT. All three contests will air live on SECN+ with Mick Gillispie and Lance Cormier on the call.