From the Sideline — Bouncing Back After a Tough Series Loss at Texas A&M

Losses are never easy, especially when you feel like you could have won.

That's the feeling Alabama had to endure when the Tide got on their charter flight back from College Station to Tuscaloosa Sunday afternoon.

Mitch's Gaspard's team looked like it would get overwhelmed when Texas A&M jumped out to 3-0 lead in the Friday night opener. But after taking that body blow from the Aggies, the Tide steadily climbed back. And when Chandler Taylor tied things up in the 6th with a two-run homer, Bama was right back in it, and ultimately forced extra innings.

They call it "Olsen Magic" in Aggieland, but there's nothing all that mysterious about a lead off hit batsman, a sac bunt, and single up the middle to win in 10.

While Bama dropped the opener, there was an air of confidence the Tide brought to the ballpark the next day. That proved to be accurate, as they evened the series with a 7-4 win.

Sunday's used to be days where you could come to the park knowing you would have to slug your way to a win. With guys like Nick Eicholtz (UA) and Kyle Simonds (TAMU) on the hill at a lot of places around the SEC, that's not necessarily the case anymore.

Both right-handers were exceptional, and neither side could do much against them.

A&M would claw out a 2-1 walk off victory to take the series. An Aggie team that came into the series having scored 10 or more runs in seven consecutive games, only scored 10 all weekend. Unfortunately, that would be enough to win the series.

Alabama can't sweat this one for long. As much as a series win would have done for their standing within the league, as well as their postseason resume, the fact is the Tide has to go on the road Tuesday against a really good offensive club in Samford, before hosting a Miss. State team that, like Texas A&M, is heading toward a national seed opportunity.

Tuesday's game can be heard on Tide 99.1 starting at 5:55, while the weekend games at Sewell-Thomas are set for Thursday night, Friday night, and Saturday afternoon.