Bama Baseball Falls To Mizzou; McConnell & Williams Talley Wins For Track & Field; Tide Swimming & Diving Picks Up Wins; Bama Softball Defeats Mississippi State; LSU Women's Tennis Defeats Bama; Alabama Men's Tennis Falls To Texas A&M

Bama Baseball Falls To Mizzou

Photo Credit: UA Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – It was a pure pitcher's duel. The Alabama Crimson Tide and Missouri Tigers baseball teams faced each other in a hard-fought contest to begin Southeastern Conference play on Friday evening, with the Tigers staking claim to a 3-0 win over the Tide at Sewell-Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa. UA now falls to 10-8 overall, 0-1 SEC.

Alabama baseball head coach Greg Goff said, "I'm really proud of the way our guys fought tonight. The biggest thing that stuck out at me were our 14 strikeouts, which seven or eight of those we were caught-looking. I'm disappointed in myself that our guys weren't as prepared as we should have been. Before the game, I said 'the little things are going to matter' and we just didn't execute tonight."

Crimson Tide starter Jake Walters (3-2) pitched a career-high 125 pitches during his 5.0 innings of work, striking out eight Tiger batters. Walters gave up just one hit but, on the flip side, gave up eight walks, the most in any outing of his career, and allowed two runs by the end of his night, both of which were unearned. Missouri starter Tanner Houck (3-1), on the other hand, threw 7.0 innings of scoreless baseball, allowing just one hit while issuing three walks while striking out nine to take the victory.

Alabama and Missouri face each other this afternoon for the second game of this three-game series with a 1 p.m. CT  start time at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The Tide will be starting senior right-hander Nick Eicholtz for today's game, while the Tigers start sophomore left-hander Michael Plassmeyer. Fans can catch all the action live on the SEC Network.

Photo Credit: UA Athletics

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McConnell And Williams Pick Up Track & Field Wins
At Bulldog Relays On Friday 

Photo Credit: UA Athletics

STARKVILLE, Mississippi – Two members of the University of Alabama track and field team brought home wins on Friday in the opener of the of the outdoor portion of the 2017 schedule at the Bulldog Relays at Mississippi State's Mike Sanders Track Complex in Starkville, Mississippi. Crimson Tide junior Danielle McConnell won the women's hammer throw and senior Joe Williams picked up the win in the men's discus competition.

McConnell was Bama's first student-athlete to compete on Friday, getting UA the win on her final throw of the day in the hammer throw with a toss of 188-6 1/2 (57.46m). Williams then ended the day for Alabama's day in the men's discuss competition with a winning throw of 185-8 (56.59m).

Other Crimson Tide student-athletes to compete on Friday were freshman Jacob Beene, coming in second in the hammer throw with a toss of 191-0 3/4 (58.23m) and sophomore Holly Julifs coming in third and freshman Hannah Chappell  finishing third and sixth in the women's discus. Julifs posted a mark of 153-7 (46.82m) while Chappell, in her outdoor debut, ended with a 139-5 (42.51m) throw.

Alabama track & field head coach Dan Waters said, "Today was a good chance to give our discus and hammer throwers their first taste of competition this season. I'm pleased with the results and look forward to seeing what the group competing on Saturday can do as well."

The second day of the Bulldog Relays will begin at 10 a.m. CT on Saturday for Bama with freshman Samantha Zelden in the women's javelin. Running events are slated for a 12:20 p.m. start with junior Kaitlin Walker and sophomore Jada Jackson in the 400-meter hurdles.

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Crimson Tide Swimming & Diving Pick Up Wins

At 2017 NCAA Women's Championships

Photo Credit: UA Athletics

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana – The University of Alabama swimming and diving team picked up a pair of 25th-places finishes on Friday at the 2017 Women's NCAA Championships at the IUPUI Natatorium in Indianapolis. UA junior Mia Nonnenberg took 25th in the 400 individual medley, with sophomores Katie Coughlin and Emma Murray, as well as juniors Hannah Musser and Bailey Scott finishing 25th in the 200 relay.

Nonnenberg took 25th in the 400 individual medley with a time of 4:10.81 for the Crimson Tide. She has already competed in the 500 freestyle, and will now close out her third NCAA championships appearance with the 1,650 freestyle today.

Coughlin, Murray, Musser and Scott combined for a time of 1:38.70 to take 25th place in the 200 relay. With one of the fastest 50 relay splits in Alabama track & field history, Scott anchored the relay with a 21.67 time just slightly off the 21.42 she anchored in her school-record 200 medley relay at the Southeastern Conference Championships. Scott will close out her appearance at the 2017 NCAA championships with the 100 freestyle today.

Bama's ladies will be ready to go in today's preliminaries when it begins this morning at 9 a.m. CT, with the finals set for 5 p.m. CT.

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Bama Softball Defeats Mississippi State 11-3

Photo Credit: UA Athletics

STARKVILLE, Mississippi –  It only took five innings for the University of Alabama softball team to roll over the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Friday night in Starkville, scoring 11 runs in the 11-3 run-rule win over the Dogs at Nusz Park. The Crimson Tide remains undefeated in SEC competition.

Alabama (27-2, 4-0 SEC) came out blazing, and scored in four of the five innings it came to the plate. Bama blasted a big five-run fifth that gave the UA ladies enough cushion to pick up the run-rule win over Mississippi State (21-6, 1-3 SEC).

The Tide's pitching ace Alexis Osorio (15-1) picked up the win. She threw 4.1 innings in the win while Sydney Littlejohn and Madi Moore each saw time in that fifth and final inning, teaming up to effectively end the game.

Marisa Runyon was three-for-three in the contest, including one run, two RBIs. Demi Turner and Peyton Grantham both went one-for-three and one run apiece, with Grantham adding three RBIs. Chandler Dare was one-for-four with one RBI.

Alabama and Mississippi State continue the three-game series today with a 6 p.m. CT start at Nusz Park in Starkville, Mississippi.

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LSU Women's Tennis Defeats Alabama 4-3

Photo Credit: UA Athletics

BATON ROUGE, La. – It was a thrilling loss, but, unfortunately, a loss nonetheless, as the 44th-ranked University of Alabama women's tennis team lost 4-3 to the 27th-ranked LSU Tigers in a Southeastern Conference matchup on Friday night at the LSU Tennis Complex. The Crimson Tide now falls to 6-9 overall, 0-5 SEC, while the Tigers improve to 10-4, 3-2 SEC.

SINGLES
1. No. 39 Jade Lewis (LSU) defeated No. 59 Erin Routliffe (Alabama) 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
2. No. 124 Andie Daniell (Alabama) defeated No. 116 Joana Valle Costal (LSU) 6-1, 6-4
3. No. 83 Ryann Foster (LSU) defeated Danielle Spielmann (Alabama) 6-3, 7-5
4. Jessica Golovin (LSU) defeated Maddie Pothoff (Alabama) 6-2, 6-0
5. Becca Weissmann (LSU) defeated Joanna Savva (Alabama) 7-5, 6-1
6. Juliana Valero (Alabama) defeated Skylar Holloway (LSU) 6-4, 7-5

DOUBLES
1. No. 42 Joana Valle Costal/Ryann Foster (LSU) defeated No. 25 Erin Routliffe/Maddie Pothoff          (Alabama) 6-2
2. Andie Danielle/Joanna Savva (Alabama) defeated Jade Lewis/Becca Weissmann (LSU) 6-4
3. Danielle Spielmann/Juliana Valero (Alabama) def. Jessica Golovin/Skylar Holloway (LSU) 7-5

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Alabama Men's Tennis Falls To Texas A&M 4-0

Photo Credit: UA Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama – The Alabama men's tennis team fell hard on Friday night, losing a 4-0 match to the 11th-ranked Texas A&M Aggies in a Southeastern Conference matchup on Friday night at the Alabama Tennis Stadium. The Crimson Tide now drops to an overall 6-11 record, 0-5 SEC record, while the Aggies improve to 11-3, 5-0 SEC.

SINGLES
1. Arthur Rinderknech (A&M) defeated No. 41 Mazen Osama (Alabama) 6-4, 6-1
2. No. 103 Thibault Cancel (Alabama) vs. AJ Catanzariti (A&M) 6-7, 2-3, DNF
3. Aleksandre Bakshi (A&M) defeated Edson Ortiz (Alabama) 6-3, 7-5
4. Alexey Nesterov (Alabama) vs. No. 115 Jordi Arconada (A&M) 5-7, 2-5, DNF
5. Valentin Vacherot (A&M) defeated Spencer Richey (Alabama) 6-2, 7-5
6. Zhe Zhou (Alabama) vs. Hady Habib (A&M) 6-7, 3-0, DNF

DOUBLES
1. No. 66 Mazen Osama/Spencer Richey (Alabama) defeated No. 22 Arthur Rinderknech/Max               Lunkin (A&M) 6-1
2. Aleksandre Bakshi/Hady Habib (A&M) defeated Thibault Cancel/Alexey Nesterov (Alabama) 6-4
3. Jordi Arconada/AJ Catanzariti (A&M) defeated Edson Ortiz/Zhe Zhou (Alabama) 6-3