Extra Innings Stops Bama Baseball
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
Alabama baseball head coach Greg Goff said, "I'm really proud of the way our guys fought and competed against a really good team today. On the weekends in SEC play, you have to play clean, and I think we had some mental mistakes that cost us the game. Those kind of things are my job to correct."
Despite the Gamecocks taking a four-run lead through six innings, the Crimson Tide rolled in scoring two runs in seventh, one in the eighth and two in the ninth to take the lead heading into the bottom of the ninth inning. Carolina managed to score the one run necessary to tie things up before regulation ended. The Gamecocks scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the tenth.
Bama starting pitcher Dylan Duarte tossed 5.1 innings, allowing four runs, two of which were earned, on seven hits and three walks with two strikeouts. The Tide bullpen did not allow a run until the final half inning of the ninth and then in the 10th to end the game.
The Bama bats were swinging, with all nine of Alabama's starters reaching base at least once in the Saturday matchup, with eight of the nine batters picking up at least one hit. Chandler Taylor, Hunter Alexander and Gene Wood each finished two-for-four, with Alexander and Taylor each adding an RBI a run scored. Taylor smacked his seventh home run of the season and his second of the weekend. Connor Short went one-for-three on the day, including a double, an RBI and a run scored. His effort extended his hitting streak to eight games.
The Crimson Tide will be looking to capture the series win over the seventh-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks today in the final game of the series. Alabama will start senior righty Nick Eicholtz. Game time is set for 12:30 p.m CT today.
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Third Consecutive Top-10 Finish
For Alabama Crimson Tide Swimming & Diving
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
This was the third-consecutive time the Tide came in with an NCAA top-10 finish. It was a done deal with Bama's 400 freestyle relay won the B final, scoring 18 team points, vaulting Alabama past Louisville.
Finishing ninth overall in the relay were sophomore Robert Howard, freshman Zane Waddell, junior Christopher Reid and sophomore Laurent Bams with a school-record time of 2:48.84.
UA head swimming & diving coach Dennis Pursley said, "That relay came at the end of a long week and I know those guys were feeling it, but they swam real well, beating Auburn to the wall and taking first in the B final, getting the school record and finishing up the meet on a lot of positive notes for us."
Pursley comment again, "I couldn't be more pleased with how we finished. We had a pretty tough blow early in the meet when that relay was disqualified on a call that we disagreed with, but our guys came fighting back, taking it one race at a time and clawing their way back into the meet."
The Tide was sitting in 16th after the second day of the championships, and found itself in 12th heading into the Saturday session.
"Going into the final session of the meet, we were still sitting outside the top-10 behind Auburn and Louisville," Pursley said. "To be able to pass both those teams and get back to the top 10, I couldn't be prouder of our guys."
Saturday seemed to bring out the best in Anton McKee, swimming his best swim of his college career and captured the silver medal in the 200 breaststroke with a school-record 1:51.22, beating the mark he set back in 2014 as a freshman. He was the only Bama swimmer under 1:52 in the 200 breaststroke and the fastest Tide swimmer in the event by more than a second.
Pursley said, "For Anton to have his highest finish at this meet and to break the school record he set as a freshman on the way, it was great night for him.
Also going big in the last swim was senior Connor Oslin taking fourth in the 200 backstroke after coming into finals seeded eighth. He reclaimed the school record in the 200 backstroke with a 1:39.23 and posted his highest national finish in the 200 backstroke in his final NCAA championship race.
"To finish his career off with a school record and his best finish at this meet in the 200 backstroke was great for Connor," Pursley said. "He went career-best swims in all his races and closed his career strong."
Both Bams and Waddell scored in the 100 freestyle earlier in the night. Bams tied for 12th place in the 100 freestyle with a 42.58m, while Waddell was 16th with a 42.90. Bams posted a 42.39 in prelims, tying his career-best time.
Another tidbit worth noting, in addition to being Alabama's third-consecutive top-10 NCAA finish, it was the Tide's fourth consecutive year to score more than a 100 points at the NCAA championships. The last time Alabama swimming and diving posted three top-10 NCAA finishes in a row was 1981-83, and the last time the Tide scored 100-plus points at four-straight NCAA swimming and diving championships was 1975-78.
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
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It's A Senior Day Sweep For Alabama Rowing
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
UA rowing head coach Larry Davis said, "One of the things we were looking for today was to have a full team quality racing experience. I thought the team rose to the challenge. We had some really solid performances and we're showing some boat speed that we need for this time of the year. It puts us in a really good position for the upcoming months where we have a lot of high-level regattas we're competing in and eventually championship season."
It was a great final home regatta for the Crimson Tide's seven senior rowers, all of whom were honored individually following the final race of the day. Alabama senior student-athletes include Abby Marks, Dani Mazer, Rebecca McGinn, Jennifer Parker, Allie Pospisil, Katie Scott and Gabby Sprio. This particular regatta also served as Bama's annual Power of Pink event.
Davis further commented, "The key with the seniors have been their continuity. Our goal for them is to have them continue to develop and help our program become better and faster each year. It's a relatively small senior class but they've been very dedicated to helping us become a better team over their time with us."
The format for Saturday's races were split into three sessions. Three races were held in each of those sessions for a total of nine. The first session went the full 2,000 meters while sessions two and three were shorter at 1,000-meter pieces.
Alabama's "A" boat Dory in the Varsity 4+ won each of its three races, while the Moxie posted second-place finishes in each session.
Four crews for the Tide participated in the Second Varsity 8+, with Courageous claiming the top spot. All four of Bama's boats took the top four spots in each race.
In the First Varsity 8+, White Lightnin' posted the fastest 2,000-meter time of any crew Saturday with a winning finish of 6:55.3, and RTR was second. White Lightnin' was first in the 1,000-meter pieces, while RTR was next.
The Crimson Tide will continue its spring season in Sarasota, Florida for the Sarasota Invitational next weekend. The two-day event starts Friday, March 31st and will conclude Saturday, April 1st.
ALABAMA VS. DAYTON RESULTS
First Session (2,000 meters)
Varsity 4+
- Alabama (Dory): 7:51.0
- Alabama (Moxie): 7:53.5
- Dayton: 9:03.5
- Alabama (Courageous): 7:24.6
- Alabama (Black Warrior): 7:30.9
- Alabama (Tusk): 7:37.2
- Alabama (Tenacious): 7:44.2
- Dayton: 8:15.1
- Alabama (White Lightnin'): 6:55.3
- Alabama (RTR): 7:15.0
- Dayton: 7:20.2
Varsity 4+
- Alabama (Dory): 3:59.5
- Alabama (Moxie): 4:04.9
- Dayton: 4:24.4
- Alabama (Courageous): 3:42.8
- Alabama (Tusk): 3:44.2
- Alabama (Black Warrior): 3:45.1
- Alabama (Tenacious): 3:57.8
- Dayton: 3:59.6
- Alabama (White Lightnin'): 3:30.6
- Alabama (RTR): 3:37.5
- Dayton: 3:37.8
Varsity 4+
- Alabama (Dory): 3:59.0
- Alabama (Moxie): 4:01.6
- Dayton: 4:27.3
- Alabama (Courageous): 3:38.7
- Alabama (Black Warrior): 3:43.3
- Alabama (Tusk): 3:50.7
- Alabama (Tenacious): 3:59.2
- Dayton: 4:05.1
- Alabama (White Lightnin'): 3:29.2
- Alabama (RTR): 3:42.2
- Dayton: 3:35.7
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| Alabama Rowing Seniors Power Of Pink Event Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
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Crimson Tide Football Completes 3rd Practice Session
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| Photo Credit: UA Football/Kent Gidley |
Yesterday's practice began at 1 p.m. CT, the third of 15 spring drills. Because of a heavy rain in Tuscaloosa the practice session was forced indoors. The 15 spring practices culminates with the 2017 A-Day Spring Football Game scheduled for Saturday, April 22nd at 2 p.m. CT inside Bryant-Denny Stadium. The A-Day Game is once again free to the public and will be nationally televised live on ESPN.
Running backs Bo Scarbrough (leg injury) and B.J. Emmons (foot injury) were still wearing the black non-contact jerseys in yesterday's practice session. Speaking of running backs, it was Damien Harris at lead, followed by Josh Jacobs, Scarbrough and Najee Harris during the media viewing period.
Also at practice was safety Jared Mayden, but was working on a stationary bike during the media viewing period because of hip surgery.
Order in the wide receiver line yesterday was Calvin Ridley, Cam Sims and Robert Foster.
Bama has 13 starters returning from last year's Southeastern Conference Championship team, consisting of six on offense, six on defense and All-American punter JK Scott. For the offense Jalen Hurts, Bradley Bozeman, Ross Pierschbacher, Jonah Williams and Calvin Ridley. For the defense it's Da'Ron Payne, Shaun Dion Hamilton, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Anthony Averett, Ronnie Harrison and Tony Brown coming back.
Practice sessions for UA football will once again get underway this week on Tuesday and Thursday.
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics/Kent Gidley |
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics/Kent Gidley |
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics/Kent Gidley |
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Crimson Tide Men's Tennis Falls To Georgia
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
SINGLES
1. Nathan Ponwith (Georgia) def. No. 35 Mazen Osama (Alabama) 6-4, 6-3
2. No. 32 Wayne Montgomery (Georgia) def. No. 105 Thibault Cancel (Alabama) 3-6, 6-2, 10-8
3. No. 65 Emil Reinberg (Georgia) def. Edson Ortiz (Alabama) 6-3, 6-0
4. Jan Zielinski (Georgia) def. Alexey Nesterov (Alabama) 6-4, 6-2
5. Walker Duncan (Georgia) def. Spencer Richey (Alabama) 6-1, 6-4
6. Robert Loeb (Georgia) def. Zhe Zhou (Alabama) 6-1, 6-2
DOUBLES
1. No. 8 Jan Zielinski/Robert Loeb (Georgia) defeated No. 40 Mazen Osama/Spencer Richey (Alabama) 6-4
2. Alexey Nesterov/Thibault Cancel (Alabama) defeated No. 48 Nathan Ponwith/Emil Reinberg (Georgia) 6-4
3. Wayne Montgomery/Walker Duncan (Georgia) defeated Zhe Zhou/Edson Ortiz (Alabama) 7-6(8)
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Crimson Tide Women's Basketball Atlanta Bound
For WNIT Quarterfinal Action
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
Bama defeated Tulane this past week to advance to today's round versus Georgia Tech.
This will be the second meeting this season for Alabama and Georgia Tech, with the first meeting coming this past December. The Tide defeated the Jackets 67-65.
