Photo Credit: rolltide.com
Despite having a two hit advantage, coming up one run short of a win means a disappointing morning for the Alabama Crimson Tide baseball team. Bama had 8 hits to 6 for Texas A&M, but lost the second game of the SEC Baseball Tournament 4-3 at the Hoover Met.
Bama bats banged out hits and three runners crossed home plate for the Tide today. The three runs came in the second and third innings. Bama picked up the first two runs in the second inning, with the third run coming in inning number three. At this point Bama held the lead 3-0.
Then Texas A&M bats came alive. The Aggies tied the score in their half of the third inning. It took until the eighth inning for A & M to score again. And that one came at the end of the inning to give the Aggies a 4-3 win over the Tide.
Bama did make a valiant effort in the ninth, but fell short leaving the bases loaded to end the game.
"We put together some big innings there early and had a good flurry in the ninth," said Alabama head coach Mitch Gaspard. "I thought our guys played really hard. Texas A&M is a good ball club with an outstanding offense. Our team fought all the way to the end and gave us an opportunity in the ninth."
Ray Castillo took the loss today, his first, in his relief effort for the Tide. He pitched two innings and allowed one run, which turned out to be the game-decider. A & M reliever Ryan Hendrix earned his fifth win of the year with his two innings of relief. Aggie closer Andrew Vinson earned his fourth save of the year working his team out of a bases-loaded situation.
Alabama plays the loser of the Vanderbilt-Missouri game in an elimination contest on Thursday morning at 9:30 AM CDT. The game can be viewed on the SEC Network.
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Softball
Photo Credit: rolltide.com
The honors just keep coming in for student-athletes at the University of Alabama. Bama freshman pitcher Alexis Osorio is the latest. Osorio has been named one of three finalists for the NFCA Freshman of the Year Award. The other three are Oklahoma pitcher Paige Parker and Oregon infielder Jenna Lilley.
The announcement to name the winner is to be on May 27 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma prior to the opening of the Women's College World Series.
Osorio was named the SEC Freshman of the Year, which is the eighth in Alabama history. The last winner was Kayla Braud
in 2010. Osario was also named First Team All-South Region, First Team
All-SEC and was named to the SEC All-Freshman team.
The freshman leads the Tide pitching staff this season with 19 wins. Osario has an ERA of 1.59. including an SEC-leading
1.60 ERA in conference play. The only pitcher to surpass 100
strikeouts in conference play, Osario while holding
SEC opponents to a .186 batting average.
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According to 247Sports.com, University of Alabama senior center Ryan Kelly has been named to the Rimington Trophy's 2015 Watch List. The award is given annually to the nation's top center. Kelly was also on the 2014 and 2013 watch lists.
In the announcement that came Tuesday, Kelly was one of 52 individuals from Division I schools across the country to make the prestigious list. Eight centers from the Southeastern Conference made the list.
As a junior Kelly started 12 games for the Crimson Tide last season. He also started nine games for Bama in 2013 as a sophomore.
