Bama Softball Slams Samford; Jacksonville State Baseball Defeats Crimson Tide; Alabama Baseball Postgame Press Conference; Alabama Crimson Tide Men's Tennis Falls To Vanderbilt At SEC Tournament; Crimson Tide Football Injury Report; Jake Coker Calling It Quits; Celebrity Birthdays

Bama Softball Slams Samford

Photo Credit: UA Athletics

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – University of Alabama softball blasted out eight runs, including a pair of home runs in the first two innings, to give the Crimson Tide an 8-1 victory over the Samford Bulldogs on Tuesday evening in a non-Southeastern Conference contest in Birmingham, Alabama.

It was Alabama improving to an overall record of 38-11 scoring eight runs on eight hits. Six of those hits came from Reagan Dykes and Bailey Hemphill with home run blasts bring in six runs. Hemphill was two-for three on the night, with Dykes going one-for-two with one run and three RBIs. Elissa Brown was two-for-three with three runs to her credit, and Chandler Dare went two-for-three with one run. Starting pitcher Madi Moore (6-1) earned the complete-game win while holding Samford (21-30) to just one run on two hits.

The Crimson Tide continues SEC play with a three-game series against the  No. 20/21 Ole Miss Rebels (31-16, 6-12 SEC) in Oxford, Mississippi beginning this Saturday, April 29th at 2 p.m. CT. Sunday and Monday's games are both scheduled for 6 p.m. CT starts and will be broadcast live on the SEC Network.

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Jacksonville State Baseball Defeats Crimson Tide

Photo Credit: UA Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama – Another Alabama baseball game. Another loss. Jacksonville State batted out four runs in the seventh inning that proved to be the difference in the Tuesday evening contest to defeat the Crimson Tide 11-8 to Jacksonville State at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. UA baseball now falls to 15-26 on the season.

University of Alabama baseball head coach Greg Goff said, "Our guys competed all night. Offensively, we never gave in, coming back twice. I don't respect walks and errors, and you can do that against a good team like Jacksonville State or you're going to let them back in the game like we did tonight."

It was a game until the seventh inning, with both team slugging out runs, back-and-forth, throughout the night. Though the Tide held a one-run lead at the bottom of the sixth inning, the five-run barrage by Jax State gave JSU a four-run lead and the victory.

All-in-all, eight of the Crimson Tide starters recorded at least one hit, totalling a team total of 13 on the evening. Cody Henry finished the night three-for-four with a home run, a team-best four RBIs, and two runs. Chandler Taylor finished the night one-for-four with two RBIs, a walk and one run on a home run knock. Taylor's home run extended his hitting streak to 11 games this season.  Kyle Kaufman finished the contest a perfect two-for-two with two walks, a hit-by-pitch, one RBI and two runs scored. Kaufman reached basein all five at-bats.

Alabama next faces No. 15 LSU in a three-game series this Thursday through Saturday. Game one is set for a 6:30 p.m. CT start and will be broadcast on ESPN2 on Thursday. The Friday game is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT, with the series finale scheduled to start at 2 p.m. CT. The final two games of the series can be seen on SEC Network+.

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Alabama Baseball Postgame Press Conference

Click HERE to watch postgame presser via Tide TV

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Alabama Crimson Tide Men's Tennis
Falls To Vanderbilt In 1st Round Of SEC Tournament

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee – The University of Alabama men's tennis team lost a first round decision in the 2017 Southeastern Conference Tournament to Vanderbilt this afternoon. The Crimson Tide fell 4-2 to the 49th-ranked Commodores at the Barksdale Stadium on the campus of The University of Tennessee. With the loss, UA men's tennis drops to an 11-17 record, 2-11 in SEC play. Vandy improves to 12-14, 3-10 SEC. 

Alabama 2, No. 49 Vanderbilt 4

SINGLES

1. No. 54 Daniel Valent (Vanderbilt) defeated No. 27 Mazen Osama (Alabama) 7-6(4), 1-6, 6-4

2. No. 107 Baker Newman (Vanderbilt) defeated No. 119 Thibault Cancel (Alabama) 6-3, 6-2

3. Billy Rowe (Vanderbilt) defeated Alexey Nesterov (Alabama) 6-7(1), 6-4, 6-1

4. Edson Ortiz (Alabama) vs. Panu Virtanen (Vanderbilt) 6-2, 4-6, 5-5, DNF

5. Zhe Zhou (Alabama) defeated Tate Allwardt (Vanderbilt) 7-6(3), 6-3

6. Spencer Richey (Alabama) defeated Pen Binet (Vanderbilt) 2-6, 6-3, 6-1

DOUBLES

1. No. 12 Mazen Osama/Spencer Richey (Alabama)  defeated  Pen Binet/Baker Newman (Vanderbilt) 6-3

2. Tate Allwardt/Billy Rowe (Vanderbilt) defeated Thibault Cancel/Alexey Nesterov (Alabama) 6-3

3. Daniel Valent/Panu Virtanen (Vanderbilt) defeated Edson Ortiz/Zhe Zhou (Alabama) 6-4

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Crimson Tide Football Injury Report

Alabama's Nick Saban
Photo Credit: UA Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama - Several University of Alabama injured players are making progress in their recoveries this spring. As everyone knows, several Crimson Tide players didn't participate in the annual A-Day Spring Game due to injury issues, but are well on the road to recovery. Others have a little longer to go, and one appears to have an injury from the game this past weekend. The only injury of any real concern from Saturday was sophomore cornerback Aaron Robinson, who left late in the third quarter after making a tackle.

Robinson was an important special teams player for Alabama last season, and appears to suffer an injury to his right leg. He was later spotted using crutches on the sidelines. Alabama head football coach Nick Saban, speaking in Mobile on Tuesday just prior to the annual Team Focus charity event, said that the injury suffered by Robinson was not considered serious.

Saban commented, "Aaron Robinson did not need surgery. He actually was scheduled to have hip surgery, which was an old injury from high school. And he had that surgery and it was very successful."

Also mentioned by the head man was senior defensive end Da'Shawn Hand. The coaches thought it best for Hand to sit out of the game on Saturday recovering from back issues. Saban commented that Hand's injury was also not a long-term problem.

Saban said, "I think Da'Shawn Hand could have played in the spring game. It was just kind of precautionary. He actually practiced on Thursday before the spring game."

Though players were not mentioned by name, Saban did say that a handful of Bama players were on the mend. "We had players who needed surgeries after the season, some of them didn't make it back for spring practice," Saban said. "We've got players that have injuries that have the next month or so to heal up and be able to play."

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Jake Coker Calling It Quits

Former University of Alabama quarterback Jake Coker
Photo Credit: UA Athletics

Former University of Alabama football quarterback Jake Coker always said his main goal was to win a national championship. In 2015, he did just that...as the starting quarterback of the Crimson Tide. Coker successfully led Bama to a 14-1 record that season, and let UA to the national championship by defeating the Clemson Tigers 45-40.

Now, he is officially retiring from football, he recently announced.

Coker says he is done with the game. A knee injury has hampered him, and decided it was time to just "move on," according to an interview with Creg Stephenson of AL.com. He also told Stephenson he was "excited about what's ahead."

Coker threw for over 3,100 yards in his championship season, along with 21 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

Good luck, Jake. Roll Tide!

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Celebrity Birthdays

April 26th

Channing Tatum, Actor, 37

Melania Trump, First Lady, 47

Simply Liv, Youtube, 13

Kane, Wrestler, 50

Jason Earles, Actor, 40

Daniel Padilla, Actor, 22

Kevin James, Actor, 52

Jet Li, Actor, 54

Stana Katic, Actress, 39

Jordana Brewster, Actress, 37

Sterling Griffith, Actress, 16

Tom Welling, Actor, 40

Anna McNulty, Youtube, 15

Evelina Barry, Youtube, 28

Carol Burnett, Actress/TV Show hostess, 84

Keara Graves, Actress, 18

Jessica Lee Rose, Actress, 30

Bambino Becky, Youtube, 19

Roger Taylor, Musician, 57

Allisyn Ashley Arm, Actress, 21

Luke Bracey, Actor, 28

Emily Wickersham, Actress, 33

Cole Beasley, Football, 28

Ricky Norwood, Actor, 29

McKenzie Westmore, Actress, 40

Riley Voelkel, Actress, 40