LSU vs. Alabama
Photo by: MG Miller
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama baseball is set for the 2021 SEC Baseball Tournament, the Tide’s first appearance in Hoover since 2016. The Crimson Tide, as a 10-seed, will square off with No. 25 and seventh-seeded South Carolina in the second game of Tuesday’s morning session. The contest will air live on the SEC Network.
Follow the Tide
Fans can follow the Tuesday game via the below outlets:
Watch: SEC Network
Listen: 100.9 FM / CTSN / TuneIn App
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB
Live Stats: StatBroadcast.com
Probable Starting Pitching Matchup
TUESDAY: UA – Tyler Ras (Jr., RHP) vs. SC – TBA
Leading Off
- Alabama and South Carolina will meet for the 67th time in series history when the two teams square off on Tuesday afternoon at the Hoover Met. The Gamecocks lead the all-time series, 37-29, but the Tide holds the advantage in neutral site games at 4-2.
- The two teams last met from April 5-6, 2019, in Tuscaloosa, with Alabama claiming a 2-1 series win. The Crimson Tide blanked the Gamecocks in game one of a doubleheader, 9-0, before clinching the series with a 4-1 win on the back-end of the twin bill. South Carolina rallied the next day for a 5-4 win in 12 innings to avoid the sweep.
- Alabama has won two of the three pairings between the two schools in the SEC Tournament. The most recent meeting came in 2009 with SC earning a 9-5 win on May 20. The Tide won the first-ever meeting in Hoover by a score of 6-2 on May 26, 2002 and followed that with a 9-7 win a year later on May 22.
- Alabama will call on junior right-hander Tyler Ras for the Tuesday start. Ras has been the Crimson Tide’s Friday night starter each of the last 13 weekends and owns a 6-4 record with a 5.42 ERA (46 ER/76.1 IP).
- South Carolina’s starter is still to be announced.
About Alabama
- Alabama hosted sixth-ranked Mississippi State this past weekend for the final series of the regular season. The Crimson Tide fell in three hard-fought battles with the Bulldogs to finish the 2021 schedule at 29-22 overall and 12-17 in Southeastern Conference play.
- State’s four run seventh proved to be too much as Alabama fell, 4-2 on Thursday evening at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
- A pitchers’ duel saw both teams go scoreless until the fifth. That inning featured a solo home run from Jackson Tate to get Alabama on the board first.
- Tyler Ras kept the Bulldogs at bay in the sixth before a four-run top of the seventh gave MSU the lead for good. The Crimson Tide battled for one in the bottom of the seventh and brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the eighth but would not get any closer.
- Ras was solid once again, allowing four runs on seven hits and a walk with three strikeouts across 6.1 innings of work. The junior held State scoreless through the first 6.0 frames, giving up four hits and no walks before running into trouble in the seventh.
- Alabama suffered a 7-0 loss on Friday evening. The Bulldogs were first on the board with a run in the top of the second and added three in the third, two in the fifth and one in the ninth for the series-clinching win.
- The Crimson Tide rallied late on Saturday but was unable to battle back in a 7-3 loss to the Bulldogs.
- Alabama struck early with two in the first and one in the second to build a 3-0 lead. The Tide pitching staff held State off the board until the fifth when MSU scored four to gain the advantage. The Bulldogs then added three more in the top of the sixth to make it a 7-3 ballgame.
- UA did not go quietly, bringing the tying run to the plate in the eighth and reaching a pair of runners in the ninth, but would not pull any closer.
- Alabama received a strong start on Saturday from Jacob McNairy in his first appearance since mid-April. The junior tossed 2.0 scoreless innings with a pair of strikeouts before handing it over to his bullpen. The Tide relievers combined to post a solid effort across the final 7.0 frames, but defensive miscues plagued UA in the middle innings leading to seven runs, only four of which were earned.
About South Carolina
- South Carolina finished the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign at 12-4 overall. SC was riding a five-game winning streak heading to SEC play before the season was officially put on pause.
- Mark Kingston is in his fourth season at South Carolina and owns a 110-78 record in Columbia as part of a 383-257-1 career mark across his 12 seasons as a collegiate head coach. A 1995 graduate of North Carolina, Kingston is joined on staff by assistants Trip Couch, Skylar Meade and Stuart Lake.
- South Carolina was selected to finish fourth in the East and eighth overall in the SEC in the league’s preseason poll, as voted on by the conference’s head coaches.
Back in Hoover
- Alabama returns to SEC Tournament for the first time since 2016 when the Crimson Tide takes on South Carolina on Tuesday afternoon.
- The Tide is 49-43 all-time in the Tournament and will be appearing for a 34th time.
- Alabama holds a 2-1 record against the Gamecocks and owns a winning record against eight of the 11 participating teams in this year’s installment of the Tournament.
On Deck
A win for Alabama would advance the Crimson Tide to the double-elimination portion of the 2021 SEC Tournament. The Tide would pair with #2 seed Tennessee in the second game of the morning session on Wednesday, May 26. A loss would end UA’s time in Hoover with a chance to still play in an NCAA Regional.
