The Alabama baseball team took one of three games in a weekend series against Baseball America’s third best team in the country. The Crimson Tide took the series finale on Sunday after dropping the first two games against Houston, blowing leads in both games.
In the series opener, Casey Hughston scored the game’s opening run in the fourth inning on an RBI single from Chance Vincent. Hughston finished the game 2-4 with two doubles.
The Tide’s pitching staff threw 32 innings without giving up a run to start the season before Houston designated hitter Chris Iriart hit a three-run homerun off Alabama ace Taylor Guilbeau. The Cougars bullpen held the visiting offense in check, finishing the game with a 3-1 win.
The two offenses exploded in game two on Saturday, combining for 23 runs on 23 hits, but also got help from poor defense as the teams combined for seven errors. Houston came away with a 14-9 win after scoring nine total runs on just six hits, all singles, in the seventh and eighth innings. The Tide used eight pitchers, giving up 13 earned runs on the night.
Alabama’s hitting once again came from Hughston. The sophomore went 3-5 with two runs, including a solo homerun in the sixth inning to tie the game at 5.
Hughston had another good outing in Alabama’s 8-3 win in the series finale. Alabama’s right fielder went 2-3 including an RBI double in the first inning and an RBI single in the fourth to give Alabama a 2-1 lead. Senior J.C. Wilhite added a solo homerun and Kyle Overstreet finished with two RBIs.
Geoffrey Bramblett got the win for the Tide, pitching 6 1/3 innings allowing just three runs on eight hits. Ray Castillo pitched the rest of the game, allowing just two Houston baserunners.
Alabama is now 4-2 on the season and will have a double header on Tuesday against Savannah State before welcoming Louisiana Lafayette for a weekend series to finish the month. Houston is now 5-1 and remained at number 3 in the Baseball America rankings.
