After winning their first two games at The Frisco Classic, and clinching their championship, the Alabama Crimson Tide baseball team lost 8-2 to Houston on Sunday afternoon. The Tide defeated Iowa 12-2 on Friday and won a thriller 8-7 over Oregon State on Saturday. Alabama and OSU both finished 2-1 with the Tide winning the championship belt by virtue of the tie breaker. Alabama fell to 9-3 and Houston improved to 7-4 on the season.
On Sunday the Tide sent freshman right handed Myles Upchurch to the mound
to face Houston’s Kendall Hoffman. Upchurch allowed a one out single in the first but then stuck out the next to batters. Alabama threatened in the bottom half. With one out Justin LeBron walked and stole second. Brady Neal followed with a walk. Luke Vaughn was next up and drilled a line drive that third baseman Cade Climie was able to snare and turn into an inning ending double play.
Upchurch had two more strikeouts in the second before running into trouble in the third. The Cougars led off with a walk and single. Both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt and then scored on a single by Dylan Maxcey. Upchurch ended the inning with two fly outs, including one by Carsten Sabathia- the son of Baseball Hall Of Famer CC Sabathia.
In the top of the fourth Upchurch was replaced by Evan Steckmesser with two outs and Irvin Weems on third base. Before Steckmesser ever threw a pitch Weems broke for home and was easily thrown out trying to steal to end the inning. Upchurch finished with 3.2 innings, allowing four hits, walking two, two runs and striking out four.
In the fifth Houston totally took control of the game. Steckmesser allowed three straight hits, scoring a run, to open the frame. After a strikeout an error in second baseman Brennan Holt on potential double play ball allowed a run and kept the bases loaded. After a sacrifice fly brought in the third run of the inning, Austin Morris was brought into pitch and notched a strikeout to end the uprising, but the Cougars had a comfortable 5-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fifth the Tide finally got on the board. Peyton Steele walked with one out and moved to second base on a wild pitch. With two outs Bryce Fowler doubled to score Steele. Fowler’s double was only the second hit of the night for Bama. Morris had two perfect innings in the sixth and seventh, but the Tide also went down in order in both of those innings.
In the eighth inning Morris hit Sabathia , the first batter he faced and was replaced by freshman left hander Luke Smyers. Sabathia advanced on a passed ball and a ground out before scoring on a single. With a 6-1 lead Hoffman was still on the mound in the bottom of the eighth for the Cougars. After a strikeout for the first out, Fowler hit a deep fly ball to centerfield that just missed leaving the park. LeBron, up next, left no doubt, clubbing his 7th home run of the season over the left field wall. Neal was up next and blasted a ball to the opposite field that hit the top of the wall and turned into a double. After three straight hard hit balls Hoffman was lifted in favor of Tyler Bryan. Bryan retired Luke Vaughn on a fly ball to right to end the inning with UH leading 6-2.
Smyers struck out the first man in the top of the ninth, then allowed a single and double before being replaced by Anthony Pesci. After an intentional walk to load the bases the Cougars scored two runs on a single and ground out and took an 8-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth.
The Tide got a walk to Johnny Lemm and a one out single by Justin Osterhouse but a strikeout and ground out ended the threat and end the game.
After 26 hits and 20 runs in the first two games combined, Bama was held to 6-32 at the plate. The Tide drew two walks, had two hit batters. And left seven men on base. LeBron was 1-3 with a home run, RBI, hit by pitch, a run, and a stolen base. Osterhouse was the only multi hit player with a 2-4 game. Fowler, Neal, and Steele all had one hit each. Upchurch fell to 2-1 in the season with the loss. Houston finished 11-35 with three walks, two hit batters, nine strikeouts, and left eight on base. The Cougars only had in extra base hit. Hoffman improved to 1-0.
LeBron was named the MVP of the Tournament and Vaughn was a member of the All Tournament Team. LeBron was 6-13 with two home runs, two doubles, three runs, three walks, a hit by pitch, one stolen base, and seven runs driven in. Vaughn was 3-12 with a home run, four RBI, two runs, a walk, and a hit by pitch.
Other standouts
*Brady Neal 4-11, home run (2), 2 RBI, 2 runs, double, 3 walks
*Andrew Purdy 3-6, 3 runs, double, RBI
*Brennan Holt 4-13, 2 runs, RBI
*Bryce Fowler 3-12, home run (2), 2 RBI, 2 doubles, 2 walks, HBP, 4 runs
*Eric Hines 2-3, home run (1), run, RBI
*Tyler Fay W (2-1) 6 IP 5 hits, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, 1 run
*Matthew Heiberger W (1-0) 2.2 IP, 2 hits, 1 walk, 1 strikeout, one run
*Austin Morris 2.1 IP, 0 hits, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 1 hit batter, 1 unearned run
The Tide welcomes Jacksonville State to The Joe on Tuesday for a 4 p.m. first pitch.
