Bama Takes Sunday Game, Drops Series to # 1 Vandy

NASHVILLE, TN| After dropping a pair of pitching duels to the nation's top ranked team, the Alabama baseball team rebounded to defeat Vanderbilt, 5-3, in 10 innings on Sunday by stealing home. With runners at first and third and two outs against Vandy closer Casey Weathers, Matt Bentley, the Tide's 6-3 220-pound first baseman, stole home on a straight steal in the top of the 10th inning to give the Tide a one-run lead, which proved to be enough for the win.

"It was a first and third force balk move" Bentley said. "We ran it the way you are suppose to against a left-handed pitcher, but not against the right-hander, but it worked out for us. That is the first time and probably the last time I will ever steal home again."

In Friday's opener, the teams entered the 8th inning in a 0-0 tie, but Commodore ace and possible # 1 overall pick in this year's MLB Draft, David Price, outlasted Miers Quigley and pitched a complete game in Vandy's 3-0 win.

On Saturday, Matt Meingasner had three hits and two RBI to lead No. 1 Vanderbilt past the University of Alabama, 4-2.

Alabama returns to action tomorrow night with a home game against Southeastern Louisiana at 6:30 pm and host SEC rival Georgia in a three game set this weekend starting at 6:30 pm on Friday night at "The Joe".

Robert Pitches Tide to Win, Series Tied 1-1

One night after giving up a ninth inning three run home run to blow a two run lead, Tommy Hunter returned to a similar situation on Saturday night. This time Hunter worked out of a jam and collected the save as Alabama defeated LSU 5-2 to even the three game series at a game a piece. He pitched out of a nobody out, men on 2nd and 3rd situation in the eighth inning and a perfect ninth to secure Alabama's win over LSU.

LSU(16-12-1, 2-5-1 SEC) took a 1-0 lead with an unearned run off Robert in the first inning. Alabama tied the game at 1 in the bottom of the third inning as Greg Paiml hit a one-out double and eventually scored on Alex Avila’s sacrifice fly.

The Crimson Tide took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, loading the bases with no outs but scoring only on a two-out infield single by Emeel Salem. LSU came back to tie the game on Blake Dean’s RBI single in the top of the fifth inning.

Alabama(18-11, 4-4 SEC) took a 4-2 lead in the sixth inning. Ryan Rhoden and Brandon Belcher led off with consecutive singles, then moved to second and third on Jeff Texada’s sacrifice. Greg Paiml struck out for the second out and the Tigers intentionally walked Salem to load the bases. Freshman Jake Smith then followed with a clutch two-out, two-run single off Jared Bradford -- his former high school teammate at Hueytown -- to give Alabama a two-run lead.

The series concludes Sunday afternoon at 2pm from Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

My Apologies

To our loyal readers I must apologize for the lack of articles on the website recently. I have let my thesis work, job search, and wedding planning get in the way of this website and I apologize for that. I feel like I just took one in the face (see the picture).

Hopefully, in the near future my life will calm down and I will get back to getting you the Alabama sports coverage you deserve. By the way you haven't missed much, spring practice started for football, baseball is ranked #25 4-4 in the SEC and softball is ranked #4 in the country and dominating. There will be more articles soon.

Robert Tosses Gem As Bama Downs Vols 9-1

Tide wins 1st SEC series of Year

Senior right-hander Bernard Robert gave the Crimson Tide its most impressive outing on the mound this season, tossing the University of Alabama’s first complete game of the 2007 season en route to a 9-1 win over the Tennessee Volunteers at Sewell-Thomas Stadium Saturday afternoon.

The Denham Springs, La., native took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and turned in his longest outing in an Alabama uniform. It was his 10th career complete game and second at Alabama. His other complete-game for the Tide came in a seven-inning win at No. 1 South Carolina in 2006. Robert went nine innings, giving up four hits, two walks, and seven strikeouts.

Alabama (15-7, 2-0) had more than enough offense to support Robert. Sophomores Kent Matthes and Jeff Texada and senior Greg Paiml had two hits each for the Crimson Tide. Freshman Jake Smith and junior first baseman Matt Bentley stroked two-run home runs in the Tide’s four-run eighth inning.

Coach Jim Wells was pleased with Saturday's performance. "Robert did what we needed him to do today, it was beautiful. That was the best game he has pitched since he has been here. His pitch count was down heading into the last two innings. We needed him to go deep into the game and he did it. This was a good team win, we had some key extra base hits, too. Everyone in the line-up had one or two hits, so we were putting pressure on them up and down the line-up and not with just one or two guys.”

Alabama looks for the series sweep today in the series finale which is scheduled for 2:06 CT from Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

Crimson Tide Rolls Over Vols In Game 1

Tide Takes 1-0 Series Lead


Those who decided to come out to "The Joe" and take a break from watching the NCAA Tournament, and having Billy Packer scream at them, saw the Alabama Crimson Tide baseball team take game one of the three game series against the hated Tennessee Volunteers, 9-7. Alabama improves to 14-7 overall, 1-0 in the SEC as the Vols fall to 12-8 overall, and 0-1 in the SEC.

Miers Quigley provided another strong performance for Alabama pitching six solid inning giving up five runs, on nine hits, and tying a career high with nine strikeouts. Tommy Hunter picked up his first save of the season, closing out the game with two scoreless innings.

The Crimson Tide opened Southeastern Conference play with 17 hits. Jake Smith and Alex Avilla hit back-to-back home runs to begin the game and gave the Tide a 3-0 advantage. Smith was 4-4 on the day with a home run, double and three RBI.

Game 2 of the three game set is scheduled tomorrow at 4pm with the series finale to be played Sunday at 2 pm.

UMass Hits Buzzer Beater to Down Tide In OT

Tide's Season Ends on Last Second Shot

















What a heartbreaking way to end a season. The Alabama basketball team made some mistakes on Tuesday night, mostly turnovers and on the defensive end, but played hard enough to win. Unfortunately, it just didn't happen in a 89-87 loss in Amherst, MA on Tuesday night.

Mikhail Riley’s 3-point shot forced an overtime as regulation expired, but Massachusetts’ Chris Lowe hit a leaning jump shot with one second remaining in overtime to lift the Minutemen the win.

Alabama had tied the game with nine seconds remaining in overtime on a Demetrius Jemison putback but Lowe was able to drive into the lane and score the game-winner.

The Tide was led by Riley's 24 points, sophomore Brandon Hollinger's career high 19 points, and sophomore Alonzo Gee added 14 for Alabama. UMass was led by Stephane Lasme who finished with 21 points and 9 blocks on the night.

While Alabama ends a disappointing season with the record of 20-12, the good news is that Jermareo Davidson is the lone senior on the squad. Hopefully, with the abundance of young talent, next season will be more memorable than this one.

Alabama Draws UMass in NIT

Even though Alabama's five year streak of playing in the NCAA Tournament came to an end this year, the Crimson Tide will play in the postseason, in the NIT. The Crimson Tide will travel to Amherst, MA on Tuesday night and take on the Massachusetts Minutemen in the NIT first round at 8:30 pm CT and the game can be seen nationally on ESPN.

UMass was 24-8 on the season and finished second in the Atlantic 10 with a 13-3 conference record. The Minutemen are led by Reshaun Freeman and his 15.2 points per game. Stephane Lasme (13.3), Gary Forbes (13.0), and James Life (11.2) all average in double figures for Travis Ford' s club. Lasme is also second in the nation in blocks, averaging five per game. Some of you SEC fans might recognize that name as Ford was a star for Kentucky in the early 1990s.

If Alabama were to win they would take on the winner of West Virgina and Delaware State. If West Virginia were to win, Alabama would travel to Morgantown, if Delaware State were to win, the game would be played in Tuscaloosa. Lets not look ahead though, that would require Alabama to win a road game...and I think they do.

Nicks Prediction: Alabama 79 UMass 72

The Complete NIT Bracket Can Be Seen By Clicking Here: NIT Bracket Link