KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Alabama baseball suffered a 5-4 loss to Tennessee in walk-off fashion Friday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The Crimson Tide is 16-7 and 1-3 in SEC play.
Alabama had the winning run in scoring position in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings but could not cross the go-ahead run.
In bottom of the ninth, the Volunteers drew a two-out walk and used a costly Crimson Tide miscue to extend the inning. One more walk loaded the bases before the inning’s final free pass crossed the winning run for Tennessee. Junior Deacon Medders (0-1) suffered the loss, allowing one unearned run on six walks.
Tennessee got out to an early 1-0 lead after an inning of play and added a second run in the fourth.
Alabama scored three runs in the fifth to take a 3-2 lead, but UT evened things up with one in the bottom of the fifth and then regained the lead with a run in the sixth.
One more run for the Tide in the eighth tied the game a second time before the Volunteers scored the game-winner in the ninth.
Eight of the nine Alabama hitters reached base safely at least once with six of the nine bats totaling at least one hit. Junior Matt Malkin paced the Tide offense with a 2-for-4 night that included a double, an RBI and one run scored.
The two teams are scheduled to play at 5 p.m. Saturday. The Crimson Tide will send senior right-hander Jake Walters to the mound while the Volunteers counter with sophomore righty Garrett Stallings. The game will air nationally on SEC Network.
