Alabama baseball's SEC tournament journey ended prematurely on Tuesday in Hoover. The Crimson Tide, seeded No. 7 in the tournament, were defeated by No. 10 South Carolina in the single-elimination round.
The Gamecocks defeated the Crimson Tide 10-5 with the help of four home runs, including three that powered a six-run third inning.
Alabama jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first two innings. South Carolina responded with a powerful offensive surge of its own. Gavin Casas led off the third inning with a solo home run, followed by another homer from Ethan Petry two batters later. In the same inning, South Carolina loaded the bases for Dalton Reeves, who smashed a 2-0 fastball over the right field wall for a grand slam. The early 3-0 lead for Alabama quickly became a 6-3 deficit.
Alabama battled back with two runs in the fourth inning, narrowing the gap to 6-5. However, Cole Messina hit a solo home run to start the fifth, helping the Gamecocks maintain their lead.
South Carolina added two more runs in the sixth inning and another in the eighth to put the game out of reach.
The Crimson Tide finished with 11 hits but struggled with runners in scoring position, going just 2-for-10 and leaving nine runners stranded. Despite a strong start, their offense couldn't keep up with South Carolina's offense. The Gamecocks will face No. 2 seed Arkansas on Wednesday in the double-elimination portion of the SEC tournament.
Alabama will now have to wait until Monday to learn if its postseason will continue in the field of 64.
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