Alabama, Samford baseball move to elimination games in NCAA Tournament

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - It’s win or go home for both Alabama and Samford baseball on Saturday in the NCAA Tournament after both teams lost in the opening round on Friday.

For the Crimson Tide, Alabama suffered an 8-1 loss to No. 16 NC State in the opening round of the NCAA Ruston Regional on Friday afternoon at J.C. Love Field. The loss moves UA to the elimination game on Saturday and sets the Tide at 31-25 on the season.

NC State totaled nine hits in the game, all of which went for extra bases. Five of those hits were home runs with the homers accounting for all eight State runs.

“Really, we didn’t do anything good enough to win today. We didn’t execute pitches well enough and we certainly didn’t do enough at bat. Honestly, we’re just a little disappointed. I kind of felt like our guys played like they were just glad to be here,” said Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohannon.

For the Bulldogs, Samford lost to Mississippi State 8-4 in the opening round of the NCAA Starkville Regional Friday afternoon. The loss moves Samford into an elimination game Saturday.

“To keep us in the game I though our guys had some big swings. They did a great job of not giving us any bases. When you hit three home runs and two doubles and it only gets you four runs out of those five swings because there wasn’t anything in front of us, it’s a tough loss,” said Samford baseball coach Casey Dunn.

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