HOOVER, Ala. \u2013 The 15th-ranked Alabama baseball team (37-19) suffered a 13-3 loss to No. 18 Florida (39-18) on Thursday afternoon at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. The No. 4 seed Crimson Tide’s time in Hoover is now over with the No. 5 seed Gators advancing to Saturday’s slate of games.<\/p>\n
Tyler Fay<\/a> (9-4) suffered the loss on Thursday, working 4.2 innings and allowing five runs on six hits with five punchouts. The win went to Florida starter Liam Peterson (3-5), with the junior allowing one earned run across 5.0 frames, striking out eight in the process. The Crimson Tide bullpen deployed six different relievers over the final 4.1 innings, as the group combined to surrender eight runs (seven earned) on 10 hits.<\/p>\n Brady Neal<\/a> drove in all three Alabama runs, finishing 2-for-3 with a two-run home run, three RBI and a sacrifice fly. Justin Lebron<\/a> also tallied multiple hits, posting a 2-for-4 line with a double and a stolen base. Brennan Holt<\/a> contributed two singles in four at-bats, while Jason Torres<\/a>, Luke Vaughn<\/a> and Peyton Steele<\/a> each managed one base-hit.<\/p>\n “Obviously not the way we wanted today to go, right? (Liam) Peterson, this is the third time we’ve seen Peterson in the last two years, and by far the best version we’ve seen of him the last two years. I mean, the stuff was real. Tons of strikes.\u00a0We had a couple of opportunities there in the early innings to get a two-out hit and maybe get some momentum on our side. And he executed some pitches and just wasn’t quite able to do that. And the momentum obviously shifted there in the fifth inning. Couldn’t quite get off the field. And you felt the momentum get in there in the dugout, and then it was kind of a snowball rolling downhill after that.\u00a0Those guys are playing high-level baseball right now. They’re playing well. \u00a0we saw them early in the year as well and played incredibly well against them then. Just kind of ran into a buzz saw a little bit. That was, Liam Peterson was the big leaguer that I knew he was.\u00a0Unfortunately, the first two outings, we didn’t quite get that version of him. Today we did.\u00a0Got to give credit to Florida for coming out and being really good today and getting after it.\u00a0At the end of the day, we turn our attention to next week and everything that comes with that. And, so, excited for this journey with this group to continue.<\/p>\n How It Happened<\/p>\n
Postgame Notes<\/p>\n
Up Next<\/p>\n
\n\tT4 | A pair of solo home runs from Brendan Lawson and Ethan Surowiec got the Gators on the board. (2-0, Florida)
\n\tT5 | A leadoff single followed later by a two-out double and single scored a pair for UF. After a hit-by-pitch put two aboard, a bases-clearing triple and an error allowed the Gators two plate three more. (7-0, Florida)
\n\tB5 | Peyton Steele<\/a> singled to start the inning and moved to third on a one-out double from Justin Lebron<\/a>. Brady Neal<\/a> then got the Tide on the board with a sacrifice fly to center. (7-1, Florida)
\n\tT7 | The Gators used five hits to plate four runs in the frame. (11-1, Florida)
\n\tB7 | Bryce Fowler<\/a> drew a one-out walk, and two batters later, Neal lifted a two-run home run to right. (11-3, Florida)
\n\tT8 | With one out and two in scoring position, the Gators drove in both men with a two-run double. (13-3, Florida)
<\/p>\n
\n\tTyler Fay<\/a> finished with five strikeouts on the afternoon to push his season total to 104. Fay is now tied for eighth-most in Alabama single-season history, matching Joel Colgrove (1996) and Heath Henderson (1997).
\n\tJustin Lebron<\/a> stretched his on-base streak to 10 consecutive games
\n\tBryce Fowler<\/a> has now reached base in seven straight games
\n\tAttendance 11,146
<\/p>\n
\n\tThe Crimson Tide will now break until Sunday night’s announcement of NCAA Regional host sites.
\n\tIf Alabama is not named as a top-16 seed, the team would then find out its Regional destination on Monday morning at 11 a.m. CT as part of the NCAA selection show. The broadcast will air live on ESPN2.
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