HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) – Alabama baseball came up short, 8-7, against UCF in a back-and-forth contest at Dick Howser Stadium on the Florida State campus. Following the NCAA Regional opener, the Crimson Tide is now 33-23 on the season.
The two teams traded leads all evening with UCF gaining its first advantage with a two-run first. Alabama answered with three runs in the bottom of the first, all coming on a homer from Kade Snell. A two-run homer in the top of the second put the Knights back in front at 4-3, but a Justin Lebron solo shot in the third made it a 4-4 ballgame a third of the way through.
“At the end of the day, we just couldn’t quite get a zero on the mound when we needed it,” Tide Head Coach Rob Vaughn said. “Offensively we competed really hard, had some good two-out hits and had some guys have really nice days at the plate. We fought hard. We played great defense. We just put too many guys on for free today, and credit to (UCF) for capitalizing on our mistakes.”
TJ McCants moved the Tide in front in the fourth with a solo shot of his own, but UCF countered for two in the fifth to retake the lead. A two-out RBI-single from Lebron in the seventh made it a 6-6 affair before the Knights broke the tie with a single tally in the eighth. Alabama returned the favor with one in the home half of the eighth but a two-out RBI-single in the ninth made it an 8-7 game, the eventual final.
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