By: Clay Pruitt

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama Crimson Tide were able to get their bats swinging against the Bulldogs in game one and win 7-3. Mississippi State shut out the Crimson Tide in game two, winning 4-0.

​Friday night’s first game started out with a three up, three down top half for Alabama’s starting pitcher Garrett McMillan. Jim Jarvis would record his first hit of the night with a singlethat blew past second. Mississippi State’s starting pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje walked Caden Rose and gave up a hit to Andrew Pinckney which loaded the bases. Alabama would end up stranding all three runners.

​Opening up the top of the second, Luke Hancock recorded his first hit of the night. This would lead to Mississippi State copying Alabama and loading the bases. Connor Hujsak smacked a ball into a double play, allowing Hancock to score. Hujsak would not be given an RBI for this. Mississippi State would come out of the second with a 1-0 lead.

​Leading off the home half of the second, Ed Johnson gets walked. Cijnjte would give up two more walks, which loaded the bases again for the Tide. Jarvis slammed a single to left field driving in Johnson for an RBI. Caden Rose would be walked which scores Bryce Eblin. Pinckney recorded two RBIs after he shot a deep double into the outfield, brining in Guscetteand Jarvis. This put the Tide up 4-1 at the end of the second.

​The third inning shows very little action offensively but shows off how good these two teams were defensively. In the top of the third, Riley Quick relieved Garrett McMillan and led the Tide to a three up, three down, top of the inning. In the home half of the third, Eblin records his first hit and steals second.

Both team’s defense would steal the show with a total of five strikeouts combined at the end of the fourth.

​Mississippi State started to show life in the top of the fifth as Colton Ledbetter recordedhis first RBI of the game. The Bulldogs also kept Alabama quiet in the bottom of the fifth with a double play to end the inning.

​The Bulldogs would show some final signs of life in the top of the sixth with a home run from Luke Hancock.

​In the bottom of the seventh, Alabama loaded the bases for Bryce Eblin. He sent a deep shot to right field in the bottom of the seventh to score three for the Tide.

​Alabama took game one of the fall ball double header 7-3.

Game 2

In game 2 of Friday night’s double header, the bats for both teams started out cold. The Tide started off with a one, two, three top of the first led by Luke Holman on the mound. The Bulldogs responded with a one, two, three of their own led by Landon Gartman to end the first.

​Holman led the Tide in another defensive inning with three strikeouts and only one walk.Dominic Tamez was walked to start off the home half of the second. The Tide left him, and Swinney stranded on base to end the second. Still tied at zero.

​The Crimson Tide started the top of the third when they relieved Holman and brought in Brock Blatter. Blatter gave up a single to right center which allowed David Mershon to reach third on an error. The Bulldogs stranded these runners on base to end the top of the third.

​The Bulldog’s bats kept swinging in the top of the fourth with a single that ripped past Will Hodo. This brought in Mississippi State’s first run of game two. Tyson Hardin for the Bulldogs ended the bottom of the fourth when he struck out Hodo.

​Bryce Chance gave the Bulldogs a chance to score after he shot a ball to Will Portera. Portera dropped the ball and threw to first, sailing past Hodo. Two errors were given to Portera. This allowed Chance to make it to third and it drove in a run for the Bulldogs. Mississippi State leads 2-0 at the end of the fifth.

​The Bulldogs kept scoring in the sixth after a pitch got by Tamez. That allowed another Mississippi Stat runner to score. David Mershon slammed a ball to left field, this drove in one run. He reached second but was called out. A third Crimson Tide error led to the Bulldog’s second hit. Mississippi State led the Tide 4-0 at the end of the sixth.

​The Mississippi State Bulldogs came away with the win over the Crimson Tide in game two. The Bulldogs tallied four hits and were able to capitalize on three Alabama errors. They also held Alabama to zero hits.

​Alabama looks to get a win at Auburn on Oct. 28 at 6:30 p.m. CT. This will be the last game before their season starts in Gainesville, Florida in March.

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