By: L. Clay Pruitt

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Columbia’s dominating offense snapped Alabama’s win streak in game one of a three game series. The Lions beat Alabama by a final score of 10-7.

 

Columbia took control of the game early in the second inning. Seth Dardar hit a triple that scored Anton Lazits. Dardar later scored on a wild pitch from Grayson Hitt. The Lions started off 2-0 on Bama.

 

Alabama recorded their first hit in the bottom of the third inning which came from Tommy Seidl. Will Hodo recorded his first RBI of the game, which brought in Seidl.

 

Columbia answered with a couple runs of their own in the top of the fourth. Griffin Palfrey recorded his first RBI of the game, so did Jack Kail. After Columbia scored two runs, Alabama decided to take out Hitt. They threw in Brock Blatter. The Lions would only get one run off Blatter this inning. Columbia extended their lead 5-1.

 

Grayson Hitt gave The Tide roughly three innings of work on the mound. Hitt had eight strikeouts and two walks on 79 total pitches.

 

The Crimson Tide responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the fourth brought to you buy Caden Rose. Rose blasted a solo home run that smacked the scoreboard. Bama cut Columbia’s lead down one, 5-2.

 

Top of the fifth, Columbia added one more run to their score column after an error by Alabama catcher Mac Guscette. Alabama decided to make a pitching change, hoping to get out of the inning. Hunter Furtado came in to relieve Blatter. This did not stop Columbia. The Lions brought in one more run. Columbia led 7-2.

 

Alabama kept fighting. Hodo gave a lucky fan a souvenir after he blasted a home run 360 feet into right field. Hodo recorded three RBIs from this homer which made his total four on the night. Bama cut the lead 9-5.

 

In the bottom of the ninth, Bama tried to come back. Drew Williamson brought in Colby Shelton on a single down the left field line. This was the last score from The Tide, 10-7.

 

“A lot of blame to go around. Poor pitching and way too many free passes. Really poor effort all the way around. Give Columbia credit,” Coach Brad Bohannon said.

 

Grayson Hitt was given the loss for Friday’s game. Columbia ended the game with 11 hits, no errors. Alabama finished with 12 hits and two errors. The Crimson Tide looks for revenge Saturday in a double header starting at 1 p.m. CT.