HOOVER,Ala.- Vandy used a five run first inning to propel them to a win to eliminate Alabama from Hoover, 9-2. The Tide will now wait to hear its name called on Sunday to host its first regional since 2006.
“I feel good where we are right now to host and the guys have earned that,” said interim head coach Jason Jackson
Jacob Mcnairy got the ball for the Tide and struggled out the gates to allow five runs on RBIs from RJ Schreck, Parker Noland, Chris Maldonado and RJ Austin.
The Tide couldn’t respond right away in the first, stranding the bases loaded, but got on the board in the third with a two run home run by freshmen Colby Shelton who now has 22 home runs on the season.
“He’s a machine that guys unreal he just hits really impressive home runs and he is a freak in the weight room,” Jim Jarvis said of Shelton.
Vandy got out of another bases loaded jam in the fourth and carried that momentum in to the fifth when Matthew Polk doubled to score two runs and another run was scored on an error by Andrew Pinckney.
Mcnairy could never settle down and only went 4.1 innings with eight runs allowed on six Ks and four walks, which was not like Mcnairy after coming into the outing with just 14 walks in 14 starts and earning the loss bringing his record to 6-2 on the season.
Alabama was able to use pitchers who have not pitched all week for appearances before the NCAA Tournament to finish the game out, guys like Zane Propst and Braylen Meyers who combined to pitch 4.2 innings with two Ks and allowed one run.
“Obviously we wanted to win tonight but we still got a long season ahead of us and everybody’s looking forward to that,” Jarvis said.
What’s Next
Alabama will now wait to hear its name called on Sunday and see if it will be hosting. They will find out its opponents on Monday. It was a successful weekend in Hoover going 2-2 and Alabama is now up to 40-19 overall with a top 15 RPI.
