OXFORD — No. 23 Alabama scored nine runs in the fourth inning Thursday night against Ole Miss, and the Crimson Tide defeated the Rebels 12-0 in seven innings at Swayze Field in the opener of their three-game series.
The loss snapped Ole Miss’ (22-19, 6-13) two-game winning streak. The Crimson Tide (27-15, 8-11) had 16 hits in the game, including a pair of three-run home runs in the fourth.
“Tonight we were not very good at all, in any aspect,” senior centerfielder Ethan Groff said. “But, as they say, the sun comes up tomorrow, and we have a chance to win a series. So, we have to flush this one quickly and come out here tomorrow night, not whatever this was.”
Alabama got runners to the corners in each of the first three innings, failing to score on the first two occasions before cashing in with one run in the third. Junior Riley Maddox left the game with one out in the fourth. He was replaced by freshman Austin Simmons, who left the game after making a few pitches because he “felt something in his elbow.” Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said Simmons will undergo testing in the coming days.
Simmons pitched in both games in last Saturday’s doubleheader at Georgia but “felt great” this week.
“He felt terrific. (He had) done some stuff over at the football facility. He threw a short work Tuesday. He always feels good,” Bianco said. “And those things aren’t — I’ll probably get myself in trouble — chronic, where it’s sore, sore, sore and then something happens. Usually they don’t feel anything until something happens. But, again, we’ll know more once we get the tests back.”
Senior Mitch Murrell entered following Simmons’ exit in the fourth and surrendered a three-run home run to Will Hodo. Murrell then gave up a three-run home run to Mac Guscette to cap off the nine-run frame. The pivotal fourth inning included a trio of misplayed fly balls from Groff, senior leftfielder Ethan Lege and sophomore third baseman Andrew Fischer. The Crimson Tide scored two more runs in the fifth.
Maddox gave up nine hits over 3.1 innings with four earned runs allowed.
“You can be down 10 and win a game. But you have to have that resolve, you have to have that fight, you have to have that kind of belief,” Groff said. “We have to find that right now.”
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