The Alabama Crimson Tide hit a snag right out of the gate in their pre-season schedule, dropping a 6-4 exhibition game to the Georgia Tech Yellowjackets in Pensacola, Florida. This wasn’t just any early tune-up, though. This was the first real look at a Bama squad that’s trying to reload after their first College World Series appearance since way back in 1997. They’ve got some serious holes to fill after losing guys like Justin LeBron, Tyler Fay, Zane Adams, Brady Neal to the MLB draft, plus Johnny Lemm and Bryce Fowler to the pro ranks through free agency. Talk about a roster turnover!
Heiberger’s Unearned Runs and the Yellowjackets’ Blast
Senior lefty Matthew Heiberger got the starting nod for the Tide, tossing three innings in an outing that showed some flashes but ultimately let a couple of unearned runs cross the plate. He looked solid in the first, mixing a ground out with two strikeouts after a two-out single. But the second inning got a little hairy when he walked back-to-back batters early. Credit to him though, he dug deep, notched a strikeout and a fly out, then after another walk loaded the bases for Georgia Tech’s Jordan Lodise, Heiberger pulled off a fly out from Coleman Lewis to strand ’em all. What a Houdini act!
Things got dicey again in the third. After a pop out and another strikeout, Kent Schmidt hit a roller that second baseman Griffin Rardin just couldn’t handle, putting him on with an error. That opened the door for Georgia Tech slugger Ryan Zuckerman, who didn’t miss his chance, blasting a 1-1 pitch the opposite way over the right field fence. That’s a gut punch, right? Heiberger settled down to strike out Caleb Daniel to end his day, finishing with three innings, three hits, two walks, five strikeouts, and those two critical unearned runs. The Tide used five pitchers and 14 position players, which makes sense for an exhibition with softball-like substitution rules, letting players come and go.
New Faces Fight Back in the Third
Despite the early deficit, the Tide didn’t roll over. Down in the bottom of the third, the new-look lineup showed some grit and battled back to take the lead. Logen Devenport, one of Alabama’s outfielders, led off with a walk,his first of three free passes on the day, which is awesome plate discipline. Then, with one out, Griffin Rardin worked a walk, putting two runners on. A wild pitch scooted both runners up, and then Coleman Mizell stepped up, notching an RBI on a ground out. That’s how you claw your way back into a game, even an exhibition. These guys are fighting, which is what you want to see from a team that’s basically rebuilding on the fly.
What’s next for the Tide? They’ll finish their pre-season schedule with a double-header of two seven-inning contests this Friday night against Birmingham University. The first game kicks off at 5 p.m. CT, and get this: entrance is free to the public! So if you’re in the area, you can get another look at this reloaded Alabama squad as they fine-tune before the season really gets going. It’s a chance to see more of what this team is made of and how they adjust after this tough exhibition loss.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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