TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- North Alabama never trailed in the game until the bottom of the eighth inning, but Alabama pulled out an 8-6 win over the Lions with three late runs at Sewell-Thomas Field.
With the loss, North Alabama is now 4-30, while Alabama improved to 23-12.
UNA held a 6-5 lead entering the bottom of the eighth but the Crimson Tide used a combination of two walks, a hit batter, a sacrifice fly and a single to plate three runs and take the win.
John Lundgren, the sixth of seven UNA pitchers to appear in the game, took the loss.
UNA loaded the bases to start the game as
Drew Hudson walked,
Devne Daniel singled and
Kylan Barnett walked. Hudson scored the first run of the game on a wild pitch and
Peyton Thomas drove in the second run with a ground out to second. A slow roller to third by
Reid Homan brought in Barnett to give the Lions a 3-0 lead.
Alabama answered with two runs in the bottom of the first as
Peyton Thomas drew a leadoff walk and scored when Sam Praytor hit a two-run homer to left.
The Crimson Tide tied the game in the second inning as Jackson Tate reached on an error and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly to make it 3-3.
Brycen Parrish pitched two scoreless innings for the Lions and
Jacob James pitched a scoreless inning to send the game into the sixth inning still tied.
UNA then took a 5-3 lead in the top of the sixth as Thomas walked and Homan followed with a single. Garret Smith moved the runners up with a sacrifice and
Luke Harper delivered a two-out, two-run single to right field to give the Lions a 5-3 advantage.
Alabama got a walk and a single to leadoff its half of the sixth inning before
Austin Emener retired the side to end the threat. He struckout two batters and got a flyout to left to end the inning.
The Crimson Tied tied the game in the seventh when Praytor delivered a two-run double with two outs to make it 5-5. UNA had a chance to get out of the inning with no runs scoring but failed to convert what should have been an easy double-play, settling for one out.
North Alabama went on top again in the top of the eighth as Smith walked, went to third on a
Harris Kain single and scored on an RBI-single by Harper.
In the bottom of the eighth, UNA pitchers walked two batters and hit another to load the bases with no outs. The tying run scored on a sacrifice fly and William Hamiter delivered a two-out, two-run single to give Alabama an 8-6 lead.
North Alabama hosts a three-game ASUN Conference series against Bellarmine at Mike Lane Field beginning with a 5 p.m. contest on Friday.
