HOOVER, Ala.—The Samford baseball team nearly overcame a six-run deficit, but the Bulldogs eventually fell to Alabama, 8-6 Tuesday night at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
 
Samford fell behind, 6-0, but the Bulldogs were trailing just 8-5 heading into the ninth inning. Samford plated one run in the top of the ninth and had runners at the corners with no outs, but Alabama closer Thomas Burrows retired the next three batters to secure the 8-6 win for Alabama.
 
"Unfortunately in the ninth we had the same problem that plagued us for most of the game, which was the inability to put the ball in play," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "We struck out way too many times tonight."
 
Samford was led at the plate in the loss by Hunter Swilling, going 2-for-5 with a triple and two RBI. Austin Edens went 3-for-3 at the plate, while Jared Watson also had two hits for the Bulldogs.
 
"Obviously, there were some good things," Dunn said. "After getting punched in the mouth and rolling over on Sunday (at Jacksonville), when they punched us in the mouth there in the fifth, I thought we did a good job of answering when we came back with four runs in the sixth. That was the positive; that we kept fighting until that last out."
 
Samford pitcher Tristan Widra (0-1) pitched 4.1 innings, giving up five runs on six hits to take the loss on the mound. Widra struck out five batters, while walking just two. Robert Perteet, Philip Flach, Mark Donham, Eric Wright and Andres Gracia also saw time on the mound for Samford.
 
For Alabama, Jake Walters (2-0) tossed 5.0 innings, giving up no runs on two hits and striking out nine batters to earn the win. Burrows tossed the final inning to pick up his fourth save of the season.
 
Alabama was led at the plate by Casey Hughston, going 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. Mikey White went 3-for-4 with a triple and four RBI. Chandler Avant also had three hits for the Crimson Tide.
 
Alabama put the first run on the scoreboard in the second inning when Hughston led the inning off with a home run. The Crimson Tide added five runs in the fifth inning to make the score 6-0. White drove in three runs in the fifth inning, while Hughston and Chase Vincent drove in a run each for a six-run Alabama lead.
 
Samford came back with four runs in the top of the sixth inning. Swilling, Heath Quinn and Richard Greene drove in a run each, and Quinn scored on a wild pitch as Samford cut the Alabama lead to 6-4.
 
Alabama came back with a run in the bottom of the sixth to make the score 7-4. White singled to drive in Avant for Alabama's seventh run of the game. Each team plated a run in the eighth inning and the teams headed to the ninth inning with Alabama leading, 8-5.
 
In the ninth inning, Danny Rodriguez singled to lead off the inning. Watson then singled, moving Rodriguez to second base. Rodriguez and Watson then moved up a base each on a wild pitch. Swilling then singled to drive in Rodriguez to make the score 8-6. Burrows, however, retired the next three batters to end the Samford threat.
 
With the loss, Samford falls to 6-11 on the young season. Alabama improves to 12-7 with the win.
 
Samford will return to action on Friday, March 20, when the Bulldogs open a home Southern Conference series with Furman. The teams are scheduled to play Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field.