Alabama baseball loses its first game in Frisco Classic championship to Dallas Baptist

No. 15 Alabama baseball lost its first game of the season on Sunday, falling to No. 24 Dallas Baptist 7-5 in 12 innings at the Frisco College Baseball Classic.

DBU (10-1) got the scoring started by stealing home in the second inning, and Alabama (11-1) responded with a three-spot in the bottom of the frame. Evan Sleight hit a solo home run for his third of the year, and T.J. McCants followed with a 2-RBI single through the left side that scored Justin Lebron and Mac Guscette to give Alabama an early 3-1 lead.

DBU cut into the deficit with a solo home run by Alex Pendergast in the third inning. In the fourth, Lebron hit his third home run of the season to bring home himself and Guscette again for their second runs of the day. That score gave Alabama a 5-2 lead, but then things started to go awry for the Crimson Tide.

Another solo home run for the Patriots made the score 5-3. It seemed like Alabama was going to respond with the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the fifth, but a pop fly followed by a double play left all three stranded and gave DBU some momentum. After an error in left field by Ian Petrutz gave DBU a runner on second, another home run by the next batter allowed them to tie the game 5-5 in the sixth.

That score would hold for another five innings, as neither team was able to score until DBU catcher Grant Jay hit his second solo home run of the day in the 12th inning to give the Patriots a 6-5 lead. An RBI single added another run for the Patriots, and Alabama was unable to answer leading to the 7-5 final.

Missed opportunities haunted Alabama all game. The Crimson Tide left 13 runners on base, by far its most in a single game this season.

Up next, Alabama will return home for a pair of midweek games against Jacksonville State (Tuesday, March 5, 4 p.m. CT) and Troy (Wednesday, March 6, 4 p.m. CT).