Alabama Baseball Falls to No. 21 Kentucky in SEC Opener: Roll Call

Lexington, Ky. — Alabama’s six-game winning streak came to a halt Friday night at Kentucky Proud Park, where the No. 21 Wildcats scratched out a 7-4 victory in the Crimson Tide’s Southeastern Conference opener.

Justin Lebron announced Alabama’s arrival with one swing, drilling a solo home run on his first pitch of the night for his ninth long ball of the season. The early jolt gave the Tide a 1-0 lead and hinted at another night of offensive fireworks, but Kentucky answered with a four-run second and never trailed again.

John Lemm provided the visitors’ only other damage, launching a three-run shot in the later innings to pull Alabama within striking distance. Lebron finished 2-for-5 with an RBI, while Lemm went 1-for-4 and accounted for the remaining Tide runs.

On the mound, Tyler Fay (3-2) labored through seven frames in his fifth start of the spring. The right-hander scattered eight hits, seven runs (six earned) and one walk while striking out eight. Despite the line, his ability to eat innings kept the bullpen fresh for the remainder of the weekend set.

“There isn’t such thing as a moral victory,” head coach Rob Vaughn said afterward. “At the end of the day, we got beat tonight and we weren’t good enough. But it’s the first time this year I’ve seen us get down big and things not be going our way and crawl our way back into it.”

Alabama trailed 7-1 before putting the tying run on deck in the ninth against Wildcats closer Jaxon Jelkin, who Vaughn called “elite, elite” after the hard-throwing right-hander finally sealed the deal.

“We had tough at-bats, we grinded him out, we gave ourselves a chance,” Vaughn said. “Credit Tyler—he got better as he went. The fact that we didn’t have to go get him early in the game is going to pay dividends for the rest of the weekend.”

The Tide will look to even the series Saturday, buoyed by the fight they showed late Friday.

“I liked the fight, the way we kept coming—that’s the mentality I’ve been waiting to see,” Vaughn said. “The challenge is now can we come out and do the same tomorrow and play a more complete game.”