Next Game: at Arkansas 4/29/2018 | 1 p.m. SEC Network+

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – A four-run sixth decided Saturday's contest at Baum Stadium, as Alabama baseball fell, 7-4, to No. 7 Arkansas. The Razorbacks take the series following game two of the weekend, while the Crimson Tide moves to 23-22 on the season and 5-15 in Southeastern Conference play.

"Tonight was another tough game in which our kids gave a tremendous effort," said Alabama head coach Brad Bohannon . "You can't walk four batters in one inning and expect to beat a team like Arkansas, especially on the road. We have a very slim margin for error, and we will need to make fewer mistakes tomorrow in order to leave Fayetteville with a win."

The Crimson Tide entered the bottom of the sixth with a 3-2 lead, but a four-run home half of the inning put Arkansas in front for good. The Razorback sixth featured four runs on three hits and four walks to give the Hogs a three-run lead. The two teams would exchange single tallies before night's end to close things out at 7-4 in favor of Arkansas.

Razorback reliever Evan Lee (4-2) picked up his fourth win of the season thanks 2.0 scoreless frames, while Crimson Tide reliever Brock Guffey (1-2) suffered the loss, with the freshman allowing four runs in 1.0 inning of work. On offense, Alabama was led by multi-hit efforts from junior Cobie Vance and freshman Sam Praytor . Each finished with two hits, including a solo home run, to go with one RBI and one run scored.

Both teams got on the board with one run in the first inning. The Crimson Tide began the game with a leadoff home run from Vance, the first home run to start a game by a member of the Tide since 2014. Arkansas followed with a run of its own, using a two-out walk and an errant throw on a pickoff to put a man in scoring position. The Hogs then crossed the man from second on an RBI-single to left, making it a 1-1 contest after an inning of play.

After the first, the game went scoreless until the bottom of the fifth when Arkansas took its first lead of the day. A pair of back-to-back singles to start the inning followed by a flyout to right moved a runner to third. One batter later, a sacrifice fly to center scored the go-ahead run for the Hogs, giving them the 2-1 lead.

Alabama retook the lead in the sixth, plating a pair on consecutive solo home runs to start the inning. Praytor led off with a laser to left-center to even things up before junior Joe Breaux followed with a shot to right to make it a 3-2 game in favor of the Crimson Tide.

Arkansas answered right back with a four-spot in the bottom of the sixth to pull out front at 6-3. The Razorbacks used three hits and four walks to plate the four runs and take the decisive lead. A solo home run to start the seventh then added one more to the Hogs' lead for a 7-3 advantage through seven full.

The Tide answered with one run in the eighth to make things interesting. With two down, Breaux drew a walk to give Alabama a baserunner before a single through the right side from junior Matt Malkin put two aboard and forced an Arkansas pitching change. Following the move on the mound, junior Keith Holcombe greeted the new arm with an RBI-single to left to cut the Razorback advantage to three, but a strikeout in the next at-bat killed the rally with the tying run at the plate.

Alabama reached the leadoff man in the ninth on a walk, but a double play and a strikeout ended things in favor of the Razorbacks, giving them the Saturday night win and the series victory.

The two teams return to the diamond on Sunday afternoon to wrap up the series with a 1 p.m. CT first pitch at Baum Stadium. Alabama will send redshirt freshman Garret Rukes , a left-hander, to the mound, while Arkansas will counter with righty Isaiah Campbell, a redshirt sophomore. The game can be seen live on SEC Network+.

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