Alabama Baseball 2016 G42 Samford

Alabama was swept by South Carolina this weekend.

(file photo)

Momentum won't be a luxury for Alabama entering the SEC tournament.

The Crimson Tide were swept by No. 10 South Carolina with a 9-7 loss Sunday in Sewell-Thomas Stadium. A week after taking all three at Arkansas, Alabama stumbled into Hoover.

Either way, Alabama's SEC tournament matchup was already set. It will meet Kentucky at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in Hoover. The Tide's Sunday result only meant the difference between the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds.

The opening round is single elimination. Should Alabama advance, it will face the No. 1 seed at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Alabama (31-24, 15-15) fell behind early, but took a 4-3 edge with a big third inning. Chandler Taylor's two-run homer to left followed Georgie Salem's two-run double.

"Today was much like the series," Alabama coach Mitch Gaspard said. "Every time we'd make a little run at them, they held us from taking the lead. We had a short-lived lead today, but they just continued to respond."

The Gamecocks (42-13, 20-9) snatched the lead back with one run in the fourth and two more in the fifth. Th visitors had 16 hits against the five Alabama pitchers.

Dylan Duarte (2-3) got the loss in one inning of relief for starter Jon Keller.

Salem and designated hitter Keith Holcombe each had three hits in the loss.

"I was lucky enough to have good ABs," Holcombe said. "At lead-off, my job is to get on and score and I'm doing whatever I can to help out the team."

Alabama was 49th in the most recent RPI ratings entering the conference tournaments. Gaspard feels good about the Tide's standing for an NCAA regional appearance right now given its 15-15 SEC mark and quality wins against LSU and Ole Miss.

"There's been a few scenarios where that hasn't happened," he said. "I would certainly feel a lot better if we can grab that win Tuesday. But, from the folks I've visited with, most people feel pretty comfortable that we would get in at this point."

This story will be updated.