TUSCALOOSA, Alabama -- Things were humming right along for Alabama on opening night.

An early run and lock-down pitching from Spencer Turnbull was the story when the rains came. And they stayed.

Then 1:41 later play resumed and the mojo was gone. St. Louis spoiled the Valentine's Day opener by handing Alabama a 2-1 loss at Thomas-Sewell Stadium.

The No. 21 Crimson Tide stranded nine runners, but its best shot at tying the score late falls into another category. A one-out single in the eighth inning from Kyle Overstreet brought Mikey Moore to the plate, but left fielder Michael Bozarth threw him out by a few feet.

"When you consider a wet ball and the conditions, the kid just threw an absolute strike to gun down Mikey at the plate," Alabama coach Mitch Gaspard said. "That was obviously the play of the game right there."

Gaspard was more troubled by the overall lack of production at the plate Friday night.

Alabama scored first before the rain delay. Ben Moore doubled down the right field line to score Georgie Salem from second in the third. Salem stole second to reach scoring position earlier in Moore's at bat.

That was it for the scoring as Alabama got seven hits, but just the one run.

"Offensively, I was expecting more," Gaspard said. "We had a couple of opportunities ... and we didn't really put enough quality at bats together to create more offense for ourselves throughout nine innings."

But St. Louis scored one in the fourth and another in the fifth to take the lead for good.

The delay more than frustrated Turnbull who allowed one hit in his three innings while striking out four.

"I was really in a groove in that third inning," he said. "I felt felt pretty good. I like the way things were going."

The 3-game series continues at 2:05 p.m. Saturday.