TUSCALOOSA | The University of Alabama baseball team didn’t solve all its problems on Saturday afternoon — but it did find a way to fight through them.

The Crimson Tide used some much-needed timely hitting, a gritty performance from starting pitcher Austin Graham and a flawless endgame by relief pitcher Josh Copeland to take its first Southeastern Conference win of the season, a 9-7 victory over No. 4 Vanderbilt.

The win snapped a six-game losing streak for the Crimson Tide. Graham survived two unearned runs in the first inning and worked into the eighth, throwing 139 pitches.

After Graham (2-1) allowed a two-run home run to Vanderbilt’s David Macias, Copeland came on to record six straight outs for the save.

Copeland struck out the first four Commodore hitters he faced, then recorded the final two outs on ground balls.

“It’s good to get a win after two weeks of losing,” Graham said. “I was tired at the end, but we all kept on competing.”

Vanderbilt took advantage of two Alabama errors in the first inning, scoring twice without benefit of a hit.

“The coaches told us not to get down about it,” Graham said. “We kept our heads in the game.”

Alabama tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI single by Tyler Odle and an error by Commodore second baseman Alex Feinberg that allowed the tying run to score.



Dominic de la Osa’s RBI single gave the Commodores a 3-2 lead in the top of the third inning, but Alabama came back with two runs to take the lead in the bottom of the inning.

Tide first baseman Matt Bentley, who had struck out in his first five at-bats of the series, drove in both runs with a two-run double.

Alabama stretched its lead to 5-3 in the fourth inning on an RBI double by Ross Wilson.

The first of the two home runs by Commodore lead-off hitter David Macias, a solo shot, cut the Crimson Tide lead to 5-4 in the top of the sixth inning. Alabama responded with a solo home run by Jeff Texada in the bottom of the inning.

Two more Tide errors led to another unearned Commodore run in the top of the seventh inning, cutting the UA lead to 6-5. Alabama bounced back on a two-run single by pinch-hitter Ryan Rhoden, pushing the advantage back to 8-5.

Macias’ second home run cut the lead to 8-7 and knocked Graham from the game. But Copeland came on to quell the uprising and a solo home run by Jake Smith — who had replaced Texada in the top of the eighth — added a welcome insurance run.

“We didn’t play extraordinarily well, but we competed well,” said Tide head coach Jim Wells. “Graham struggled at times, but he has a lot of pitches he can throw and he was able to do that to work out of some horrific jams. Then Copeland came on and threw really well.”

Wells said he was undecided on a starter for today’s 2 p.m. contest.

Alabama is now 10-11 overall and 1-4 in the SEC. Vanderbilt is 14-5 overall and 3-2 in the league.

Reach Cecil Hurt at cecil.hurt@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0225.