Saturday’s Game: Alabama 7, LSU 4

It’s tough enough to sweep a Southeastern Conference weekend series. It gets doubly complicated when you can’t   throw strikes.

LSU struggled all Saturday night to find the zone, helping Alabama salvage the final game of the series with a 7-4 victory Saturday night.

LSU used eight pitchers, who combined to walk 10 Tide batters and hit two others — a dozen free base runners.

So the Tigers, who rallied to win the series’ first two games 11-6 on Thursday and 4-3 on Friday, dropped to 34-7, 12-6 SEC, and had their 20-game home winning streak snapped.

“They’ve improved,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said of his pitching. “It’s just the (pitch) command is the last piece for those guys really having a chance in their careers.”

Yeah, there was that.

Four of Alabama’s runs originally reached base on walks, one unearned after a wild pitch. Another scored, unearned, after Chase Shores’ wild throw to first on Kade Snell’s two-out dribbler put Snell all the way to third where he then scored on Brady Neal’s single.

It could have been worse. The Tide (31-10, 9-9) stranded 14 base runners.

LSU’s offense wasn’t much help while going 2-for-11 with runners on base, 0-for-6 with them in scoring position.

The Tigers managed only Jared Jones’ solo home run in the third until Sulphur’s Jake Brown came off the bench for a pinch-hit, 2-run homer in the sixth tpo close the gap to 5-3.

Brown also had an RBI triple with no outs in the ninth to go 2-for-2 with three RBIs. But he was stranded at third when Tide star closer Carson Omar retired the next three for his 13th save.

“We didn’t get good at-bats … at the times we needed one,” Johnson said.

Both teams made pitching adjustments for the series finale.

Alabama’s Zane Adams (5-2) had been the Tide’s weekend opening starter, but was moved back in the rotation after being roughed up in his last two outings.

He gave Bama five strong innings, holding LSU to one run on four hits.

Conner Ware made his first SEC start for the Tigers, the first time this season that Shores didn’t start the third weekend game.

Ware got through the first two innings scoreless, but was lifted — replaced by Shores — when he gave up a single to open the third.

Shores got a line out before issuing a walk, followed by Richie Bonomolo’s 3-run homer that put the Tide up for good.

Shores lasted 2 2/3 innings before he was lifted in the fifth after giving up four runs on four hits and two walks.

Four more relievers — DJ Primeaux, Mavrick Rizy, Cooper Williams and William Schmidt combined to keep the Tide scoreless until the ninth.

“We need those guys,” Johnson said. “I thought there were some good steps. Cooper Williams and DJ were awesome tonight.”

But Schmidt, who came on to get the final two outs in the eighth with two runners aboard, promptly walked the first two he faced in the ninth.

That brought on Noot, who got the inning’s first out before a single loaded the bases.

The Tide got a run on a sacrifice fly then another walk reloaded the bases.

Jacob Mayers relieved Noot,  but forced in Bama’s final run, perhaps fittingly, on a bases-loaded walk.