Alabama Baseball Sweeps Florida
· Yahoo Sports
The Alabama Crimson Tide was on a four game losing streak entering this weekends series with 18th ranked Florida. The Tide was scuffling defensively, offensively, and on the mound. That all turned around this weekend. Bama rode a no-hitter by Tyler Fay and a very good outing from Zane Adams to take the first two games of the series by scores of 6-o and 8-4 and used a comeback to defeat the Gators 14-7 in the finale. Alabama improved to 18-7 overall and 3-3 in league play while Florida fell to 19-6 and 3-3. The teams were on the other end of sweeps last weekend.
Game One-Won 6-0
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Redshirt-junior right hander Tyler Fay took things into his own hands on Friday night. A former walk-on, Fay has morphed into a legitimate SEC weekend starter with high draft potential. Fay threw the first 9 inning, solo, no hitter for Alabama since Eddie Owcar tossed a gem in 1942. The Gators pitched Liam Peterson, considered by most to be the best pitcher on the SEC and a surefire high first round draft pick. The Tide was able to run Peterson from the game after five innings, totaling nine hits and six runs off the ace.
Fay set the tune early, retiring the Gators in order on 11 pitches with one strikeout in the top of the first. The Tide got a lead off single from Bryce Fowler and a single from Brady Neal in the bottom half but a caught stealing, a strikeout, and a ground out kept Bama off the board. Fay walked Cash Strayer with one out in the 2nd, one of only two base runners for the Gators, but again kept UF hitless and scoreless.
The Tide got the only runs they would need in the bottom half of the second. Johnny Lemm led off with a single and moved to third on a double by Will Plattner. Justin Osterhouse lined a single to plate Lemm and Luke Vaughn put down a squeeze bunt to score Plattner for a 2-0 lead. The 3rd inning had Fay strike out two and enduce a fly ball and the Tide didn’t generate anything in the bottom half.
Fay reved things up in the top of the 4th inning, striking out the side on 14 pitches. The Tide wrapped up the scoring in the game in the bottom of the fourth. Plattner led off with a walk and moved to third on a double by Osterhouse. Vaughn drove in a run on a ground out to third base, and Brennan Holt knocked in another with a single. Fowler doubled to bring in another and when the dust settled Bama had a 6-0 lead.
Fay got through the 5th, with a great play in the hole by shortstop Justin LeBron and a nice scoop by Vaughn at first base snuffed out the Gators best chance for a hit. After Bama went down in order in the bottom half, Fay walked Kyle Jones with two out in the top of the 6th, Florida’s second, and last, base runner of the night. Vaughn singled in the bottom off of Caden McDonald who had replaced Peterson. The safety by Vaughn was the last hit of the game.
Fay struck out two in the 7th, with his 100th pitch of the game clocking in at 95 miles per hour. The Tide had four base runners in the bottom of the 7th, without a hit, and could not score. Neal walked but the Jason Torres rapped into a double play. Lemm walked, Plattner reached on an error, and Osterhouse was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Vaughn popped out to end the threat.
Fay struck out two more to lead off the 8th, and recorded the third out on a long fly ball to Fowler in centerfield. Bama missed a chance to add to the lead in the bottom of the eighth. With two outs LeBron walked and stole second, Neal followed with a walk and the duo pulled off a double steal. Torres struck out to strand them in scoring position.
All that was left was for Fay to finish the no-hitter, and he did with flair. After two strikeouts, Fay’s 132 pitch of the night was a fly ball to Osterhouse in left field that was gathered in to finish the game. The stadium and team erupted in joy after the grab. Fay walked two and struck out 13 in his amazing performance.
Bama hit 10-31 in the game with six walks, two hit batters, three stolen bases, a sacrifice bunt, eight strikeouts, and nine left on base. Neal finished 2-3 with two walks and a stolen base, Fowler was 2-4 with a double, RBI, run, and a walk. Osterhouse had a 2-3 night with a double, RBI, HBP, and run. Fay improved to 4-2 with the win. Florida was 0-27 with two walks with 13 strikeouts and two left on base.
Game Two- Won 8-4
Junior left hander Zane Adams took the mound for the Tide against righty Aiden King for the Gators. King entered the game with a 0.00 ERA on the season. Bama made sure he didn’t leave the game with the same number.
Adams had a perfect first inning and the Tide scored in the bottom half. Justin LeBron walked with one out and a perfectly executed hit and run moved to third on a single by Brady Neal. Jason Torres put down a perfect squeeze bunt to score LeBron with the games first run. Florida catcher Karson Bowen finally broke the Gators hitless, scoreless streak, with a home run off of Adams to even the score at one each.
The Gators added a run in the 3rd on a walk and two singles. Adams picked Blake Cyr off of first base and got a pop put to shortstop to end the inning. Alabama took the lead back in the bottom half. Brennan Holt and Bryce Fowler opened the frame with walks, then executed a double steal to put both in scoring position. After a LeBron strikeout, Neal singled Holt home to tie the score. Torres again put down a squeeze bunt to drive in another run for a 3-2 lead.
Adams kept the Gators off the board in the 4th and 5th innings, allowing only two base runners on a single and an error. The Tide added one in the bottom for the 5th inning. Holt walked to begin the inning snd was forced out at second on a Fowler ground ball. Fowler stole second and scored on a single be Neal to make the score 4-2 in Bama’s favor. Adams was back out for the 6th and allowed a pop fly double to begin the inning, then beared down and got a ground out and two strikeouts to end his outing. The southpaw allowed five hits with one walk, six strikeouts, and two runs allowed. King was out after five for the Gators, allowing three hits with four walks, four strikeouts, and four runs. Jackson Barberi replaced King and had a scoreless 6th allowing only a walk and stolen base to Justin Osterhouse.
Matthew Heiberger replaced Adams for the Tide in the top of the 7th and had a quick inning on two fly outs and a ground out. Bama added to the lead in the bottom half. Fowler laced a one out double and trotted home in front of a big bomb of the bat of LeBron. The blast was Lebron’s 10th of the year and 40th of his Alabama career, joining former Bama great GW Keller as the only Tide players to ever have 40 career home runs and 40 career stolen bases.
Armed with the 6-2 lead, Heiberger was back out for the 8th inning. After walking the lead off man and hitting the next, Heiberger notched two strikeouts and got a line out to shortstop to stem the rally. Alabama added two more in the bottom of the inning. Luke Vaughn doubled with one out and scored on a double by Holt. Fowler walked and then pulled off a double steal with Holt. With first base open the Gators plunked LeBron to load the bases. Neal drove one in with a ground out and a line out to right by Torres ended the uprising.
Heiberger was back out for the 9th inning with a lead of 8-2. After allowing a lead off single a pop out was the first out. A potential game ending double play ball was booted at third by Torres. Sam Miller drew a walk to load the bases and chase Heiberger from the game in favor of Hagan Banks. Banks gave up a sacrifice fly to left to plate one run and a double to bring another home before a fly out ended the game with an 8-4 score.
Alabama hit 8-30 in the game with seven walks, a hit batter, seven strikeouts, six stolen bases, two sac bunts, two doubles, a home run, and left eight men on base. Neal was 3-5 with three RBI, Holt was 1-2 with a double, two walks, two runs, and a stolen base. LeBron was 1-3 with a walk, a hit by pitch, a home run, two RBI, and two runs scored. Fowler was 1-3 with two walks, three stolen bases, and three runs scored. Adams was the winning pitcher and improved to 4-1 on the season.
UF finished 7-34 at the plate with three walks, a hit batter, eight strikeouts, and left eight on base. King was the losing pitcher and fell to 3-2 on the year.
With the series in hand the Tide will comeback Sunday to try and complete the sweep behind freshman Myles Upchurch.
Game Three-Won 14-7
Alabama sent freshman right hander Myles Upchurch to the mound on Sunday to try and secure the sweep to face off with Florida’s right hander Cooper Walls. Upchurch struck out the first man he faced, but that was the only out he recorded. A walk, a single, and three more walks chased Upchurch from the game. Sam Mitchell was called in to try and limit the damage. Mitchell notched out two with a pop out but hit the next batter to drive in the third run of the inning but then recorded the third out. The Tide got a lead off single from Bryce Fowler and a one out walk t0 Brady Neal, but back to back strikeouts ended the Tide inning with a 3-0 deficit.
Mitchell held the Gators off the board in the 2nd and 3rd, allowing two hits and hit to another batter. A double play in the 3rd erased a Florida scoring chance. The Tide didn’t threaten in the 2nd or 3rd innings. Freshman left hander Luke Smyers replaced Mitchell to being the 4th inning. After walking the first two batters he faced on eight pitches, Smyers was replaced by another lefty, Ashton Crowther. The Gators added to their lead with a run on a sacrifice fly to make the lead 4-0.
The Tide got the first two batters on in the bottom of the inning with Jason Torres being hit by a pitch and a bloop single by Johnny Lemm. A double play and ground out kept Bama scoreless. Crowther had a 1-2-3 top of the 5th with a strikeout. Alabama finally got on the board in the bottom half. Brennan Holt drew a one out walk and with two outs Justin LeBron slugged his 11th home run of the season off the scoreboard in left field to cut the lead to 4-2. The blast was measured at 409 feet with a 106 miles per hour exit velocity and a 26.1 degree launch angle.
Crowther tossed a scoreless 6th with two strikeouts before the Tide finally took the lead in the bottom half of the inning. With one out Lemm lined his second single of the game and scored in front of Will Plattner’s first home run of the season to tie the game at four. Jason Osterhouse reached on catchers interference, but was caught stealing for the second out. Luke Vaughn walked and Holt followed with a single. Bryce Fowler walked to load the bases. With LeBron at the plate a wild pitch allowed Vaughn to score to put the Tide ahead 5-4. With first base open LeBron was hit by a pitch for the third time in the series, almost causing a brouhaha. Brady Neal then hit the next pitch the opposite way over the left field fence for a grand slam home run and a 9-4 Bama lead. There were more fireworks during the home run trot and Gator third baseman Sam Miller was tossed from the game after confronting LeBron.
Crowther was back for the 7th and the Gators finally got to him. After a strikeout Crowther walked Ethan Suroweic and allowed a line drive home run to Blake Cyr to make the score 9-6. Bobby Alcock replaced Crowther and allowed one more run after a walk and two singles. Alcock ended the inning with a strikeout and the score 9-7 in Alabama’s favor. In the bottom half of the 7th the Tide piled on, scoring five more runs. Plattner, Osterhouse, Vaughn, and Holt all were walked in order driving in a run. Fowler singled off the top of the left field wall, just missing a grand slam, to score one run. After LeBron flied out Neal ripped a double to clear the bases and give the Tide a comfortable 14-7 lead.
Hagan Banks pitched the 8th and 9th for the Tide and allowed only one base runner, on an error, and struck out one to end the chippy, contentious, game. Alabama swept Florida for the first time since 2002 and won the series for the first time since 2008.
The Tide hit 10-32 with nine walks, two hit batters, seven strikeouts, three home runs, a double, and left six on base. Neal finished 2-4 with seven RBI on his grand slam and double. Fowler was 2-4 with two runs, a walk, and one driven in, Lemm hit 2-5 with a run scored. LeBron drove in two with his home run, scored twice, drew a walk, and was hit by a pitch. Plattner was 1-4 with a walk and drove in two with his home run. Holt hit 1-1 with three walks, and scored three times. Crowther improved to 2-1 with the win.Florida hit 6-33 with eight walks, two hit batters, one double, one hit batter, and left 10 on base. Russell Sandefer was the losing pitcher and fell to o-1 on the season. Cyr drove in two with his home run.
In the series Alabama hit 28-93 for a .301 average, walked 22 times, were hit five times, hit four home runs, five doubles, stole nine bases, and left 23 men on base. Tide pitching held the Gators to a .138 average on 13-94 hitting. The Gators drew 13 walks, had three hit batters, struck out 29 times, had one home run and one double while leaving 20 men on base.
This was a much needed shot in the arm for the Tide. To bounce back from a four game losing streak and dominate a ranked team in all three games was huge for Bama. There was still sloppy play, the defense needs to shore up, but the pitching and hitting really stepped up in the series. Fay and Adams did what was needed going deep into the game- the whole game in Fay’s case- now Upchurch needs to regroup and get back in the groove and give the Tide some innings on a Sunday. Come Monday Tyler Fay should be SEC Pitcher of the Week and Brady Neal as a great case to be SEC Player of the Week.
Who Did What?
*Tyler Fay: W (4-2) No Hitter, 9 innings, no hit, 2 walks, 13 strikeouts, 0 runs
*Brady Neal 7-12, 3 walks, 10 RBI, 1 run, stolen base, double, grand slam home run (5)
*Bryce Fowler 5-11, 6 runs, 3 stolen bases. 4 walks, 2 RBI
*Brennan Holt 3-7, 6 runs, 5 walks, 2 stolen bases, double
*Justin LeBron 2-11, 2 home runs (11), 4 RBI, 3 HBP, walk, 2 stolen bases, 4 runs
*Zane Adams W (4-1) 6 innings pitched, five hits, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts, 2 runs
Next up is a trip to Huntsville to play Austin Peay on Tuesday night and then a home series with 5th ranked Auburn next weekend.
Roll Tide
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