The 12th ranked Alabama Crimson Tide baseball team hosted the number one ranked Tennessee Volunteers in a three game series played Thursday-Saturday at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The Tide lost the series by winning game one, but dropping the next two. The 2024 Bama team was the only team to beat UT in a series as the Volunteers went on the win the College World Series.
Game One- Won 6-5
Despite a slow start the Tide came back and then held on to take the 6-5 victory in Thursday’s opening game. Sophomore left-hander Zane Adams took the hill for Alabama, facing off with Vol left-hander Liam Doyle. Doyle is an Ole Miss transfer who entered the game with an undefeated record and a 0.72 ERA.
Adams got into trouble with two outs in the top of the first. A walk and a two run home run by another Ole Miss transfer, Andrew Fischer, staked UT to the early 2-0 lead. The Tide could only muster a walk to Coleman Mizell in their half inning. In the top of the fifth a pair of errors by third baseman Jason Torres and a wild pitch added a third run to the visitors total.
All season the second inning has been huge for the Tide. Tonight was no different as Bama used two hits, two walks, two hit batters, and an error to plate five runs. Will Hodo led off with a single and moved up when Brennen Norton was hit by a pitch. Kade Snell reached on an error to load the bases. Will Plattner and Richie Bonomolo, Jr both drove in runs with bases loaded walks. After a strikeout for out one, All American Justin LeBron cleared the bases with a ringing double in the left centerfield gap. With two outs Torres reached on a hit by pitch but a fly out ended the frame with the 5-3 Alabama lead.
Adams tossed a scoreless top of the third and the Tide added their final run of the game in the bottom half. Snell reached on a single and raced to third on a double by Plattner. Bonomolo grounded out to drive in Snell for the 6-3 lead.
The Vol’s were held at bay by Adams through the fourth, fifth, and sixth, innings. Bama had a threat in the bottom of the fourth after one out singles by Snell and Plattner, but could not push a run across.
Tennessee was able to chase Adams from the game in the top of the seventh after an infield single and a one out single to center by Dean Corley. Adams left having pitched 6.1 innings, allowing six hits, five runs with four earned, one walk, and six strikeouts on 95 pitches. Matthew Heiberger replaced Adams and had an adventure. Jay Abernathy hit a dribbler in front of the plate the Heiberger fielded but slipped before he could make a play. Hunter Ensley then lined a pitch off of Heibergers leg that drove in a run. A sacrifice fly by Fischer plated another and the score was 6-5 in the Tides favor.
Dylan Loy replaced Doyle in the seventh inning for the Vol’s and made quick work of the Tide. In the top of the eighth Heiberger hit the first batter he faced and walked the second. A line drive snared by LeBron turned into a double play. With the tying run on second and two outs, Tide closer Carson Ozmer was called in. A quick strikeout of Cannon Peebles ended the inning with the score intact at 6-5. Loy retired Bama in the bottom half, leading to the ninth.
Ozmer retired the first man on a ground out, then Abernathy reached on another infield single. Trying to get into scoring position, Abernathy took off attempting to steal second base. A perfect throw by Plattner and a great tag by Norton retired the speedster for the second out. Ozmer then got a fly ball to right field off the bat of Ensley which was easily hauled in by Bryce Fowler to end the game with the 6-5 Alabama victory.
Bama hit 6-31 in the game with four walks, two hit batters, and seven men left on base. Plattner hit 2-3 with a walk, a double, a run scored, and one driven in. Snell kept his torrid streak going with a 2-4 night with two runs scored. LeBron was 1-4 but drove in three with his double. Hodo had the other hit and scored once. Adams was the winning to move to 4-0 on the season. Ozmer earned his 6th save of the year.
Tennessee finished 9-35 at the plate, drew two walks, had one hit batter, struck out seven times, and left seven men on base. Abernathy had three of the nine hits in five turns at bat. Ensley was 2-4 with a walk and Fischer drove in three with hit eighth home run and a sacrifice fly. Doyle suffered the loss and fell to 3-1 on the season.
Game Two- Lost 10-7
Friday’s game two was a pitching matchup of Alabama’s Riley Quick and Tennessee’s Marcus Phillips. Quick struggled for the first time since coming back from last seasons Tommy John surgery, and it was later learned he was suffering from a blood blister on the middle finger of his right hand. The big right hander was not able to spin his curve ball as normal, and the Vol’s took advantage.
For the second straight day the Tide fell behind in the first inning, this time by a quick 3-0 deficit. Dean Curley led off the game with a single and moved to second on a walk to Jay Abernathy. A Hunter Ensley single plated the first run and Andrew Fischer singled in the second. Reese Chapman hit a ground ball to shortstop that scored the third run. Chapman was then cut down trying to steal by Alabama catcher Will Plattner. The Tide went down in order in the first and UT added two more runs in the top of the second. Manny Marin lined a one out single and moved to third when the ball was misplayed in left field. Curley walked with two outs and Abernathy singled to score Marin. Ensley singled in Curley and the lead had swollen to 5-0 after an inning and a half.
The Tide got their first base runner in the bottom of the second when Brennen Norton was hit by a pitch, but could do no further damage. Quick was replaced by JT Blackwood to start the third inning and sandwiched two strikeouts around a walk to hold Tennessee scoreless in the frame. Alabama finally pulled closer in the bottom of the third. Will Plattner singled to lead off the inning and moved to third on a single by Richie Bonomolo, Jr. When Bonomolo stole second base the throw sailed over second base, but was corralled by Marin behind the bag. Marin tried to catch Plattner off of third base and threw the ball away, allowing a run to score and landing Bonomolo on third base. A Bryce Fowler ground out brought the Tide’s second run of the inning home.
Blackwood tossed another scoreless inning in the top of the fourth, allowing only a two out single. The Tide got a walk to Will Hood and a single by Kade Snell in the fourth, but were unable to cross the plate. Austin Morris took over on the mound for Bama in the fifth, and needed only 10 pitches to record two strikeouts and a fly to to right field. The Tide drew closer in the bottom half of the inning. Bonomolo led off and was hit by a pitch. A wild pitch advanced the speedy centerfielder to second base. A ground out by Fowler moved Bonomolo to third where he scored on a single by Justin LeBron. LeBron stole second and moved to third when the throw sailed into center field. Coleman Mizell was fanned for the second out before Jason Torres and Hodo both walked to load the bases. Dylan Loy replaced Phillips after the walk to Torres. A strikeout of Norton stranded the bases loaded for the Tide.
Morris had another quick inning with two more strikeouts in the top of the sixth. The Tide got a single by Snell in the bottom half but nothing more. Morris was replaced by Tyler Fay to begin the seventh inning. Fay retired the first two batters before a walk and a double added to the Volunteer lead. A strikeout ended the inning with the score 6-3 in favor of the visitors. Bama was able to cut the margin to 6-4 in the bottom of the inning. LeBron led off with a single and stole second base. A single by Jason Torres pushed LeBron across the plate to cut into the Vol lead. A double play ended the inning without further scoring.
The top of the eighth proved disastrous for the Crimson Tide. Fay struck out the first two batters of the inning but couldn’t close it out. After getting ahead of Ariel Antigua 0-2 Fay allowed a single. Curley was next up and smashed a 2-2 pitch for a home run, chasing Fay in favor of Beau Bryans. Bryans walked the first batter he faced, hit the second, and walked the third, brining Connor Ball out of the pen. Ball allowed a two run single to Dalton Bargo before striking out Reese Chapman to end the bleeding after four runs had scored to make the score 10-4 in UT’s favor.
Alabama had a chance in the eighth, but ran themselves out of a potential big inning. After two quick outs, Plattner reached after being hit by a pitch. A single by Bonomolo moved Plattner to third base. Fowler single to score a Plattner and the Tide was set up with two speedy runners on base and the nations leader in runs batter in, LeBron, coming to the plate. The two baserunners took off for a double steal opportunity. Bonomolo was easily safe at third, but Fowler was cut down at second to end the threat, taking the bat out of LeBron’s hands.
Packy Bradley-Cooney began the ninth and retired the first two batters before walking the next two. Little used freshman Jack Ketchum was called in and induced a ground out to end the inning. The Tide gallantly tried to get back in the game in the bottom of the ninth, and did, in fact, have the tying run at the plate as the game ended. With one out Mizell lined his fourth home run of the season into the right field plaza. Torres walked and Hodo singled him to third. Norton lined a single up the middle to score Torres and push Nate Snead from the game. Left-hander Andrew Behnke faced one batter, Snell. Snell hit a frozen rope to left field, but right at Abernathy for out two. Tennessee coach Vitello then called in closer Tanner Franklin who struck out Plattner with a trio of 98 mile per hour fastballs. The Tide battled to the end, but fell 10-7 to the nations best team.
Alabama hit 12-37 in the game with four walks, two hit batters, seven strikeouts, and 10 men left on base. The Tide stole four bases and their only extra base hit was Mizell’s home run. LeBron, Snell, and Bonomolo all had two hits each. Fowler drove in two, and Plattner and Bonomolo both scored twice. Quick was the loser with his short two inning stint and fell to 4-1 on the year. Blackwood and Morris kept the Tide in the game with their combined four innings of one hit, scoreless innings.
The Vol’s hit 11-37 in the game, had nine walks, one hit batter, 14 strikeouts, one double, one home run, four stolen bases, and left 10 men on base. Ensley had three hits and two driven in while Curley and Bargo both had two safeties. Bargo entered the game late as a pinch hitter and had a double with three RBI. Loy, who only faced two batters and recorded one out, was awarded the win and is 4-0 now, Franklin earned his second save.
Game Three- Lost 9-2
The Tide sent Bobby Alcock out to start the rubber game of the series. Alcock fresh off being named Co-SEC pitcher of the week for his start against Texas A&M last Sunday in College Station. Alcock tossed seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits, walking two, and striking out eight. Saturday’s game did not go as well. Tennessee countered with freshman right hander Tegan Kuhns.
Dean Curley led off he game with a single but was quickly erased on a double play started by Alabama shortstop Justin LeBron. Hunter Ensley followed with a single but was stranded after a ground out. Tennessee freshman Tegan Kuhns started for the Vol’s and quickly put the Tide down in order with a fly out and two strikeouts.
Dalton Bargo, a Missiouri transfer, led off the top of the second with a booming triple for the Vol’s. A sacrifice fly by Reese Chapman scored the games first run. Kuhns mowed down Bama in order in the second, notching one more strikeouts.
Fireworks happened in the top of the third. Ensley struck out to lead off the inning. Alcock got ahead of Andrew Fischer 0-2 before the shenanigans began. Fischer was granted a timeout, which he stretched past the limit- he returned to the box long after the clock ran out- and after another delay blasted a long home run on a 2-2 pitch for a 2-0 lead. Bargo fouled a two strike pitch which Bama catcher Will Plattner claimed to have caught, but the umpire disagreed. Alabama coach Rob Vaughn came out to question the call and things got heated, having more to do with the previous hitter than Bargo. Once Vaughn got his two cents in, he turned to walk away, though better of it, and returned again. That move led to an ejection from the game for the second year skipper. Bargo crushed a mammoth home run for a 3-0 lead. Pitching coach-now acting head coach- Jason Jackson called in Matthew Heiberger to replace Alcock, and after allowing a double to the first man he faced, retired the next two hitters to end the inning.
Kuhns still had the Tides number, and after three innings still carried a perfect game. Heiberger allowed back to back singles to begin the top of the fourth. Jay Abernathy tried to sac bunt the runners into scoring position. After a perfect bunt Heiberger fielded the ball and threw it into right field, which allowed a runner to score. Jackson protested and asked for a review, which was the right call. Abernathy was called out for interference for running in the throwing lane. The Vol’s did get that run across on a wild pitch by Braylon Myers, who had replaced Heiberger on the mound.
In the bottom the fourth Bama finally reached base when Coleman Mizell walked with two outs. A fly ball ended the inning. Myers was back out in the fifth and allowed a lead off home run to Chapman. Headed to the bottom half the Tide finally chased Kuhns from the game, Will Hodo led off with a walk and when Kade Snell drilled a one out single, Vol coach pulled Kuhns in favor of Brayden Krenzel. Kuhns tossed 4.1 very impressive innings, allowing only one hit with two walks and five strikeouts. Krenzell got a strikeout and fly out to end the threat by Alabama.
Hagan Banks took the sixth inning for the Tide and pitched a scoreless inning with one walk and two strikeouts. Bama tried to get going in the bottom of the sixth. Bryce Fowler led off by driving a ball off of Krenzel on the mound. The ball ricocheted perfectly to the second baseman Manny Marin, who threw Fowler out at first. After a strikeout for the second out Mizell and Jason Torres had consecutive singles but another strikeout ended that uprising.
Aidan Moza took over on the mound in the top of the seventh and allowed a lead off single to Chapman. Two outs followed, but as happened all weekend, the Tide had trouble closing out the inning. Ariel Antigua singled in Chapman and Curley followed with a single, and when Abernathy walked Moza was pulled in favor of Coulson Buchanan. Ensley lined a ball to left field that Snell made a diving try for. The ball hit the ground and rolled to the fence for a three run double, Buchanan recored the third out, but the four runs pushed the Vol lead to 9-0 heading to the bottom of the seventh. Buchanan tossed a perfect eighth inning with two strikeouts.
The Tide finally scored in the bottom of the eighth. Richie Bonomolo, Jr lined a double down the left field line and moved to third on a ground out by Fowler. LeBron slashed a drive up the middle that hit Krenzel in the back side, but the pitcher was able to recover in time to record the out at first. Bonomolo scored on the play and LeBron had his 50th run driven in on the year, which leads the nation.
Aeden Finateri took the mound for Bama in the ninth and struck out the side after allowing a lead off double to Antigua. The Tide tried to mount a two out rally in the bottom half. After two quick outs Norton walked and Brandon Arvidson was called in to pitch,Snell singled and Ryan Combs replaced Arvidson and Plattner drove an RBI single up the middle. Vol coach Tony Vitello then called on his fourth pitcher of the inning, Tanner Franklin, who struck out Bonomolo to end the game. Three pitching changes were made after two outs in the ninth with a 9-1 lead.
Tennessee pitching held the Tide to 6-33 hitting in the game with three walks, 12 strikeouts, and seven men left on base. Snell hit 2-4, Plattner drove in a run and had one hit. LeBron drove in a run and Mizell, Torres, and Bonomolo had the other Bama hits. Alcock fell to 3-1 with loss and only lasted 2.1 innings. Alabama used seven pitchers and Banks, Buchanan, and Finateri, were the only one not to allow a run.
The Volunteers hit 15-40 in the game, drew six walks, had three home runs, a triple, four doubles, one hit batter, and left 12 men on base. Curley, Chapman, and Antigua all had three hits while Ensley and Bargo had two each. Krenzel was the winner with his 4.1 innings of relief and is 1-0 on the year.
For the series Alabama had 24 hits in 105 at bats for a .237 average with 11 walks, five hit batters, 30 strikeouts, 24 men left on base, four stolen bases, two doubles, and one home run. Tennessee hit 35 for 112 for a .312 average with 17 walks, two hit batters, 31 strikeouts, five home runs, three doubles, a triple, and left 29 men on base.
Who did what?
*Kade Snell 6-13, two runs
*Will Plattner 4-11, walk, HBP, three runs, two RBI, one runner caught stealing
*Richie Bonomolo, Jr 3-10, four runs, two RBI, walk, hit by pitch, two stolen base, double
*Justin LeBron 3-13, five RBI, double, two stolen bases, run
*Zane Adams W (4-0), 6.1 innings pitched, six hits, four earned runs, one walk, six strikeouts
*Carson Ozmer S (6) 1.1 innings pitched, one hit, one strikeouts, no runs
After making a statement in the first week of SEC play by going on the road to sweep preseason number one Texas A&M, optimism was running high in Tuscaloosa. The Tide had risen to #12 in the nation and had generated a ton of national exposure. Sewell-Thomas Stadium- “The Joe”- was rocking with three straight sell outs as almost 18,000 fans came through the gates over the three game series. Bama is a gutty, never give up, team that battled their way to victory on Thursday, had a chance for a classic comeback on Friday, but the never had a chance on Saturday.
The Volunteers were able to take the long ball away from the Tide, one of their best weapons. Vol hitters continually fouled off good pitches and took advantage of bad ones. Bama could not ever get in a rhythm from start to finish of any of the games. Tennessee is number one in the nation for a reason, and showed the resilience it takes to reach that goal.
The Tide needed more out of their starters to be able to manage the bullpen in the best way possible. When two of the three weren’t able to go beyond two innings that put extra stress on the bullpen arms and allowed the Vols to capitalize when mistakes were made. With a record of 22-3 and 4-2 in the SEC the Tide is in excellent shape and just need to clean a few things up going forward. Infielder Garrett Staton has recovered from surgery on his hand and should be worked back into the lineup soon.
Next up for Alabama is a trip to Toyota Field in Huntsville to play the North Alabama Lions on Tuesday. The game is at 6 p.m. Next weekend Alabama will welcome the highly ranked Oklahoma Sooners to Tuscaloosa for a Friday-Sunday series. The games will be at 6 p.m., noon, and 1 p.m. CT across the three days.
Roll Tide
Bama Baseball Fever, Catch it
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
