When Alabama baseball’s Opening Day starting lineup was announced, it featured six transfer additions from this past offseason.
Right out of the gate, those six additions have made an impact and have been crucial to the Crimson Tide’s hot 9-0 start to the season, helping the team score double-digit runs in eight of the first nine games and average 12.4 runs in that stretch.
In the Opening Day win over Bradley, every transfer addition got at least one hit and accounted for nine out of the 11 hits in the game.
“It was just the consistency of their at bats that was great,” head coach Rob Vaughn said. “The strength of this team is the depth we have, and that’s just what I like about these new pups.”
The Bradley series overall saw great play from the new additions, and Miami transfer Jason Torres, Jacksonville State transfer Brennan Norton and Samford transfer Garrett Staton all slugged their first homers as members of the Crimson Tide. All six of the additions batted at least .333 in the series.
One newcomer who has adjusted to his environment particularly well has been Norton, as he is batting .391 with two homers and a 1.133 OPS in the team’s first seven games of the season. He also earned some praise from Vaughn in the game against Middle Tennessee State for coming into the game and going 2/4 after Staton suffered an injury.
“Brennan is just so mature. He’s a great teammate and he’s a great human,” Vaughn said. “He wanted to play, but he didn’t want to play that way. But he did, and he was ready and played really well for us.”
Another notably high-performing transfer addition has been Pearl River Community College transfer Bryce Fowler, who has served as the team’s leadoff hitter in every game so far. He has hit .370 with a 1.047 OPS and a team-high 12 RBIs.
Wabash Valley College transfer Richie Bonomolo Jr. has also been a critical piece. He bats at the bottom of the lineup in the nine-hole but has hit very well, with a .304 average and a .891 OPS, helping turn the lineup back over to Fowler effectively. The two stood out against Alabama State when they combined for 10 RBIs in the 15-2 win.
“I hate saying it’s what we expect, but it’s really just what we expect out of them,” Vaughn said. “They’ve been great since they’ve stepped on campus. The people they are, the way they go about their business, it’s exactly what we want here at Alabama.”
Even with Staton slated to miss time due to his broken finger, most of the damage this Alabama offense causes will likely come from the new kids on the block.
Alabama will next step on the diamond on Friday in Tuscaloosa, facing off against North Dakota State at 4 p.m. CT. The game can be watched with SEC Network+.
