Alabama baseball got its second series sweep of the season this weekend, beating the University of North Florida Ospreys in all three games. The Crimson Tide now sits at 14-3.
Game 1: Alabama 7, North Florida 2
Outfielder Chase Kroberger was first to get the Crimson Tide on the board in the second inning. Kroberger grounded out to the shortstop, but infielder Justin Osterhouse scored from third to make it 1-0.
Alabama got two more runs in the second inning. A sac bunt by third baseman Jason Torres made it 2-0, and then an RBI single from outfielder Peyton Steele made it 3-0.
However, North Florida didn’t give up. A two-run homer in the fifth from outfielder Gialdri Gomez made it 3-2. Alabama answered quickly, with a Steele triple driving in two more runs to make it 5-2.
The Crimson Tide then added some insurance runs in the seventh, with Osterhouse hitting a two-run homer of his own to make it 7-2.
Head coach Rob Vaughn said he believed it was Alabama’s best game of the season so far.
Right hander Tyler Fay had quite the day as the starter. He lasted 7.0 innings, allowing only four hits, two earned runs and had 11 strikeouts. Lefty Evan Steckmesser came in for relief for the final 2.0 innings, allowing only one walk.
“It felt really good,” Fay said. “It was the first game where I had everything working. The slider has been kind of hit or miss. So having that to get ahead and put away people was really good.”
Fay’s 11 strikeouts and 7.0 innings pitched are also the highest he’s had in a game in his career.
Game 2: Alabama 9, North Florida 3
The Ospreys struck early in the top half of the first inning on a two-out RBI single from shortstop Boone Hosey to give them a 1-0 advantage.
The Crimson Tide responded with six runs of its own in the bottom half of the innings, thanks to a throwing error from Hosey that allowed shortstop Justin Lebron to score. Followed by a two-run double from catcher John Lemm to give the Crimson Tide a 3-1 lead.
A couple of batters later, catcher Luke Vaughn plated another run on an RBI groundout, then outfielder Bryce Fowler, in his second at bat of the inning, ripped a two-run double down the third base line, making it a 6-1 ballgame.
The Ospreys cut the Crimson Tides’ lead to 6-2 in the top of the fourth inning via an RBI single from infielder Drew Buchanan. The Crimson Tide got that run right back in the bottom half of the frame thanks to an RBI single from Fowler, making it 7-2.
Austin Morris came in relief for Zane Adams in the top of the sixth inning and really struggled with his command, throwing seven straight balls before allowing a single and hitting a batter to load the bases. Sam Mitchell took over for Morris on the mound and plunked Santiago Ordonez on the first pitch of his outing to bring across a run, cutting the Crimson Tide’s lead to 7-3.
Adams tossed five innings, allowing two runs, surrendering five hits, walking two batters and striking out four on 89 pitches. His ERA is now 3.48 on the season.
“I actually challenged Zane a little bit after the game,” Rob Vaughn said. “I thought Zane was fine. He threw the ball fine; he got the win. There’s just more in there. I told him I wanted a little more killer instinct out of him.”
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Crimson Tide played small ball, tacking on two more runs via an RBI sac bunt from Osterhouse. Then a few batters later, Fowler laid down a perfectly placed RBI bunt single, making it 9-3.
Freshman Luke Smyers was called upon to take over for Mitchell in the top half of the eighth and notched a pair of strikeouts, putting together a scoreless inning. Smyers handed the ball off to righty Anthony Pesci for the ninth, and he picked up the final three outs to give the Crimson Tide a 9-3 victory.
Game 3: Alabama 12, North Florida 2 (F/7)
Alabama completed the sweep over North Florida with a 12-2 victory in Game 3. It was the fourth time this season the Crimson Tide has won via the run rule.
Alabama was able to score a run in both the first and second innings, mostly due to the six walks the team had. An Andrew Purdy hit-by-pitch and a sac fly from Neal made it 2-0.
North Florida got one back in the third, with a solo homer from utilityman Seth Alford cutting the lead to one. Alabama then poured it on in the fourth inning, with a grand slam from Neal and an Osterhouse RBI single made it 7-1.
The runs kept coming for Alabama. In the fifth inning, Torres drove in three runs with a double and a two-run homer from Fowler in the sixth made it 12-1.
The Ospreys were able to get one back in the seventh, but it was too late by then, and Alabama hung on to win.
Myles Upchurch got the start on the mound for the Crimson Tide on Sunday and he delivered. He finished with 6.0 innings pitched, four hits, two earned runs and 11 strikeouts, the most he’s had in a game all season. Ashton Crowther came in for the final inning and only allowed one hit.
“It was pretty rare for you to have every pitch working in the outing, but today I did and it was pretty fun,” Upchurch said.
Alabama’s next opponent will be on Tuesday against Troy at 6 p.m. CT. It will be the team’s last game before it opens up SEC play against Kentucky.
“I just want to see how we handle what’s coming,” Vaughn said. “Like how do we handle that? It’s going to be a test to see. How can we handle taking a punch?”
