No. 8 Alabama was swept by No. 22 Arkansas over the weekend to put an end to its red-hot stretch of baseball.
Game 1: Arkansas 7, Alabama 5
The Crimson Tide was in command early but couldn’t hold on as the Razorbacks picked up a 7-5 victory.
Freshman designated hitter Tuscaloosa native Eric Hines got the scoring started for the Crimson Tide, crushing a solo homer over the scoreboard in left, his third of the year to give them a 1-0 advantage.
The Razorbacks knotted the ballgame up at 1-1 in the top of the fifth thanks to an RBI double from shortstop Camden Kozeal. The go-ahead run tried coming around to score, but center fielder Bryce Fowler and shortstop Justin Lebron teamed up to execute a perfect relay and cut down the runner.
Crimson Tide right fielder Brady Neal led off the bottom of the sixth with a solo home run to left center, to give them a 2-1 lead.
Lefty Matthew Heiberger took over for the Crimson Tide starting pitcher, Tyler Fay, on the mound and put together a scoreless frame. Fay threw six innings, allowing one run, surrendering four hits, walking two, and striking out four on 98 pitches.
In the bottom half of the seventh, the Crimson Tide tacked on a huge insurance run thanks to an RBI fielder’s choice from Fowler, making it 3-1.
Kozeal led off the top of the eighth with a solo home run, cutting the Crimson Tide’s lead to just one run. A few batters later, right fielder Zack Stewart delivered an RBI single to knot the ballgame up at 3-3.
Righty Hagan Banks replaced Heiberger with two runners in scoring position and two outs in the eighth. It looked like Banks induced a groundout to end the inning, but Lebron bobbled a routine groundball then made a bad throw to first, allowing two runs to score and giving the Razorbacks a 5-3 lead.
The next batter, third baseman TJ Pompey, demolished a two-run shot that literally broke the scoreboard in left field to extend the lead to 7-3. Left-hander Evan Steckmesser came in relief for Banks and picked up the final out of the eighth.
The Crimson Tide showed some fight in the bottom of the ninth. Neal picked up a two-run single, cutting the deficit to two runs, putting the tying run in the batter’s box with nobody out. However, the next three Crimson Tide hitters were all retired to end game one 7-5.
“Our boys didn’t stop believing,” head coach Rob Vaughn said. “They just kept showing up, kept having tough of bats, just came up probably a swing short.”
Game 2: Arkansas 15, Alabama 6
The Razorbacks dismantled the Crimson Tide 15-6 to take the series.
In the bottom of the first inning, Lebron stole second and third, then came around to score on a wild throw from Razorbacks catcher Ryder Helfrick, giving the Crimson Tide a 1-0 lead.
The Razorbacks tied the ballgame up in the third inning thanks to an RBI fielder’s choice from center fielder Maika Niu.
The Crimson Tide retook the lead in the bottom half of the frame via an RBI knock from Lebron, making it 2-1.
The bottom of the Crimson Tide lineup generated a little two-out rally in the fourth inning as left fielder Chase Kroberger laid down a perfect bunt, and first baseman Luke Vaughn worked a walk. Then the number nine hitter, second baseman Brennan Holt, delivered an RBI single, extending the Crimson Tide’s lead to 3-1.
The Razorbacks took a 4-3 lead in the top of the fifth on an RBI single from right fielder Carter Rutenbar, a wild throw into the outfield from Crimson Tide catcher John Lemm trying to cut down a runner stealing and a sacrifice fly from Helfrick.
The Crimson Tide knotted things up at 4-4 in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a sacrifice fly from Fowler.
Sam Mitchell replaced Zane Adams on the mound in the seventh and gave the Razorbacks the lead right back on an RBI groundout from Helfrick, making it 5-4. Adams tossed six innings, surrendering five hits, four runs, three earned runs, walking two and striking out four on 104 pitches.
In the eighth inning, things started to unravel for the Crimson Tide. Damian Ruiz delivered an RBI single. Freshman left-hander Luke Smyer replaced Mitchell and allowed a sacrifice fly to Nolan Souza. Austin Morris came in relief for Smyers and allowed Pompey to deliver the knockout punch, crushing a three-run homer, making it a 10-4 Razorbacks lead.
Holt made it a 10-5 game in the bottom half of the inning via an RBI fielder’s choice.
The Razorbacks tacked on five more runs in the ninth. Designated hitter Kuhio Aloy and Pompey both picked up RBI singles, and Souza had a two-run single, plus an RBI fielder’s choice from right fielder Christian Turner, making it 15-5.
“Very reminiscent of yesterday,” Vaughn said. “Seven really good innings of back-and-forth, tough baseball and in the eighth inning it just kind of got away from us. You give up back-to-back five spots and 11 runs in the last three innings, you’re going to lose. You have to credit Arkansas; they swung the bats really well late.”
In the bottom of the ninth, freshman third baseman Caleb Barnett pinch-hit for Jason Torres and recorded his first collegiate hit in the form of an RBI single, making it 15-6, which ended up being the final score.
Game 3: Arkansas 3, Alabama 2
The Crimson Tide struck first thanks to an RBI single from freshman first baseman Andrew Purdy, making it 1-0.
The Crimson Tide extended its lead to 2-0 in the third inning thanks to an RBI double from Lebron.
The Razorbacks cut the lead to 2-1 in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly from Niu.
Myles Upchurch, the Crimson Tide starting pitcher, allowed a leadoff double and walked the next batter to set the Razorbacks up with two runners on and nobody out in the seventh. Left-hander Ashton Crowther replaced Upchurch and allowed an RBI single to Souza to tie the game up.
Upchurch threw six innings, allowing two runs, four hits, walking a batter and striking out six on 90 pitches.
“I think that’s Myle’s best start of the year,” Vaughn said. “Just efficient, mix, everything working, and when he comes out and does that, we got to take advantage of that offensively and get him a win there, we just weren’t able to do it.”
In the bottom of the frame, Neal led off with a single to right, Lebron followed with a double down the third base line to set the Crimson Tide up to retake the lead. However, Vaughn and Hines punched out, Justin Osterhouse flew out as the Crimson Tide could not cash in.
It looked like Crowther had picked off a runner for the final out of the top of the eight but Vaughn bobbled, allowing the go-ahead run to move into scoring position. A couple of pitches later, Kozeal delivered a back-breaking two-run double to give the Razorbacks a 3-2 lead.
The Crimson Tide went down in order in the bottom of the ninth to end the ballgame and give the Razorbacks the sweep.
The Crimson Tide will be back in action Tuesday in Birmingham against the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The first pitch is slated for 6 p.m. CT on ESPN+.
