No. 16 Alabama baseball’s win streak finally came to a close on Friday, but a bounce-back win on Saturday sealed the series win over No. 11 Oklahoma.
Thursday’s game featured plenty of offense as Alabama took the series opener over the Sooners. Oklahoma took Friday’s game in a pitching duel to even up the series and left Saturday’s game to determine the series winner. In another pitching battle, Alabama used timely hitting to take the rubber match and win the series 2-1.
After getting swept in the SEC opening series by No. 21 Kentucky, the Crimson Tide have rebounded nicely, winning three straight SEC series over ranked opponents.
With the weekend series win, Alabama improves to 25-8 overall and 8-4 in the SEC.
Here is a recap of the weekend.
Game One:
No. 16 Alabama extended its historic run on Friday, utilizing an eight-run second-inning explosion to defeat No. 11 Oklahoma for a 10-7 victory. Thursday’s road win marks the Crimson Tide’s ninth consecutive victory overall and their seventh straight in SEC play, the program's longest conference winning streak since 1997.
Alabama’s offense wasted no time on Friday night, erupting for all 10 runs in the first two innings to overpower the Oklahoma staff. Bryce Fowler ignited the surge by launching the very first pitch of the game over the left-field wall. Fowler later punctuated the second-inning explosion with a massive three-run homer, finishing the night 2-for-4 with four RBI.
Brady Neal remained the hottest bat in the lineup, turning in a perfect 4-for-4 performance and finishing just a home run shy of the cycle.
The power display continued in the extended second inning as Jason Torres and Justin Osterhouse each belted two-run homers for their lone hits of the contest. John Lemm added to the hit parade with a 2-for-5 effort, including an RBI single and a double.
Tyler Fay got the start for the Crimson Tide, pitching six strong innings, allowing four runs on six hits. Matthew Heiberger came into the game and struck out the only batter he faced to close the game and record his second save of the season.
Game Two:
Alabama’s win streak came to a halt at nine games on Friday afternoon, falling 4-2 to Oklahoma.
Zane Adams was handed his second loss of the season despite a gritty performance on the mound for the Crimson Tide. The left-hander surrendered four runs on six hits and three walks over five innings of work, while racking up an impressive seven strikeouts to keep Alabama within striking distance.
The bullpen provided elite relief behind him, led by a dominant showing from Austin Morris. Morris was nearly perfect over two scoreless frames, fanning four of the batters he faced. Luke Smyers followed suit in the eighth, navigating around a single hit to post a scoreless inning and keep the deficit at two.
Game Three:
Alabama took advantage of Oklahoma’s early mistakes to grab a 3-2 victory in the rubber match on Saturday.
Hits were at a premium in Saturday’s series finale. Alabama was limited to just five hits on the day but was able to manufacture three runs while holding the Sooners to two runs.
The Crimson Tide offense did all of its damage in the first inning. The Crimson Tide opened the game with three straight singles to load the bases. Oklahoma made three mistakes on defense to allow three unearned runs in. With the bases loaded, the Sooners had a wild pitch and a passed ball, leading to the first two runs of the inning. Later in the first a third Alabama run came in on an error by the Oklahoma center fielder.
Oklahoma cut the Crimson Tide lead by one in its half of the first inning on an RBI single.
After four runs crossed the plate in the first inning, only one other run crossed the plate in the remainder of the game. In the bottom of the fifth, Oklahoma trimmed the lead to one with another RBI single.
Myles Upchurch got the start for the Crimson Tide and earned his fourth win of the season. Upchurch pitched three strong innings, allowing just one run on three hits. Hagan Banks came into the game in the ninth and preserved the one-run lead to record his fifth save of the season.
Alabama will host Samford in a midweek matchup on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
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