Senior center fielder Bryce Fowler was the hero in Alabama’s 3-2 win over No. 5-ranked Auburn Saturday night, leading the Crimson Tide to clinch the Iron Bowl.
In the top of the eighth inning, Fowler laid out, making a beautiful diving catch for the first out of the eighth inning. In the ninth with shortstop Brandon McCraine attempting to steal second, Fowler made another web gem play, robbing outfielder Eddie Madrigal of extra bases and preventing the go-ahead run from scoring.
“It’s either you dive and catch the ball, and you look like a hero, or it goes under your glove, and you look like the bad guy,” Fowler said. “So you just lay out and hope for the best.”
Those two plays proved to be game changers, keeping the ballgame even at 2-2 heading to the bottom of the ninth. Second baseman Brennan Holt, who made a diving play of his own in the eighth to keep a run from scoring, led off the bottom of the ninth with a hustle double.
After a heated exchange between Holt and McCraine over a play at second base where McCraine tried pushing Holt off the bag that nearly led to the benches clearing. Fowler then stepped into the batter’s box with the winning run at second base. Fowler was just hunting a pitch middle, middle, and he got exactly that.
Tigers reliever Ryan Helzer’s first pitch to Fowler was a middle, middle hanging slider, and Fowler didn’t miss it, crushing a walk-off double into the left-center gap just out of the reach of Tigers left fielder Bub Terrell.
“Just hunt something middle,” Fowler said. “And he threw a slider, and it was middle, middle, I got my good swing off, and a fast runner on second, and walked it off.”
Fowler has set the tone all season long as the Crimson Tide’s leadoff hitter, with a .363 batting average, 19 RBIs, two home runs and a 1.072 OPS. Fowler had a solid 2025 campaign at the plate; combined with elite defense, he could have very well gone on to the MLB or transferred elsewhere, but nights like Saturday are a key reason why he decided to return to the Capstone.
“It’s a great feeling, but things like that are the reason I came back, along with others,” Fowler said.
Fowler, a native of Jackson, Mississippi, originally began his collegiate career at Southern Miss in 2023 before transferring to Pearl River Community College just up the road for the 2024 season. Both those stops and Fowler’s time with the Crimson Tide prepared him for moments like the final two innings on Saturday night against a top-5-ranked archrival, Auburn.
From saving runs in the field to driving home the winning run in crunch time when it mattered the most, Fowler’s performance was the definition of a complete game.
When Fowler stepped into the batters box with the game on the line head coach Rob Vaughn knew the game was over.
“I’ve seen this dude in those moments when his feet start blinking like that the game is over, and he takes a great swing in a big spot,” Vaughn said. “And again, that’s why I’m proud as hell he came back.”
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