Alabama took down USC Upstate 7-5 in a nail-biting victory to send them to the Tuscaloosa Regional finals after an hour and 15-minute weather delay.
“I thought they did a good job,” Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn said. “I thought Zane [Adams] came in and was hooked in. I thought our hitters the focus and the way they went about their stuff, I thought it was great. So all in all, I think they handled it like pros.”
In the top half of the first inning, catcher Brady Neal drilled a single to right field, and third baseman Jason Torres followed with a walk. But the designated hitter John Lemm struck out to strand runners on first and second.
With one out in the bottom half of the inning, Crimson Tide starting pitcher Adams walked a batter and allowed a single. However, the starter settled in and picked up a strikeout and a groundout to work into and out of trouble.
Torres kicked off the scoring in the top of the third inning with a two-out RBI double. Left fielder Tuscaloosa native Eric Hines then just snuck a three-run home run into the right field stands to extend the Crimson Tide’s lead to 4-0.
Tyler Lang got the Spartans on the board in the bottom of the inning with a sacrifice fly to cut the Crimson Tide’s lead to 4-1.
In the top of the fourth inning, Crimson Tide center fielder Bryce Fowler legged out a two-out triple. Shortstop Justin Lebron followed with an RBI base hit to left field to extend the lead to 5-1.
The Spartans got that run right back in the bottom of the frame thanks to a Preston Lucas sacrifice fly, cutting the Crimson Tide’s lead to 5-2.
The Crimson Tide tacked on another run in the top of the fifth inning thanks to a bases-loaded walk from right fielder Peyton Steele. Lebron extended the Crimson Tide’s lead to 7-2 in the top of the sixth inning with a solo shot off the scoreboard in left field.
“He is one of the most explosive players I’ve seen in person,” USC Upstate head coach Kane Sweeney said of Lebron. “So honestly, kind of fun to watch him play. I wish we weren’t playing against him tonight, but he’s definitely a really good baseball player.”
Matthew Heiberger replaced Adams on the mound in the bottom of the seventh inning. It looked like he picked up the first out, but an error from second baseman Brennan Holt allowed the runner to reach, the fifth error of the game for the Crimson Tide. With two outs, that error would come back to bite them as Johnny Sweeney crushed a two-run home run to right to cut the lead to 7-4. Both runs were unearned due to the Holt error.
Adams, in his first career postseason start, fired six innings, allowing six hits, two runs, both unearned due to errors, walking three and striking out five on 101 pitches.
“I was just juiced up a little bit,” Adams said. “I think a little jittery, I think it got better as the game went on, as I just settled down a little, but I was just amped up a bit. My first postseason start, finally.”
Heiberger came back out for the bottom of the eighth inning and worked a scoreless frame to keep the Crimson Tide’s lead at three runs.
Heiberger remained in the game for the bottom of the ninth inning. It looked like he picked up the final out of the ballgame, but an E5 from Torres, the sixth error of the game for the Crimson Tide, brought the tying run to the plate.
Trey Bentley lined a RBI double to left, putting the tying run on second and the winning run at the plate. Jake Armsey just missed a walk-off homer, flying out to the warning track in center field to give the Crimson Tide a 7-5 win.
The Crimson Tide will be back in action Sunday night against either the Spartans again or Oklahoma State, depending on the outcome of an elimination game at 2 p.m. CT. The Crimson Tide will have a chance to advance to a super regional with a win; the first pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT on ESPN+.
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