Alabama baseball returns Friday against Washington State. Here is everything fans need to know before first pitch, from the starting lineup to the schedule.
Roster
The 2026 campaign will be Year 3 under head coach Rob Vaughn. With a blend of experienced returning veterans to the starting nine and pitching staff — as well as one of the most talented freshmen classes in the nation — this might be Vaughn’s most promising roster yet.
“Frankly, in my 11 years at Maryland and my two and a half years up to this point here, depth on the offensive side has not been a luxury we’ve had,” Vaughn said. “We’ve kind of run out the same 10 guys every weekend, every game. And I feel like that’s the beauty of this group is I think positionally you have 15 or 16 dudes that can be in the mix.”
Star shortstop Justin Lebron, who was selected to the Preseason All-SEC First Team for the second straight year, will be leading the charge for the Crimson Tide. Jason Torres will be the everyday first baseman this year, and Bryce Fowler will be manning center field this season.
Coleman Mizell will be in the mix in the outfield and as a designated hitter, as well as catchers Brady Neal and team captain Will Plattner. Alabama also retained starting pitchers Zane Adams and Tyler Fay, both of whom were draft-eligible.
Vaughn and company brought in 13 new faces via the transfer portal, including South Alabama transfer Brennan Holt, who will be the everyday second baseman, and Purdue Fort Wayne transfer Justin Osterhouse, who will be the starting third baseman.
The Crimson Tide has 11 freshmen on the team, bringing in the No. 8-ranked recruiting class during the 2025 cycle, according to Perfect Game.
The freshman class is highlighted by four players who were ranked in Perfect Game’s top 100 freshmen: right-handed pitcher Myles Upchurch, who was ranked No. 30 by PG; shortstop Will Rhine, ranked No. 38; infielder/right-handed pitcher Caleb Barnett, ranked No. 40; and Hines, ranked No. 47.
Alabama signed 11 of its 12 commits during the 2025 cycle, only losing one player to the MLB draft, which is rare in college baseball. Barnett was drafted in the 19th round by the Chicago Cubs, and Upchurch was selected in the 19th round by the Cincinnati Reds, but both opted to forgo the draft and attend Alabama.
“I think every one of those guys that got through the draft out of high school were all guys that just felt like the real money was gonna come in July of the draft, of their junior year,” Vaughn said. “And they kind of had the guts and trusted us that we were going to be able to turn a million dollars into two and a half, three million dollars for them.”
On the pitching side of things, getting Fay and Adams back to anchor the rotation every Friday and Saturday during weekend series is huge. Returning veteran arms such as JT Blackwood and Bobby Alcock, who have experience starting games and coming out of the bullpen, will also be key to the team’s success.
Freshman right-handed pitchers Luke Smyers and Upchurch will both pitch valuable innings for the Crimson Tide this season, whether that is as starters or out of the bullpen remains to be seen. The Crimson Tide was fortunate to have Carson Ozmer as its closer last season, who set a school record for most saves in a season and was named a National Pitcher of the Year semifinalist.
Kaden Humphrey, the North Florida transfer, will be tasked with replacing Ozmer and being the Crimson Tide’s closer this season. Last year, Humphrey pitched in 24 games for the Ospreys, boasting a 4.30 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP with 46 strikeouts and 11 saves in 29.1 innings pitched.
Schedule
The Crimson Tide’s schedule will consist of 55 games this season: 25 non-conference and 30 SEC games. Alabama will face three teams that participated in the 2025 NCAA tournament in non-conference play: Oregon State, Southern Miss and Rhode Island.
Alabama’s SEC schedule will be a gauntlet as usual, as nine of the 10 SEC teams the team will play this year competed in the NCAA tournament. Alabama will host Ole Miss, Auburn, Arkansas, Florida and Vanderbilt, and play Kentucky, Tennessee, and Oklahoma on the road, as well as South Carolina, the only team on Alabama’s SEC schedule to not make the NCAA tournament.
Alabama fans can see the Crimson Tide live in action on Opening Day, Friday at 4 p.m. CT at Sewell-Thomas Stadium or on SECN+.
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