No. 19-ranked Alabama baseball swept South Carolina in Columbia to keep its hopes of hosting an NCAA Regional alive.
Game 1: Alabama 8, South Carolina 3
Alabama powered its way past South Carolina to take the first game of the series.
The Crimson Tide began the scoring in the top of the second inning, thanks to a solo shot from first baseman Luke Vaughn, his seventh of the year, giving them a 1-0 advantage. Later in the frame, shortstop Justin Lebron crushed a three-run bomb to left, his first home run in SEC play since the Florida series in week two.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Gamecocks’ shortstop KJ Scobey got them on the board with an RBI base knock to make it 4-1.
Bryce Fowler, the Crimson Tide’s center fielder, r extended the lead to 5-1 in the top of the seventh with an RBI groundout. Lebron was forced to leave the game due to a collision at first base.
Crimson Tide starting pitcher Tyler Fay worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh inning with a pair of strikeouts.
Vaughn crushed his second home run of the night in the top of the eighth, this time a two-run homer to extend the Crimson Tide’s lead to 7-1. Later in the frame, right fielder Peyton Steele came around to score on a wild pitch to make it 8-1.
Sam Mitchell replaced Fay in the bottom of the eighth inning and allowed a couple of runs to come across to score on a pair of wild pitches to make it an 8-3 game. Fay tossed seven dominant innings, allowing just two hits, one run, walking two and striking out 10 on 93 pitches.
“Tyler Fay did exactly what he needed to do when you get a lead like that,” head coach Rob Vaughn said. “South Carolina didn’t really have anything going; their energy wasn’t great tonight, and when you see that, you have to bury them with strikes. A great job out of Tyler tonight, it was a workmanlike start out of him.”
Mitchell came back out for the bottom of the ninth and worked a 1-2-3 inning to put the finishing touches on a Crimson Tide victory.
Game 2: Alabama 9, South Carolina 6
Alabama took down South Carolina 9-6 to secure the series win.
The Crimson Tide struck first in the top of the first inning thanks to an RBI fielder’s choice from designated hitter John Lemm, making it 1-0.
With two outs in the bottom of the second inning, Jake Randolph demolished a hanging curveball for a three-run shot to give the Gamecocks a 3-1 lead. Scobey then lined an RBI triple to center, making it a 4-1 ballgame. To add insult to injury, Crimson Tide catcher Brady Neal, who has been the team’s best hitter this year, had to leave the game in the second inning after taking a foul ball off the mask in the first inning.
In the top of the fourth with two outs, second baseman Jojo Williamson, who was only in the lineup due to the Lebron injury, crushed a game-tying three-run homer to right, his first collegiate home run. In the fifth inning, Lemm gave the Crimson Tide a 7-4 lead with a three-run moonshot to right field.
The Crimson Tide tacked on two more runs in the top of the sixth, thanks to Will Plattner, who took over for Neal behind the plate and crushed a two-run home run, to extend the lead to 9-4.
Left-hander Matthew Heiberger replaced Crimson Tide starter left-hander Zane Adams on the mound in the bottom of the seventh and navigated around a pair of singles, working a scoreless frame. Adams tossed six innings, surrendering six hits, five runs, walking one and tied his season high with nine strikeouts on 100 pitches.
“Zane (Adams) gave us everything we needed,” Vaughn said. “He wasn’t as sharp as normal and didn’t command the heater great, but he does what Zane does and gets us through the sixth. He did a good job of executing pitches when he needed to and setting the tone.”
Heiberger came back out for the bottom of the eighth inning and worked a scoreless frame. Crimson Tide closer Hagan Banks got the call for the bottom of the ninth and surrendered his run in over two months on a sacrifice fly to Scobey, to make it 9-6. Banks would then go on to pick up the final out and clinch the series victory for the Crimson Tide.
Game 3: Alabama 7, South Carolina 6
The Crimson Tide took down the Gamecocks 7-6 in a nail-biter to complete the sweep.
No time was wasted by the Crimson Tide, getting the scoring started as Lemm lined a two-run double in the left-center gap, to make it 2-0 before the Gamecocks could record an out. Shortstop Brennan Holt drove in Lemm via a sacrifice fly to extend the Crimson Tide’s lead to 3-0.
In the top of the fifth inning, the Crimson Tide tacked on two more runs thanks to a sacrifice fly from third baseman Jason Torres. A couple of batters later, Holt reached on an E3, which also allowed Hines to score, making it a 5-0 ballgame.
The Crimson Tide brought two more runs across in the sixth inning, thanks to an E3 allowing a run to score, followed by a sacrifice fly from left fielder Eric Hines to make it 7-0.
The Gamecocks got on the board in the bottom of the inning via an RBI single from Ethan Lizama to make it a 7-1 game.
Left-hander Ashton Crowther replaced Crimson Tide starter Myles Upchurch on the mound in the bottom of the seventh and worked a 1-2-3 inning on just five pitches. Upchurch fired six innings, allowing six hits, one earned run, walking three and striking out five on 89 pitches.
Crowther came back out for the eighth inning. It looked like he induced an inning-ending double play, but a throwing error from Williamson resulted in no outs and allowed a run to score. The 70th error of the season for the Crimson Tide.
Luke Yuhasz drove in another run thanks to a sacrifice fly. Scobey followed with a two-run bomb to left, making it a 7-5 ballgame. All four runs were unearned due to the error from Williamson.
Banks got the call for the bottom of the ninth and allowed the leadoff man to reach due to an E6, error No. 71 on the season for the Crimson Tide. The runner would come across to score on an RBI single from Dawson Harman to make it a one-run ballgame. Heiberger came in relief for Banks with one out and the winning run at the plate. Heiberger picked up the final two outs to pick up the save, giving the Crimson Tide a 7-6 win and their second sweep in a row.
“What an unbelievable job by Hagan Banks and Matthew Heiberger there at the end,” Vaughn said. “Both guys threw yesterday, and both guys came out and probably weren’t 100 percent and executed.”
The Crimson Tide will be back in action on Thursday at The Joe for its final series of the season against No. 20 Ole Miss. The first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. on SECN+.
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