Alabama swept 5th ranked Auburn in Tuscaloosa this weekend by scores of 11-1 in 8 innings on Friday , 3-2 in walk-off fashion on Saturday, and 3-1 in game three on Sunday. The Tide now has a seven game winning streak, including six in a row in the SEC. The sweep was the first for Alabama over Auburn since 2017 and the first at home since 2002. Bama improved to 22-7 overall and 6-3 in the SEC. The Tigers fell to 20-7 overall and 4-5 in the conference play.
Game One-Won 11-1 (8 innings)
The Tide sent
Tyler Fay, fresh off his no hitter from last week, to the mound to face Auburn ace Jake Marciano. Fay won every national award available last week after his 132 pitch no-no against the 18th ranked Florida Gators. Marciano entered the game with an ERA of 1.00 on the season.
Fay came in with 11 straight hitless innings, but got touched for a hit and a run in the top of the first. Leadoff man Bristol Carter walked and stole second. Fay recorded a strikeout and fly out next, but Auburn third baseman Eric Guevara blooped a single to left field to plate Carter. A strikeout ended the inning. Brady Neal blasted a two out double in the bottom half but was stranded when Jason Torres’s deep fly ball was corralled in left field.
Fay had a perfect 2nd inning before the Tide took the lead in the bottom half. With one out designated hitter Will Plattner reached on an error by Tiger second baseman Chris Rembert. Justin Osterhouse moved Plattner to third with a bunt. Luke Vaughn then launched his 5th home run of the season to give Bama a lead they would never relinquish. Fay cruised through the 3rd, 4th, and 5th, allowing only two walks and a hit batter and adding two strikeouts. Bryce Fowler yanked his third home run of the year in to the right field plaza for a 3-1 lead.
After a whirlwind week, and a 132 pitch outing the game before, Fay was replaced to start the 6th inning after throwing 83 pitches. Junior left hander Matthew Heiberger took over on the mound, and after allowing a leadoff single, got two strikeouts and a fly out to hold the score at 3-1. Bama added on in the bottom half of the sixth. Osterhouse singled with two outs and raced home on a long double by Vaughn.
Heirberger was back for the 7th frame and after a leadoff walk and a fielders choice, started a double play on a comebacker to the mound to end the inning. The Tide put the game away in the seventh. Fowler led off with a single and advanced to third on a ringing double by Justin LeBron. With one out Torres placed a single into right field to score both runners. Johnny Lemm then absolutely unloaded a monster home run into the visitors bullpen for an 8-1 margin.
Heirberger walked the first man in the top of the 8th and was replaced by Sam Mitchell. Mitchell got a force out before allowing a single to put two runners on. The big right hander than struck out the next two batters to end the inning. Bama then walked it off by run rule in the bottom half . Brennen Holt walked with one out followed by a single by Fowler. LeBron hit a fly ball to left for the second out. Neal singled Holt in, Torres singled to score Fowler, and Lemm drove a single the opposite way to plate Neal with the final run needed for the 11-1 win.
The Tide hit 15-39 in the game with two walks, three doubles, three home runs, nine strikeouts, and left five on base. Fowler finished 3-4 with a home run, RBI, and three runs scored. Neal was 2-5 with a double, run, and RBI. Torres drove in three and was 2-5 while scoring a run. Lemm also had three RBI with a 2-4 game and a walk with a run scored. Vaughn was also 2-4 with a home run, double, three RBI, and a run scored. Osterhouse also had a 2-4 game with a run. Fay got the win, going five innings, allowing one hit, with three walks and a hit batter with five strikeouts and improved to 5-2 on the season. Heiberger and Mitchell combined for three innings with two hits allowed, two walks, and four strikeouts. Auburn was held to 3-25 at the plate with five walks, one hit batter, one double, and one sac bunt. The Tigers struck out nine times and left seven men on base. Marciano was the losing pitcher.
Game Two- Won 3-2, walk-off in bottom of 9th
In front of a sell out crowd and a national TV audience the Crimson Tide secured the series with a thrilling 3-2 walk-off victory over 5th ranked Auburn. Junior left hander Zane Adams took his normal game two spot in the rotation and faced off with Tiger lefty Jackson Sanders.
Adams got in trouble quickly in the 1st, walking lead off man Bristol Carter. Chris Rembert followed with a single and Carter then stole third base. The first out was a strikeout, but with the next hitter up, Carter scored on a passed ball. Adams got a ground out and a fly out to end the inning. For the second straight day Auburn took a 1-0 1st inning lead. Bama missed an opportunity in the bottom half. Justin LeBron legged out an infield hit, but when the ball was overthrown he turned toward second. The ball took a fortuitous bounce off the fence right back to first baseman Todd Clay, who flipped the ball to Sanders for the tag. LeBron was originally called safe but the call was overturned after an Auburn challenge. On the next pitch Brady Neal rocketed a double in the left center gap that would have scored LeBron easily. Jason Torres struck out to end the inning.
Over the next three innings Adams allowed only two harmless singles while striking out six batters. Sanders matched zeros in the 2nd and 3rd, but the Tide finally got to him in the bottom of the 4th inning. Neal led off with a single and with two out moved to third on a single by Johnny Lemm. Will Plattner drove in Neal with a perfect safety squeeze bunt and Luke Vaughn brought Lemm home with a single of his home, giving Bama a 2-1 lead.
Adams mowed down the Tigers in the 5th and 6th, with only two base runners on a walk and a single. Bama had a baserunner in each frame but could not add an insurance run. After striking out Bub Terrell to open the 7th inning Adams was lifted in favor of Bobby Alcock. AU shortstop Brandon McCraine dribbled a ball between the mound and third base for a single and advanced to third base on a pinch hit single by Eddie Madrigal. Pinch hitter Logan Gregorio lifted a fly ball to centerfield to score the tying run. A pop out ended the inning.
Ryan Heltzer threw the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings for Auburn and kept the Tide at bay. Hagan Banks replaced Alcock in the top of the 8th and stranded a runner in each inning to keep the score even and set up Bama for a chance to win in the bottom of the ninth. Brennan Holt led off and hit a ball into right field and never stopped running, diving head first into second base. His hand came off the bag, but he was able to slap his other hand on the bag to beat the tag of McCraine. McCraine got a little aggressive with the tag and his mouth and tempers began to flare. The umpiring crew got things under control quickly. After a review requested by Auburn, Holt was declared safe. Bryce Fowler drove the next the other way into the left center gap for a double, scoring Holt with the winning run. The run drove the sell out crowd into a frenzy and the Tigers left the field with their tales between their legs.
The Tide hit 12-34 in the game with two walks, four doubles, a sac bunt, seven strikeouts, and left 10 men on base. Holt, Neal, Lemm, and Fowler were all 2-4. Adams did not figure in the decision, but tossed 6.1 great innings, allowing four hits with two walks and eight strikeouts on 108 pitches. Banks was the winner and is 1-0 on the season. Auburn finished 7-32 with three walks, a double, a sac fly, two stolen bases, committed an error, and left seven on base. Heltzer fell to 3-1 with the loss.
Game Three- Won 3-1
The Tide had freshman right hander Myles Upchurch against Auburn righty Alex Petrovic. Upchurch had struggled in his first two SEC starts after a scintillating run in the pre-conference schedule. After a ground out to start the game, Upchurch hit the next two batters and then allowed an RBI single to Eric Guavera for a 1-0 lead in the 1st inning for the third straight game. A line drive double play pulled off by Luke Vaughn ended the inning with the 1-0 deficit for Bama.
Upchurch fought through the 2nd and 3rd, walking three but also striking out three. The Tide tied things up in the bottom of the third inning. Vaughn lifted a pop up partially down the third base line that third baseman Guavera called for. The ball traveled probably 10 feet from the plate and dropped just out of Guavera’s reach. Vaughn reached second base with a very unlikely double. Brennan Holt grounded out to advance Vaughn before Bryce Fowler struck out for out two. Justin LeBron fouled off three pitches before driving a single into left field to score Vaughn and tie the game.
In the top of the 5th Upchurch hit the lead off man Cade Belyeu, who was then bunted to second base by Bristol Carter. When Upchurch walked the next man he was replaced by left hander Ashton Crowther. Crowther got a ground out and fly out to end the Tigers threat. LJ Cormier replaced Petrovic in the 6th inning and tossed two hitless, scoreless, frames for Auburn. Cormier is the son of former Bama great pitcher Lance Cormier. Crowther also kept Auburn from scoring in the 6th and 7th innings.
Matthew Heiberger took over for Bama in the 8th and after a quick out, hit the next two batters. A double play turned by Brennan Holt ended the inning with the score still 1-1. Garrett Brewer replaced Cormier in the 8th for Auburn and quickly ran into trouble. Fowler walked to lead off the inning. LeBron rapped a ball to shortstop for a possible double play, but beat the relay to first, then stole second base, and is now 23-23 on steal attempts this season. Brady Neal walked, and when Brewer uncorked a wild pitch both runners moved into scoring position. Jason Torres squared around to try and bunt the run in, but drew back when the pitch was wild, got by the catcher,and allowed LeBron to slide head first across the plate with the go ahead run. Torres ended up walking and with two outs Will Plattner singled to score Neal with an insurance run.
Hagan Banks took the top of the 9th and made quick work of the Tigers with two strikeouts and a fly out, and the Tide had their first sweep of Auburn since 2017 on The Plains, and the first at home since 2002. The Tide has now swept their last two SEC foes, both ranked squads, Florida and Auburn.
After two good hitting nights the Tide only hit 4-28 in the game with four walks, two hit batters, seven strikeouts, two doubles, a stolen bases, and left seven men on base. LeBron was 1-4 with a stolen base, a run, and a RBI. Plattner was 1-3 with a HBP and an RBI. Vaughn finished 2-3 with a double and a run scored. Heiberger was the winner and improved to 2-0 while Banks nailed down his fourth save. Upchurch went 4.1 innings, allowing one hit, one run, walking three, and hitting four. Crowther did great work over 2.2 innings, allowing only one hit with no walks and two strikeouts. Auburn was held to 2-26 with four walks, five hit batters, eight strikeouts, and left eight on base. Brewer fell to 1-2 with the loss.
Overview.
Just an outstanding performance on the mound and in the field for Alabama. The starting pitchers combined for 15.2 innings and allowed six hits, walked nine, hit four, and struck out 17. The bullpen combined for 10.1 innings, allowed eight hits, walked three, struck out eight, and allowed only one run. The defense played their best stretch of the season and didn’t commit a single error in the series. Despite the four hit performance on Sunday the team hit 31-101 in the series for .301 average, walked eight times, were hit two times, had nine doubles, three home runs, struck out 23 times, and left 22 men on base. Tide pitching held the Tigers to 12-83 at the plate with 12 walks, six hit batters, 25 strikeouts, and 22 men left on base. Auburn was 5-46 with runners on base and 2-22 with runners in scoring position.
Who Did What?
*Tyler Fay W (5-2) 5 IP, 1 hit, 1 run, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts
*Hagan Banks W (1-0), save (4) 3 IP, 1 hit, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts
*Zane Adams No decision, 6.1 IP, 4 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts, 1 run
*Bryce Fowler 5-11, 3 runs, 3 walks, home run (3) 2 RBI, Game winning RBI
*John Lemm 5-12, home run (4), double, 3 RBI, walk, two runs
*Brady Neal 4-12, 3 runs, 2 doubles, walk, RBI
*Luke Vaughn 4-11, home run (5), 2 doubles, 4 RBI, two runs
*Brennan Holt 3-10, double, 3 runs, game winning run, walk
Ñext up, two road trips. First to Jacksonville State on Tuesday for a 6 p.m. game then a long trip to Norman, OK to take on another ranked team in the Oklahoma Sooners on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
Roll Tide
Bama Baseball Fever, Catch it!
