The Alabama Crimson Tide won a thrilling 11 inning victory over Oklahoma State 11-7 on Sunday night to advance to Super Regional play in the NCAA Tournament. The Tide is two wins away for advancing to the College World Series for the first time since 1999. Alabama will host a Super for the first time since 2006. Bama’s opponent will be determined later today and the opponent will be either St John’s or Florida State. The Johnnie’s and the Seminoles play today to determine the winner. Alabama improved
to 40-19 on the season while OSU fell to 39-22. This is the Tide’s second straight 4o plus win season.
The game: Alabama freshman phenomenon Myles Upchurch toed the rubber for the Tide vs sophomore Noah Wech for the Cowboys. Under NCAA Tournament rules Alabama was designated the visitor for the second time in their three regional games. Oklahoma State defeated South Carolina Upstate 12-1 earlier in the day as the visiting team to reach the matchup with the Tide. OSU flipped to home for the next game under the arcane set of rules that punish the team that worked all season to earn a hosting spot.
The Tide went down in order in the top of the first. Upchurch hit the first batter he faced, Alex Conover. Conover was sacrificed to second, but a fly out and strikeout kept the game scoreless. The Tide got on the board in the 2nd inning. Jason Torres was hit by a pitch leading off. Johnny Lemm, broken finger and all, laced a single to right field to advance Torres to second. Eric Hines hit a ball 110 miles an hour that was turned into a double play turned by third baseman Avery Ortiz. Torres moved to third on the play and scored when Brennen Holt dumped a single into left field.
Upchurch again hit the lead off man in the bottom of the second, but an unusual 3-6-4 double play and a strikeout closed out the frame. Luke Vaughn started the double play when he fielded a ground ball, threw it to shortstop Justin LeBron covering second baseman, and LeBron fired it to Holt,who had hustled over from his second base position to cover first base.
The Tide had a big top of the third. Peyton Steele led off with a single and advanced on a single by Bryce Fowler. LeBron hit a ground ball to Ortiz at third, but a wild throw to second loaded the bases for Bama. Brady Neal was hit by a pitch to drive in a run. With one out Lemm drilled another single into right field to plate two runs for a 4-0 Tide lead. Two strikeouts closed out the inning.
The powerful Cowboys, who have 150 home runs on the season, struck back in the bottom of the third. Upchurch walked Remo Indomenico to start the inning and nine hole hitter Deacon Pomeroy slammed a ball into the right field plaza for a two run home run. After two strikeouts OSU slugger Kolin Ritchie hit a double, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and scored on another wild pitch. Upchurch notched his third strikeout of the inning to end the frame.
Alabama threatened in the 4th when Steele drew a one out walk and moved to third on a two out double by LeBron. A fly out by Neal ended the inning. Upchurch put the lead off man again via walk in the bottom half, then allowed a single on a pop fly into short left field. Colin Brueggemann tried to bunt the runners over but popped out to Torres at third base. Upchurch struck out the next two batters.
The Tide threatened to blow things open in the fifth. Torres led off with his 8th home run of the season . Lemm drew a walk and moved to second on a single by Eric Hines. Holt tried to put down a bunt twice but couldn’t do so, and Lemm was picked off second. Swinging away, Holt hit a ground ball to second base. Hines was forced out at second, and Holt was safe at first. Hines slide into second was challenged by OSU and after review it was deemed illegal and the Cowboys were awarded a double play to end the inning. Upchurch cruised through the 5th, adding another strikeout and the Tide held a 5-3 lead.
Oklahoma State brought their Friday night starter, Ethan Lund in to pitch in the 6th inning. Lund struggled on Friday against South Carolina Upstate and left that game after 76 pitches. He had no such struggle this night, striking out the side. Lund is one of the nations leaders in strikeouts. Upchurch was back out for the 6th and allowed an opposite field home run to Ortiz leading off the inning. Upchurch regrouped and finished off the inning, and his outing. The big right hander allowed five hits, with two walks, nine strikeouts, and four runs over 110 pitches.
Lebron led off the 7th for the Tide and smoked a ground ball that Ortiz couldn’t handle as it hit off his glove and shot into short left field. The speedy LeBron tried to make it to second but was thrown out on a close play. Lund got a ground ball and strikeout to head to the bottom of the inning. Ashton Crowther replaced Upchurch and after striking out the first two batters he faced allowed back to back home runs to Brock Thompson and Kolin Ritchie. The long ball was Ritchie’s 31st of the year. A fly out ended the inning, but OSU had taken their first lead of the game at 6-5.
The Tide tied it up in the top of the 8th. Lund again struck out the three, but was victimized by a Hines nuke off the scored board in left field for his 9th home run of the season. Crowther got the first two outs in the bottom half easily on ground balls, but then gave up a bloop single, followed by a dribbler in the infield to put runners on first and second. Crowther hit Pomeroy with a pitch to load the bases for OSU’s leading hitter, Conover. Conover rolled over a ground ball to Holt at second base and was easily retired to keep the game tied. During the inning Neal took a foul ball off his thumb and had to go to the dugout to be checked out. Turns out he had dislocated his thumb and had it popped back into place before returning to finish the frame.
Bama went down in order in the ninth, setting up OSU with a chance to walk off a win. Hagan Banks replaced Crowther and struck out the first two batters. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases again. Again the Tide survived with Banks striking out Garrett Shull to strand the runners.
Neal walked and Hines singled for the Tide in the 10th, but were both stranded. Banks was back out for the bottom half. After a strikeout for the first out, Ezra Essex hit a pop fly single into short left field. Neal, with his thumb back in place, made perfect throw to LeBron to easily catch Essex trying to steal second base. Banks induced a fly ball to Fowler in centerfield to extend the game into the 11th inning.
Alabama broke through in the top of the eleventh. With one out Steele legged out an infield single and was replaced by Chase Kroeberger as a pinch runner. After Fowler popped up to first base for the second out, LeBron legged out an infield hit on a ground ball to the shortstop, bringing Neal to the plate. Neal blasted a 1-2 pitch into the right field plaza, setting The Joe on fire as the Tide took a 9-6 lead. Torres flew to center for the third out.
Banks was back for the 11th, in his longest outing of the year, and first appearance since May 10th. Things got exciting. After a strikeout, Ritchie singled before Ortiz flew to right field for the second out. A walk and an intentional walk loaded the bases. Shull singled to score a run and put the tying runs in scoring position. On his 69th pitch of the night Banks fanned Indimenico swinging to secure the victory.
The Tide hit 13-44 in the game with three walks, two hit batters, a double, three homers, with 12 strikeouts and seven men left on base. Neal had the biggest hit of the game and finished 1-4 with four RBI, a walk, a hit by pitch, and run scored. Hines finished 3-5 with a home run, run, and RBI. Lemm was 2-4 with a walk and two driven in while LeBron was 2-6 with a double and two runs scored. Steele was 2-4 with a run. Banks improved to 2-0 with the win, pitching 3 innings, allowing five hits, with three walks, six strikeouts and allowing one run.
OSU hit 14-44 with five walk, three hit batters, four home runs, one double, 17 strikeouts, and left 13 men on base. Ritchie had three hits, Ortiz, Brueggemann, and Shull, had two hits each. Mario Pesca fell to 7-5 with the loss.
Alabama hit 39-120 over their three game Regional run for a .325 average. The Tide had 15 walks, nine hit batters, two triples, four doubles, nine home runs, a pair of stolen bases, and left 25 men on base. Alabama pitching allowed 3o hits, walked 11, struck out 37, and allowed 10 earned runs in 29 innings.
Who did what?
*Bryce Fowler 6-15, 2 triples, 1 home run (7), 5 runs, 3 RBI
*Justin LeBron 6-16, 2 home runs (16), double, 2 stolen bases (40), 5 runs, sac fly, 6 RBI
*Brady Neal 5-13, 2 home runs (10), double, walk, hit by pitch, 3 runs, 6 RBI
*Johnny Lemm 4-12, 4runs, 2 hit by pitch, 3 walk, 2 RBI
*Jason Torre 3-13, home run (8), 5 runs, 3 walks, hit by pitch, 3 RBI
*Eric Hines 5-13, 2 home runs (9), 6 RBI, hit by pitch, 4 runs
*Tyler Fay W (10-4), 5.2 innings pitched, 6 hits, three runs, one walk, 8 strikouts
*Zane Adams W (7-4), 6 innings, 6 hits, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts, 0 earned runs
*Matthew Heiberger S (5), 3 innings, 4 hits, 1 walk, 1 strikeout, 0 earned runs
*Myles Upchurch 6 innings, 5 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, 9 strikeouts
*Hagan Banks W (2-0) 3 innings, five hits, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts, 1 run
Neal was named MVP of the Regional and was joined on the Tuscaloosa Regional All-Tournament team by teammates LeBron at shortstop, Fowler in centerfield, Hines in left field, Lemm at designated hitter, Banks as relief pitcher, and Fay as starting pitcher. What a gutty-gritty team this Tide group has become. Despite their flaws they never give up. When the get knocked down they get off the mat and bounce back. The leadership of the older players has been amazing and now they are on the cusp of a trip to Omaha. Let’s #PackTheJoe next weekend for this group!
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