Alabama Baseball Sweeps Second Consecutive SEC Series

No. 19 Alabama opened the weekend finale against South Carolina with three consecutive hits to jump into a 3-0 lead in Columbia. The early lead, combined with clutch pitching from Alabama freshman Myles Upchurch, spurred the Crimson Tide to a 7-6 victory and extended the program's SEC win streak to six with a second consecutive sweep.

Bryce Fowler, leading off for the second straight day in place of a recovering Justin Lebron, opened the action with a single to centerfield. Eric Hines doubled down the left field line, and John Lemm brought them both in with a double of his own to put Alabama in front 2-0 before a single out was recorded. Jason Torres moved Lemm to third on a sacrifice fly, and Brennan Holt brought him home with a sacrifice of his own. South Carolina starting pitcher Alex Valentin forced Luke Vaughn into a pop-out to end the inning, but the damage was done, and the Crimson Tide held an early 3-0 lead.

Upchurch tied his season high in innings pitched, handling six innings and allowing just one run off six hits, three walks, and one hit batter. The freshman struck out five South Carolina batters and worked out of bases-loaded jams in consecutive innings to keep a lid on the Gamecock offense and notch his seventh win of the season.

South Carolina loaded the bases in the fourth inning as Upchurch's command wavered. Jake Randolph hit a one-out single, and Upchurch followed up by walking Talmadge LeCroy and Dawson Harman on eight straight pitches to load the bases. Upchurch got out of the jam with two outs on two pitches as Tyler Bak and Will Craddock found Alabama fielders on the first pitch of each at-bat to keep the Gamecocks scoreless.

Alabama added two runs in the fifth inning after loading up the bases. Valentin walked Peyton Steele to open the inning. Hines singled after a Bryce Fowler pop-up out, and Lemm loaded them up after Valentin plunked him in the box. Jason Torres hit his second sacrifice fly of the game to score Steele, and Hines scored on an error as Holt put the ball in play to make it 5-0.

Upchurch was still a bit shaky to open the fifth inning, plunking Ethan Lizama and walking Luke Yuhasz to put two Gamecocks on base for free. KJ Scobey loaded the bases with a single, setting up South Carolina's most dangerous threat of the day. The Crimson Tide freshman buckled down, forcing a popout and two consecutive strikeouts to keep the scoreboard clean.

Two walks, an error, and a sacrifice fly from Hines pushed Alabama's lead to 7-0 in the sixth inning as the Crimson Tide took advantage of South Carolina miscues.

The Gamecocks finally got to Upchurch in the home half of the sixth, as Craddock hit a two-out double and Lizama's single brought him home for the first South Carolina run. Yuhasz singled to keep the inning going, but Upchurch shut things down by striking out his final batter of the day.

Ashton Crowther entered in relief for the Crimson Tide in the seventh and had a drama-free, three-up, three-down inning, but things weren't as smooth in the eighth.

Bak hit a one-out single, and Crowther hit Craddock, putting two South Carolina baserunners aboard. JoJo Williamson's errant throw to second base cost Alabama a run as Bak scored. Yuhasz hit a sacrifice fly to score another run, and Scobey came up with a two-run home run to bring the game back within reach for the Gamecocks at 7-5.

The Crimson Tide turned to Hagan Banks in the ninth, but South Carolina kept chipping away at the Alabama lead. Randolph got on base after an error by Brennan Holt. LeCroy flied out to center for the first out, but Randolph advanced to second on a balk. Pinch-hitter Dawson Harman singled up the middle to score Randolph and cut the lead to a single run.

Rob Vaughn pulled Banks with a quick hook and turned to Matthew Heiberger. The Crimson Tide reliever struck out Bak and forced Craddock into a groundout to end the game and claim the sweep.

Alabama Baseball Remaining Games (all times CT)

Thursday, May 14 - Ole Miss - 6 p.m.
Friday, May 15 - Ole Miss - 6 p.m.
Saturday, May 16 - Ole Miss - 2 p.m.

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