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After a rough start to SEC baseball play, the Alabama Crimson Tide picked themselves up over the weekend against a top-25 Florida Gators team.
Alabama (18-7 overall, 3-3 conference) bounced back from a three-game sweep at Kentucky and a midweek loss to South Alabama to sweep Florida (19-6) at Sewell-Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa. The Gators entered the series ranked No. 14 in the polls.
The Crimson Tide won the opener, 6-0, on Friday behind Tyler Fay's complete-game no-hitter. The junior right-hander struck out 13 batters and allowed two walks while throwing a career-high 132 pitches. Fay closed things out by striking out six of the final nine batters he faced. He improved to 4-2 with a 4.06 ERA in six starts.
Alabama stayed hot on Saturday with an 8-4 win. Justin Lebron hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning. Brady Neal collected three hits in a 3-for-5 showing that included a pair of run-scoring singles and an RBI groundout.
Zane Adams held Florida to two runs and five hits in six innings, striking out six and allowing one walk to improve to 4-1 on the mound.
In Sunday's series finale, Alabama erupted in the later innings for seven runs in the sixth and five in the seventh to erase a 4-0 deficit for a 14-7 win to get the series sweep.
Neal continued swinging a hot bat with two hits, and Bryce Fowler and John Lemm added two hits apiece as well. Lebron hit a two-run homer in the fifth, and Neal launched a two-out grand slam as part of a Alabama's seven-run outburst. Will Plattner also homered in the sixth.
After recording 28 hits in the series and outscoring Florida, 28-11, in the series' three games, Alabama is batting .270 with 34 home runs and 42 doubles in its 25 games. Crimson Tide pitchers have a 3.94 ERA and 225 strikeouts to 82 walks in 212 1/3 innings.
On Monday, the Crimson Tide moved into the top 25 of the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll for the first time all season.
Alabama jumped into the top 25 Coaches Poll rankings and landed at No. 23 following its three-game sweep of the Gators. The Crimson Tide are ranked one spot behind Arizona State and one spot ahead of Texas A&M.
No. 17 Clemson; No. 25 Wake Forest;
Notre Dame 36; Clemson 29; Nebraska 24; Wake Forest 18; Cincinnati 16; Jacksonville State 15; Louisville 8; California Baptist 8; South Florida 7; Missouri State 6; Mercer 5; UTSA 4; UCF 4; Oklahoma State 3; UC Santa Barbara 2; LSU 2
Record: 18-7 overall, 3-3 SEC.
Follow us at @RollTideWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook, for ongoing coverage of Alabama Crimson Tide news, notes and opinions.
This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: Alabama baseball ranked in Coaches Poll after sweeping Florida Gators
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Alabama (18-7 overall, 3-3 conference) bounced back from a three-game sweep at Kentucky and a midweek loss to South Alabama to sweep Florida (19-6) at Sewell-Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa. The Gators entered the series ranked No. 14 in the polls.
The Crimson Tide won the opener, 6-0, on Friday behind Tyler Fay's complete-game no-hitter. The junior right-hander struck out 13 batters and allowed two walks while throwing a career-high 132 pitches. Fay closed things out by striking out six of the final nine batters he faced. He improved to 4-2 with a 4.06 ERA in six starts.
Alabama stayed hot on Saturday with an 8-4 win. Justin Lebron hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning. Brady Neal collected three hits in a 3-for-5 showing that included a pair of run-scoring singles and an RBI groundout.
Zane Adams held Florida to two runs and five hits in six innings, striking out six and allowing one walk to improve to 4-1 on the mound.
In Sunday's series finale, Alabama erupted in the later innings for seven runs in the sixth and five in the seventh to erase a 4-0 deficit for a 14-7 win to get the series sweep.
Neal continued swinging a hot bat with two hits, and Bryce Fowler and John Lemm added two hits apiece as well. Lebron hit a two-run homer in the fifth, and Neal launched a two-out grand slam as part of a Alabama's seven-run outburst. Will Plattner also homered in the sixth.
After recording 28 hits in the series and outscoring Florida, 28-11, in the series' three games, Alabama is batting .270 with 34 home runs and 42 doubles in its 25 games. Crimson Tide pitchers have a 3.94 ERA and 225 strikeouts to 82 walks in 212 1/3 innings.
On Monday, the Crimson Tide moved into the top 25 of the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll for the first time all season.
Alabama moves into USA TODAY Sports Baseball Coaches Poll
Alabama jumped into the top 25 Coaches Poll rankings and landed at No. 23 following its three-game sweep of the Gators. The Crimson Tide are ranked one spot behind Arizona State and one spot ahead of Texas A&M.
| Rank | Team | Record | PTS | 1st | Prev | Chg | Hi/Lo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UCLA | 21-2 | 748 | 29 | 1 | - | 1/2 |
| 2 | Texas | 20-3 | 711 | 0 | 2 | - | 2/3 |
| 3 | Georgia Tech | 19-5 | 650 | 0 | 3 | - | 3/5 |
| 4 | Mississippi State | 20-4 | 629 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 3/6 |
| 5 | Auburn | 19-4 | 604 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 4/9 |
| 6 | Arkansas | 18-7 | 590 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 5/9 |
| 7 | Georgia | 20-5 | 578 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 5/13 |
| 8 | Florida State | 19-4 | 509 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 8/17 |
| 9 | Oklahoma | 19-5 | 491 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 8/NR |
| 10 | USC | 24-1 | 477 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 10/NR |
| 11 | Virginia | 20-5 | 469 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 11/NR |
| 12 | North Carolina | 20-4 | 456 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 6/14 |
| 13 | Southern Miss | 19-5 | 367 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 7/20 |
| 14 | Oregon State | 17-5 | 362 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 12/18 |
| 15 | North Carolina State | 18-6 | 312 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 10/19 |
| 16 | West Virginia | 16-4 | 267 | 0 | 22 | 6 | 16/NR |
| 17 | Oregon | 19-4 | 239 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 17/NR |
| 18 | Ole Miss | 19-6 | 218 | 0 | 24 | 6 | 18/NR |
| 18 | Kentucky | 19-4 | 218 | 0 | 18 | - | 18/NR |
| 20 | Coastal Carolina | 16-7 | 201 | 0 | 20 | - | 7/25 |
| 21 | Tennessee | 17-7 | 158 | 0 | 23 | 2 | 15/23 |
| 22 | Arizona State | 17-6 | 98 | 0 | NR | 6 | 22/NR |
| 23 | Alabama | 18-7 | 73 | 0 | NR | 4 | 23/NR |
| 24 | Texas A&M | 18-5 | 71 | 0 | 21 | 3 | 20/NR |
| 25 | Florida | 19-6 | 67 | 0 | 14 | 11 | 8/25 |
Schools Dropped Out
No. 17 Clemson; No. 25 Wake Forest;
Others Receiving Votes
Notre Dame 36; Clemson 29; Nebraska 24; Wake Forest 18; Cincinnati 16; Jacksonville State 15; Louisville 8; California Baptist 8; South Florida 7; Missouri State 6; Mercer 5; UTSA 4; UCF 4; Oklahoma State 3; UC Santa Barbara 2; LSU 2
Alabama baseball 2026 schedule
- Feb. 13-15: vs. Washington State (L, 8-4), (W, 8-1), (W, 11-1)
- Feb. 17: at Samford (W, 3-2)
- Feb. 18: vs. Alabama State (W, 2-1)
- Feb. 20-22: vs. Rhode Island (W, 19-4), (W, 8-5), (W, 11-1)
- Feb. 24: at Southern Miss (L, 14-4)
- Feb. 27: vs. Iowa at Frisco College Baseball Classic (W, 12-2)
- Feb. 28: vs. Oregon State at Frisco College Baseball Classic (W, 8-7)
- March 1: vs. Houston at Frisco College Baseball Classic (L, 8-2)
- March 3: vs. Jacksonville State (W, 6-5)
- March 4: at Alabama State (W, 13-4)
- March 6-8: vs. North Florida (W, 7-2), (W, 9-3), (W, 12-2)
- March 10: vs. Troy (W, 7-3)
- March 13-15: at Kentucky (L, 7-4), (L, 8-7), (L, 6-4)
- March 17: at South Alabama (L, 6-3)
- March 20-22: vs. Florida (W, 6-0; W, 8-4; W, 14-7)
- March 24: vs. Austin Peay in Huntsville, Alabama
- March 27-29: vs. Auburn
- March 31: at Jacksonville State
- April 2-5: at Oklahoma
- April 7: vs. Samford
- April 10-12: vs. Arkansas
- April 14: vs. UAB in Birmingham, Alabama
- April 17-19: at Texas
- April 21: vs. UAB
- April 24-26: at Tennessee
- May 1-3: vs. Vanderbilt
- May 5: at Troy
- May 8-10: at South Carolina
- May 14-16: vs. Ole Miss
- May 19-24: SEC Tournament in Hoover, Alabama
Record: 18-7 overall, 3-3 SEC.
Follow us at @RollTideWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook, for ongoing coverage of Alabama Crimson Tide news, notes and opinions.
This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: Alabama baseball ranked in Coaches Poll after sweeping Florida Gators
Continue reading...
