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With a sluggish start to SEC baseball play in the rearview mirror, the Alabama Crimson Tide have won seven straight on the diamond after sweeping rival Auburn over the weekend at Sewell-Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa.
It's the second straight sweep of a top-25 team for Alabama baseball (22-7 overall, 6-3 conference), which started the series with an 11-1 run-rule win over the fifth-ranked Tigers (20-7, 4-5) in eight innings on Friday.
The Crimson Tide exploded for eight runs in the final three innings and clobbered Auburn with 15 hits, including three from leadoff man Bryce Fowler and two apiece from Brady Neal, Luke Vaughn, Jason Torres and Justin Osterhouse. Vaughn, Fowler and catcher John Lemm all homered in Alabama's Friday night rout.
The Tide followed it up Saturday with a 3-2 win on a walk-off double from Fowler, a half-inning after he made a diving catch in center to save a run and preserve the tie.
For the third straight day in Sunday's series finale, Alabama erased an early 1-0 deficit. Justin Lebron's RBI single in the third tied the game. The Crimson Tide took the lead in the eighth on a wild pitch that scored Lebron, and Will Plattner singled home Neal for an insurance run.
Right-hander Hagan Banks slammed the door in the ninth with a 1-2-3 inning for his fourth save. Banks struck out pinch hitter Taylor Belza looking for the final out.
Alabama's sweep of Auburn was its first since 2017, and its first at Sewell-Thomas Stadium since 2012.
Crimson Tide starting pitchers were outstanding over the weekend. A week after throwing a complete-game no-hitter, Tyler Fay (5-2) held Auburn to one run on one hit in five innings Friday. Fay struck out five and walked three.
Zane Adams was particularly effective on Saturday. He allowed one run on four hits in 6 1/3 innings while striking out eight Auburn batters and walking two in a no-decision. Sunday starter Myles Upchurch also gave up just one run and one hit. Despite some control issues, Upchurch worked 4 1/3 innings and struck out four.
Alabama is batting .273 with 37 home runs and 54 doubles in its 29 games. Crimson Tide pitchers lowered their ERA from 3.94 to 3.60 in their four games last week and have 258 strikeouts to 96 walks in 247 1/3 innings.
After moving into the USA TODAY Sports Baseball Coaches Poll for the first time this season a week ago with its sweep of the Florida Gators, Alabama is on the move again in Monday's new top 25 rankings.
In Monday's new Coaches Poll, Alabama jumped seven spots to No. 16. The Crimson Tide's seven-spot rise tied the Oregon Ducks and Nebraska Cornhuskers for the biggest leap of any team in this week's top 25 rankings.
The Crimson Tide are ranked one spot behind the Oklahoma Sooners and one spot ahead of Coastal Carolina. Alabama will resume SEC play Thursday night when it visits Norman to take on the Sooners.
Here's a look at the full top 25 rankings in the USA TODAY Sports Baseball Coaches Poll.
No. 18 Ole Miss; No. 21 Tennessee;
LSU 56; UCF 55; Vanderbilt 39; Tennessee 38; Wake Forest 33; Jacksonville State 31; Ole Miss 16; California Baptist 16; Louisville 6; Notre Dame 4; UTSA 1; South Florida 1;
Alabama visits Jacksonville State in midweek action on Tuesday. First pitch for Alabama-Jacksonville State is 6 p.m. CT. The game can be seen on ESPN+.
Record: 22-7 overall, 6-3 SEC.
Follow us at @RollTideWire on X, 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 surges in Coaches Poll after sweeping Auburn
Continue reading...
It's the second straight sweep of a top-25 team for Alabama baseball (22-7 overall, 6-3 conference), which started the series with an 11-1 run-rule win over the fifth-ranked Tigers (20-7, 4-5) in eight innings on Friday.
The Crimson Tide exploded for eight runs in the final three innings and clobbered Auburn with 15 hits, including three from leadoff man Bryce Fowler and two apiece from Brady Neal, Luke Vaughn, Jason Torres and Justin Osterhouse. Vaughn, Fowler and catcher John Lemm all homered in Alabama's Friday night rout.
The Tide followed it up Saturday with a 3-2 win on a walk-off double from Fowler, a half-inning after he made a diving catch in center to save a run and preserve the tie.
For the third straight day in Sunday's series finale, Alabama erased an early 1-0 deficit. Justin Lebron's RBI single in the third tied the game. The Crimson Tide took the lead in the eighth on a wild pitch that scored Lebron, and Will Plattner singled home Neal for an insurance run.
Right-hander Hagan Banks slammed the door in the ninth with a 1-2-3 inning for his fourth save. Banks struck out pinch hitter Taylor Belza looking for the final out.
Alabama's sweep of Auburn was its first since 2017, and its first at Sewell-Thomas Stadium since 2012.
Crimson Tide starting pitchers were outstanding over the weekend. A week after throwing a complete-game no-hitter, Tyler Fay (5-2) held Auburn to one run on one hit in five innings Friday. Fay struck out five and walked three.
Zane Adams was particularly effective on Saturday. He allowed one run on four hits in 6 1/3 innings while striking out eight Auburn batters and walking two in a no-decision. Sunday starter Myles Upchurch also gave up just one run and one hit. Despite some control issues, Upchurch worked 4 1/3 innings and struck out four.
Alabama is batting .273 with 37 home runs and 54 doubles in its 29 games. Crimson Tide pitchers lowered their ERA from 3.94 to 3.60 in their four games last week and have 258 strikeouts to 96 walks in 247 1/3 innings.
After moving into the USA TODAY Sports Baseball Coaches Poll for the first time this season a week ago with its sweep of the Florida Gators, Alabama is on the move again in Monday's new top 25 rankings.
Alabama sees biggest jump in new Baseball Coaches Poll following sweep of Auburn
In Monday's new Coaches Poll, Alabama jumped seven spots to No. 16. The Crimson Tide's seven-spot rise tied the Oregon Ducks and Nebraska Cornhuskers for the biggest leap of any team in this week's top 25 rankings.
The Crimson Tide are ranked one spot behind the Oklahoma Sooners and one spot ahead of Coastal Carolina. Alabama will resume SEC play Thursday night when it visits Norman to take on the Sooners.
Here's a look at the full top 25 rankings in the USA TODAY Sports Baseball Coaches Poll.
| Rank | Team | Record | PTS | 1st | Prev | Chg | Hi/Lo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UCLA Bruins | 25-2 | 750 | 30 | 1 | - | 1/2 |
| 2 | Texas Longhorns | 23-4 | 717 | 0 | 2 | - | 2/3 |
| 3 | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | 22-5 | 672 | 0 | 3 | - | 3/5 |
| 4 | Mississippi State Bulldogs | 24-4 | 668 | 0 | 4 | - | 3/6 |
| 5 | Georgia Bulldogs | 23-6 | 619 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 5/13 |
| 6 | North Carolina Tar Heels | 24-4 | 551 | 0 | 12 | 6 | 6/14 |
| 7 | Florida State Seminoles | 21-6 | 530 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 7/17 |
| 8 | USC Trojans | 26-3 | 492 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 8/NR |
| 9 | Oregon State Beavers | 21-5 | 490 | 0 | 14 | 5 | 9/18 |
| 10 | Oregon Ducks | 23-5 | 374 | 0 | 17 | 7 | 10/NR |
| 11 | Auburn Tigers | 20-7 | 367 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 4/11 |
| 12 | West Virginia Mountaineers | 19-5 | 354 | 0 | 16 | 4 | 12/NR |
| 13 | Southern Miss Golden Eagles | 21-7 | 332 | 0 | 13 | - | 7/20 |
| 14 | Virginia Cavaliers | 22-7 | 328 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 11/NR |
| 15 | Oklahoma Sooners | 19-8 | 319 | 0 | 9 | 6 | 8/NR |
| 16 | Arkansas Razorbacks | 19-10 | 301 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 5/16 |
| 16 | Alabama Crimson Tide | 22-7 | 301 | 0 | 23 | 7 | 16/NR |
| 18 | Coastal Carolina Chanticleers | 20-7 | 283 | 0 | 20 | 2 | 7/25 |
| 19 | Florida Gators | 23-6 | 272 | 0 | 25 | 6 | 8/25 |
| 20 | Texas A&M Aggies | 22-5 | 192 | 0 | 24 | 4 | 20/NR |
| 21 | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 22-6 | 144 | 0 | NR | 7 | 21/NR |
| 22 | Kentucky Wildcats | 21-6 | 138 | 0 | 18 | 4 | 18/NR |
| 23 | North Carolina State Wolfpack | 18-10 | 103 | 0 | 15 | 8 | 10/23 |
| 24 | Arizona State Sun Devils | 20-8 | 87 | 0 | 22 | 2 | 22/NR |
| 25 | Boston College Eagles | 20-9 | 70 | 0 | NR | - | 25/NR |
Schools Dropped Out
No. 18 Ole Miss; No. 21 Tennessee;
Others Receiving Votes
LSU 56; UCF 55; Vanderbilt 39; Tennessee 38; Wake Forest 33; Jacksonville State 31; Ole Miss 16; California Baptist 16; Louisville 6; Notre Dame 4; UTSA 1; South Florida 1;
Alabama baseball 2026 schedule
Alabama visits Jacksonville State in midweek action on Tuesday. First pitch for Alabama-Jacksonville State is 6 p.m. CT. The game can be seen on ESPN+.
- 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 (W, 6-2)
- March 27-29: vs. Auburn (W, 11-1; W, 3-2; W, 3-1)
- March 31: at Jacksonville State
- April 2-5: at Oklahoma
- April 7: vs. Samford
- April 10-12: vs. Arkansas
- April 14: at UAB
- 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: 22-7 overall, 6-3 SEC.
Follow us at @RollTideWire on X, 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 surges in Coaches Poll after sweeping Auburn
Continue reading...
