Alabama did not play a great game of baseball on Thursday night in Knoxville. The Crimson Tide stranded 12 runners, committed a costly error, and gave up eight runs against the Volunteers. None of it mattered, as Tennessee played even sloppier, giving up 16 free passes as Alabama ran away with a 12-8 win.

“Really proud of just the way they fought, the way they competed,” head coach Rob Vaughn said. “There were some really tough at-bats. I know they walked us, it seemed like 20 times, but, man, there were some very hard-fought walks.”

Bryce Fowler had a massive day for the Crimson Tide, breaking out of a recent slump by hitting three doubles and driving in three runs. He was moved out of the leadoff spot for just the second time this season, and batted cleanup instead. His first RBI came in the top of the first, driving in Justin Lebron, who had walked to lead off the game.

Alabama ended up loading the bases in the opening frame, but failed to put up a crooked number as Jason Torres struck out to strand the three runners. Tennessee responded in the bottom of the inning, as a leadoff home run from Garrett Wright set the tone for what would be a back-and-forth game through the early innings.

Blake Grimmer drove in a second run to put the Volunteers ahead in the first, but the Crimson Tide tied it back up in the second on, of all things, a balk.

Wright then hit a second home run in the second to tie the game. Tyler Fay did not have his best game on the mound, giving up four runs over five innings while striking out six. He still earned the win, as the Crimson Tide added three runs in the third off a bases-clearing Peyton Steele double to pull ahead.

Wright drove in his third and final run of the day in the fifth inning, before Eric Hines demolished a baseball in the sixth, hitting a three-run homer 427 feet and out of the park. Tennessee continued to stay in striking distance, as Henry Ford responded with a two-run blast in the next frame, cutting Alabama’s lead to 9-6.

Tennessee’s bullpen imploded in the seventh. After Andrew Purdy flied out to start the inning, Peyton Steele drew a walk and then three straight Alabama batters were plunked. The third, Brady Neal, brought home Steele for the 10th run. Fowler then drew an insane 13-pitch walk that summed up the day for both sides — Tennessee’s control issues and Alabama’s plate discipline.

Hines was then hit with the bases loaded, meaning that all three of Alabama’s seventh-inning runs came on free passes. The Crimson Tide ended the game with 16 free passes and six batters hit, both the second most of the season for the team. Tennessee added two runs in the bottom of the inning, putting the game at its final score of 12-8.

The near-four-hour game was not Alabama’s prettiest performance. Lebron had a defensive error that contributed to one of Tennessee’s runs, and now sits at 16 on the season, doubling his 2025 total. Runners stranded also continue to be an issue for an Alabama team that left runners in scoring position in five innings. The biggest concern at the moment is the status of Justin Osterhouse, who appeared to injure his leg while stretching in the on-deck circle.

“I didn’t know if he slipped, I didn’t know what happened,” Vaughn said. “I thought maybe he was cramping, but that he was just stretching like he always does, and just something in his lower half, I don’t know if it’s hamstring, hip, I’ll get a better read from Stryker after this.”

Alabama and Tennessee will play a double-header on Friday, as inclement weather is expected in Knoxville on Saturday. The first game is set for a 1:30 p.m. CT first pitch, with game two beginning 30 minutes after its conclusion.

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SAN ANTONIO – Barriers on Preston Hollow Drive have been moved back, but part of the North Side street is still blocked off. This is where the National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation into two home explosions.

The explosions happened on Tuesday night. In total, five people were hurt. The latest update on Thursday revealed three of those victims were still in critical condition.

While the focus right now is on what caused the blasts, Texas attorney Michael Lyons is already looking ahead and raising concerns about what comes next.

“This is a recurring issue that exists in not just Texas,” Lyons said. “Gas infrastructure can be really dangerous.”

“I handle a lot of cases involving gas explosions nationwide,” Lyons said. “When there’s a gas explosion, my phone usually rings.”

At this time, Lyons, who is a partner at the Dallas firm Lyons & Simmons, is not directly connected to this case. But he has represented families here in the city with very similar stories.

“We tried the case in February of 2025 that resulted in a big verdict against CPS (Energy),” Lyons said.

He’s talking about Virginia Rymers and her son Robert. KSAT previously reported they survived a 2021 natural gas explosion at their East Side home but became severely injured as a result.

On Thursday, KSAT built a map showing all the house and apartment explosions we’ve covered since 2020.

One of Lyons’ biggest concerns is making sure the homes are not demolished on Preston Hollow Drive before the investigation is complete. A spokesperson with San Antonio’s Development Services Department confirmed to KSAT on Thursday that “nothing will be done until the investigation is completed.”

“The city and the taxpayers ought to know what happened and why and who is responsible,” Lyons said.

CPS Energy sent KSAT an updated statement just before 10 p.m. on Thursday, where a spokesperson for the utility said for the first time, “Electric and gas services in the Preston Hollow subdivision are clear and safe.”

Marc Whyte, the District 10 councilman, said his office and the city are currently working on creating a website to give out updates on the investigation as they become available.

CPS Energy will keep its customer response unit at the Northeast Senior Center through Sunday.

CPS Energy said if any customers at any point smell gas, they should leave the house immediately and call CPS Energy at 210-353-HELP (4357) or 911.

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ALEXANDRIA, Va. (7News) — A Georgia congressman’s viral proposal to add Arlington and Alexandria back into Washington, D.C., is called the “Make D.C. Square Again Act,” which has a history lesson buried inside it.

Rep. Rick Allen McCormick posted the idea on X this week, arguing the two Virginia jurisdictions were “always meant” to be part of the nation’s capital. His proposal comes as Virginia fights a federal court order blocking certification of results from a special election tied to its ongoing congressional redistricting battle.

“What we want to do is make D.C. square again,” McCormick wrote. “We repeal that unconstitutional law, give back Virginia exactly what it should have, give D.C. what it should have, and get this thing right.”

There is currently no indication the proposal has any support in Congress or from leaders in D.C. or Virginia. But the history behind it is complicated.

When Congress established a permanent home for the federal government through the Residence Act of 1790, Virginia and Maryland each surrendered territory to create it. The 100-square-mile District was made up of 69 square miles from Maryland and 31 square miles from Virginia, including what’s now known as Arlington and Alexandria.

When those areas were absorbed into the new District, its residents lost their Virginia state citizenship and, after 1802, could no longer vote in congressional or presidential elections.

Almost from the moment of its passage in 1801, Virginia was looking for a way to get its territory back. But it was economics, specifically the economics of slavery and the domestic slave trade, that ultimately made it happen.

Beginning in the 1820s, Alexandria became a major port of the domestic slave trade, with a series of slave trading companies operating out of a slave pen at 1315 Duke Street. Enslaved people from the Upper South, where tobacco farming was in decline, were bought and sold in Alexandria before being shipped to cotton plantations further south.

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Interior view of a slave pen at 1315 Duke Street in Alexandria, Virginia between 1861 and 1869. (Library of Congress)

Abolitionists had been vigorously lobbying Congress to end slavery and the slave trade in the District. In response, Alexandrians who profited from slaveholding wanted the town returned to Virginia’s jurisdiction, fearing abolitionists would succeed in banning the practice within the District.

A series of bills to return the “town and county of Alexandria” portion of D.C. to Virginia were proposed in Congress beginning in 1804. Both abolitionists and pro-slavery advocates at various times supported the effort, though for opposing reasons.

A key turning point came in 1844, when Congress ended its self-imposed ban on debating anti-slavery petitions. This was a sign that abolitionist political power was growing, and that the worst-case scenario for Virginia slaveholders was becoming more plausible.

Undated engraved portraits of President James Polk believed to be created 1775-1849. (Library of Congress)

By 1846, white civic leaders were actively lobbying for Alexandria and Arlington’s return to Virginia. Congress passed a retrocession act, and President James K. Polk signed it into law in July 1846. Virginia formally accepted those areas back under its jurisdiction in March 1847.

The decision had immediate consequences for Alexandria’s Black community. African American residents soon experienced the negative impacts of retrocession, including the closure of schools and other gathering sites they had previously been permitted to use while living under the District’s laws.

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McCormick’s bill undoes the retrocession act passed by Congress. He has framed it as a solution to Virginia’s ongoing redistricting disputes, arguing the congressional map chaos could have been avoided under his proposal.

In a statement, Democratic Congressman Don Beyer, who represents the affected areas in Northern Virginia, called McCormick’s bill “an embarrassing legislative tantrum” and “unconstitutional.”

Wednesday, a federal judge blocked Virginia from certifying results from a redistricting-related special election, ruling both the referendum and the underlying bill unconstitutional. Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones confirmed his office will appeal.

No co-sponsors have emerged for McCormick’s proposal. It would also face enormous legal, political, and practical hurdles, including questions about whether Congress can unilaterally alter state boundaries and what it would mean for the about 250,000, largely Democrat, residents of Alexandria and Arlington who currently hold Virginia citizenship.