Alabama
Alabama Baseball Uses Big Eighth Inning To Take Series Finale Against Tennessee | Rocky Top Insider
Tennessee and Alabama baseball went back-and-forth in Sunday afternoon’s series finale in Tuscaloosa before the Crimson Tide scored three runs in the eighth inning to secure a 7-5 victory.
AJ Russell made his return to the mound and the Vols bats were relatively quiet as Alabama clinched the weekend series against Tennessee.
Here’s everything to know about the Sunday series rubber match.
AJ Russell Returns In Short Outing
Perhaps the best news of the weekend for Tennessee is that talented sophomore pitcher AJ Russell returned to the mound after missing the previous three weeks with side soreness that reared its ugly head in the series opener against UAlbany.
Russell was the Vols’ Friday night starter to open the season and is the most talented pitcher Tennessee has. Tony Vitello gave Russell the ball for the series finale and while it was an unsurprisingly short outing, the tall right-hander was solid in his return.
Russell threw 40 pitches in two innings. It was a shaky first few batters for Russell as he surrendered a single, allowed the runner to advance to second on a balk and then allowed a one-out RBI single.
But the talented sophomore was great from there. He got out of the first inning with a line out and a pop out before sitting down the Crimson Tide in order in the second.
Russell finished his day allowing two hits and one run while striking out two batters. He threw 28 strikes in 40 pitches as he was solid in his return to game action.
More From RTI: Tennessee vs. Alabama Game Three Play-By-Play
Both Bullpens Settle In
After Tennessee scored four runs against Alabama’s bullpen in the third inning and the Crimson Tide answered with two runs in the bottom half of the third and a leadoff home run in the fourth inning it looked like we might be in for a classic Sunday shootout.
But in the middle innings of the game, each bullpen eased into the game and found its footing.
For Alabama, RHP Braylon Myers was fantastic for three innings. In the fourth through six innings, Myers kept Tennessee off the scoreboard and allowed just two baserunners while pounding the strike zone and striking out two batters.
For Tennessee, it was key bullpen reliever Nate Snead. Snead came in with two runners on base and allowed both to score before giving up the solo homer to open up the fourth inning. It wasn’t the best start for the Wichita State transfer, but Snead settled in from there.
Snead got to the eighth inning with just giving up that lone run but that’s when he ran into trouble. More on that in a moment.
The game would have more runs in the final inning, but Snead and Myers turned in strong relief outings to keep the game from turning into a shootout.
Things Get Away From Tennessee In The Eighth Inning
Tennessee held a 5-4 lead entering the eighth inning with Snead starting to wear down. That’s when things got away from the flame throwing right-handed pitcher.
He hit the leadoff batter and allowed a one-out hit that put the leading run on base. Dylan Dreiling almost saved the day making a spectacular leaping catch at the wall for out number two. But Snead couldn’t get the final out as Alabama leadoff batter Gage Miller roped a middle-middle fastball for a no doubt home run to left field.
The home run gave Alabama a 7-5 lead which marked its first lead since the third inning. Tennessee loaded the bases thanks to Alabama defensive miscues in the ninth inning and pulled within one with a RBI walk but couldn’t get the big hit needed to tie the game or take the lead.
After taking the series opener, Tennessee couldn’t close out the weekend series on Saturday or in the closing innings on Sunday.
Final Stats
Up Next
Tennessee returns to Lindsey Nelson Stadium for a Tuesday night midweek matchup against Xavier. First pitch is at 6 p.m. ET.
Alabama
Husband, 19, fatally shot wife, 24, himself at Alabama hospital moments after welcoming their first child
A husband fatally shot his wife before turning the gun on himself at an Alabama hospital just moments after they welcomed their first child on Sunday.
Kynath Terry Jr., 19, gunned down 24-year-old Precious Johnson before fatally shooting himself inside the Baptist Health Brookwood Hospital around 9:30 p.m. Sunday night, WTVM 13 reported.
Johnson delivered a healthy baby just before she was murdered. It’s not immediately clear if the baby was present during the shooting, but police said that Terry and Johnson were the only ones injured.
Terry’s mother told the outlet that the couple were having some marital issues leading up to Johnson’s due date, but nothing that made her fear her son would become violent.
She told the outlet that Terry completed Army National Guard training before tying the knot with Johnson.
She noted that Johnson didn’t want Terry’s side of the family at the hospital for her child’s birth, but it’s unclear if anyone from the mother-to-be’s own family was there.
The hospital was plunged into a lockdown “out of an abundance of caution” while police investigated reports of a shooting. It wasn’t lifted until hours later when they determined there was “no active threat to patients, team members or the public,” the outlet reported.
The Homewood Police Department described the tragedy as “an apparent murder-suicide and is domestic in nature.”
Danne Howard, the president of the Alabama Hospital Association, told the outlet that the chilling attack “was an isolated incident” unlike anything she’d encountered during her three decades working in the state.
Howard said, in the wake of the tragedy, the Baptist Health Brookwood Hospital would undergo a security overhaul implementing “lessons learned” from a mandated after-action report.
Just three months ago, in a town six miles outside of Homewood, a beloved sports reporter was fatally shot by her husband before taking his own life. Their 3-year-old son, who was unharmed, led his grandfather to his parents’ bodies.
Hegseth on Iran: ‘This is not Iraq. This is not endless.’
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said operations on Iran won’t be “endless” like Iraq.
The United States and Israel-led attacks on Iran are having an impact in Central Alabama.
The military actions that began Saturday targets the military forces of Iran and the nation’s ability to build nuclear weapons.
In Montgomery, Maxwell Air Force Base and Gunter Annex have stepped up security so that all entry points will have a 100 percent ID check, the bases said on social media. The Trusted Traveler Program is suspended, which allowed Department of Defense identification holders to vouch for passengers.
Visitors without base access will have to go through the visitor center to get a pass.
Central Alabama residents react to the Iran attacks
For Travis Jackson of Montgomery, the attacks bring back memories, bad memories. He served one tour in Iraq from 2007-2008 with the U.S. Army. He attained the rank of sergeant before leaving the service and has worked the last 10 years as a community activist and diversity, equality and inclusion coordinator.
“I had a flashback of being overseas again,” he said when he first heard news of the attack. “The first thing I thought of was corporate greed. Of yet again seeing what has transpired throughout the years of any war overseas.”
He feels the attacks are a mistake.
“It’s going to be detrimental to the economy, notably with the increase in oil prices,” he said.
Removing the current regime in Iran and establishing a more western friendly country could improve hopes for a more stable Middle East, said Amy Stephens of Elmore County.
“I don’t know if there will ever be peace there,” Stephens said. “But Iran has been the causing trouble over there for almost 50 years.”
Ray Roberts of Prattville served in Operation Desert Shield/Storm in 1990 and 1991 after Iraq invaded Kuwait. He served in an ordinance company with the Alabama Army National Guard. He was a sergeant when he left the service and now works as a draftsman at a Montgomery manufacturing plant.
“It wasn’t a surprise,” Roberts said of the attacks. “President Trump had said they were coming. When he says something like that, he means it. I am glad we are working with Israel so it’s not just the United States. I wonder if Europe and some of the other Gulf nations will join the attacks.”
Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com. To support his work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey was honored for her lifelong dedication to youth and community service during the 12th annual Black Warrior Council Boy Scouts of America Circle of Honor awards luncheon.
The ceremony, which was held Feb. 27 at the Embassy Suites hotel in downtown Tuscaloosa, serves as a fundraiser for the council’s scouting program.
The Circle of Honor award is presented to people in west central Alabama whose livelihood and actions reflect the same values of the Black Warrior Boy Scouts. Recipients have also shown advocacy for youth and leadership in the community.
Past recipients of the award include Terry Saban, Nick Saban, former U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, scientist and philanthropist Thomas Joiner, pharmacist and retailer James I. Harrison Jr., civic leader Mary Ann Phelps and more.
Cathy Randall, a Tuscaloosa businesswoman, educator and philanthropist, presented Ivey with the award. Randall was inducted into the Circle of Honor in 2025 along with her late husband, Pettus.
Ivey said she was grateful to receive the honor by the Black Warrior Council and highlighted the importance of public service.
“I’m proud to have dedicated my life to public service, there’s no more noble calling than to uplift and empower lives,” said Ivey during the Feb. 27 ceremony.
Ivey thanked the scouting organizations, including the Black Warrior Council for its contributions to educational opportunities, economic development, and public safety.
“In particular, I’m proud of the work done by our Scouting organizations like the Black Warrior Council, who lay a foundation for successful future in both our young people and our state, thank you for all you do to build a stronger Alabama by changing lives and preparing our future leaders,” said Ivey, a native of Camden in Wilcox County.
Ivey is wrapping up her second term as governor after a long career spent primarily in government.
After graduating from Auburn University in 1967, Ivey worked as a high school teacher and a bank officer. She served as reading clerk for the Alabama House of Representatives under then-Speaker Joseph C. McCorquodale and she served as assistant director at the Alabama Development Office.
In 2002, Ivey was elected to the first of two terms as Alabama’s treasurer and in 2010, she was elected to the first of two terms as lieutenant governor. On April 10, 2017, Ivey was sworn in as Alabama’s 54th governor after the resignation of Robert Bentley. She filled out the rest of Bentley’s term before winning the gubernatorial election in 2018 and she was re-elected in 2022.
She will leave office at the end of this year.
She is the first Republican woman to serve as Alabama’s governor but she’s the second woman to hold the state’s top executive office. Tuscaloosa County native Lurleen B. Wallace, a Democrat, became Alabama’s first female governor in 1966.
Circle of Honor luncheon raises nearly $200,000
Also during the ceremony, retired DCH Health System administrator Sammy Watson, who served as the event’s emcee, announced that the council had raised $197,000 through the luncheon that day.
Proceeds from the lunch will be used to expand Boy Scouts programs, making them available to over 3,000 young people in west central Alabama.
The Boy Scouts of America is the nation’s leading outdoor education and character development program. The mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law.
Reach Jasmine Hollie at JHollie@usatodayco.com. To support her work, please subscribe to The Tuscaloosa News.
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