Connect with us

Alabama

Eleven-Run Third Inning Propels Alabama Baseball to Midweek Win Over Samford

Published

on

Eleven-Run Third Inning Propels Alabama Baseball to Midweek Win Over Samford


TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— The three runs the No. 23 Alabama baseball team scored in the fifth inning would not have been enough to defeat Samford on Tuesday night. Every other home half-inning apart from that fifth was scoreless, except the third. In the third inning, the Crimson Tide (26-15, 7-11 SEC) scored 11 runs.

The Bulldogs (26-14, 10-2 SoCon) fell to the home team at Sewell-Thomas Stadium by a 14-5 margin, bolstered largely by that third-inning offensive onslaught. The first time these two teams met, Samford drew to within one in the ninth inning, but could not muster such a rally in the rematch.

“That’s a really good team,” Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn said. “All in all, just a really good team win… I didn’t think these guys flinched.” Vaughn’s team had dropped its past two midweeks. The second of those prompted him to say the Crimson Tide simply hadn’t played well enough.

Samford took it to Crimson Tide started Kade Snell in the top of the second inning, plating four runs off him with back-to-back RBI doubles and a two-run home run by leadoff man Garrett Staton. Vaughn attributed Snell’s issues to not finishing at-bats. When Alabama third baseman Gage Miller stepped into the batter’s box to lead off the home third, his squad faced a 4-0 deficit.

Advertisement

Three two-run home runs, all to left field, gave Alabama a 6-4 lead. Right fielder Evan Sleight hit the one which broke the tie for the last time. “When it gets to this time of the year, you really gotta just lock in with the approach,” Sleight said. “That was a great inning for us, and that’s a glimpse into what we can do as a lineup.”

Freshman shortstop Justin Lebron hit the first of the three home runs, initially slashing the deficit in half. He went 3-5 for the evening. “I was just seeing the ball really well today, and I was just trying to do my job in certain cases,” he said.

“I tell him [Lebron all the time, I’m so proud of him,” Sleight said. “As a freshman, especially in the SEC, it’s extremely challenging… The head on his shoulders is something I’ve actually never seen before.” Lebron said leadership from players like Sleight has allowed him to settle in and continue to learn.

The other home run in the inning belonged to TJ McCants, bringing his season total to 13 and further increasing the single-season career best he set once he entered double digits. His opposite-field blast tied the game. The wheels came off from there for Samford, which used three pitchers in the inning and eight on the night. Alex Gaeto, who gave up the home run to Sleight, was tagged with the loss.

The home runs did not encompass all the third-inning damage. Lebron also had a double for two runs batted in, as did first baseman Will Hodo, who himself scored the last run of the inning on a passed ball. Samford scored one more run in the top of the fifth and Alabama responded with three.

Advertisement

As for the Crimson Tide pitching, the coaching staff took a by-committee approach after Snell’s exit, with freshman reliever Austin Morris earning the win. “A-Mo was great tonight,” Vaughn said. “Same thing with Zane Probst… Aidan Moza was outstanding.. and then Braylon [Myers] was great at the end.” Freshman Ariston Veasey made his Alabama debut and was lifted after issuing back-to-back walks, but Vaughn was happy he had a chance to get his feet wet. He said some of those players will be relied on to get outs during the weekend’s SEC series against Ole Miss.

“That’s part of what makes college baseball awesome,” Vaughn said of facing a challenge like playing Ole Miss on the road. He plans on reminding his players not to allow those hostile crowds to make them emotional in negative ways. “When you get emotional, you get outside of yourself,” Vaughn said. “At the end of the day, that’s what makes college baseball the greatest thing ever. We get to go on the road in front of two great crowds, and two really good teams [Ole Miss and Mississippi State] these next two weekends. The Ole Miss series runs from Thursday to Saturday.

Vaughn provided an update on starting pitcher Ben Hess, who took a comebacker off his lower leg against Texas A&M and left the game. He will start Friday in Oxford, Miss. “It was more scary than anything,” said Vaughn. He’s been pleased with his players’ energy on short turnarounds, as they have now had multiple scheduled Thursday-Saturday weekends.

“SEC games aren’t hard to get up for,” Vaughn said. As an example of the energy he likes to see, he used injured starter Riley Quick, likening himself to Quick’s get-back coach if the two were on a football field. “That dude is right next to me,” he said. “That permeates down… They’re into every single pitch, and that matters.” The turning point, he said, was after the Kentucky series.

There are not a lot of home games left (three, to be exact). The Crimson Tide faces a major test in Mississippi over the course of the next couple of weekends. It got the result it wanted on Tuesday night, overcoming an area (midweeks) that had become problematic. However, even in April, the SEC schedule is far from over. A cohesive effort is what’s needed to win, and Alabama brought that on Tuesday.

Advertisement



Source link

Alabama

How to watch Tennessee Volunteers: Live stream info, TV channel, game time | Feb. 28

Published

on

How to watch Tennessee Volunteers: Live stream info, TV channel, game time | Feb. 28


Labaron Philon’s No. 18 Alabama Crimson Tide (21-7, 11-4 SEC) hit the road to match up with Ja’Kobi Gillespie and the No. 22 Tennessee Volunteers (20-8, 10-5 SEC) at Thompson-Boling Arena on Saturday, Feb. 28. The game starts at 6 p.m. ET.

We have more details below, including how to watch this matchup on ESPN.

Prepare for this matchup with everything you need to know ahead of Saturday’s college hoops action.

Tennessee vs. Alabama: How to watch on TV or live stream

  • Game day: Saturday, February 28, 2026
  • Game time: 6 p.m. ET
  • Location: Knoxville, Tennessee
  • Arena: Thompson-Boling Arena
  • TV Channel: ESPN
  • Live stream: Fubo – Watch NOW (Regional restrictions may apply)

Check out: USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

Watch college basketball on Fubo!

Advertisement

Tennessee vs. Alabama stats and trends

  • Tennessee ranks 78th in the nation with 80.5 points per game so far this year. At the other end, it ranks 62nd with 69.1 points allowed per contest.
  • The Volunteers are thriving when it comes to rebounding, as they rank third-best in college basketball in boards (39.9 per game) and second-best in rebounds allowed (25.9 per contest).
  • So far this season, Tennessee ranks 30th in college basketball in assists, averaging 17.1 per game.
  • With 11.8 turnovers per game, the Volunteers are 257th in the country. They force 10.7 turnovers per contest, which ranks 224th in college basketball.
  • This season, Tennessee is making 6.9 threes per game (271st-ranked in college basketball) and is shooting 34.7% (139th-ranked) from three-point land.
  • With a 30.2% three-point percentage allowed this season, the Volunteers are 22nd-best in the country. They rank 182nd in college basketball by giving up 7.8 three-pointers per contest.
  • Tennessee has taken 67.3% two-pointers and 32.7% three-pointers this year. Of the team’s buckets, 75.8% are two-pointers and 24.2% are three-pointers.

Tennessee vs. Alabama Odds and Spread

  • Spread Favorite: Volunteers (-4.5)
  • Moneyline: Tennessee (-222), Alabama (+179)
  • Total: 164.5 points

NCAA Basketball odds courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook. Odds updated Saturday at 4:11 a.m. ET. For a full list of sports betting odds, access USA TODAY Sports Betting Scores Odds Hub.

Watch college basketball on Fubo!

Follow the latest college sports coverage at College Sports Wire.



Source link

Continue Reading

Alabama

Alabama ‘Fully Aware’ of Losing Streak to Tennessee Ahead of Road Rematch

Published

on

Alabama ‘Fully Aware’ of Losing Streak to Tennessee Ahead of Road Rematch


TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Losing to a rival almost always hurts more than falling to another opponent during the regular season. Years of hatred, unforgettable moments and tradition boiled up into one game, and the delivery is nowhere to be found for one team.

No. 17 Alabama has won seven straight games and is eyeing an eighth on Saturday on the road against No. 22 Tennessee. This is the second time that Crimson Tide will face the Volunteers, as Alabama lost in Tuscaloosa in January.

The loss a month ago to head coach Rick Barnes and company brought UA’s losing streak against Tennessee to five games. It’s the first time that the Tide has dropped this many games to the Vols since 1968-72 — a streak that came two years before Alabama head coach Nate Oats was born (Oct. 13, 1974). It’s why Oats is not treating Tennessee as a faceless opponent or like any other team the Tide has faced.

Advertisement

“Every year we’ve been here they’ve caused us issues,” Oats said during Friday’s press conference. “Our players, are fully aware that we’ve lost five in a row. They’re fully aware of what happened out there last year. I’ve taken ownership for my share of what happened up there last year.

Advertisement

“We’re fully aware that they beat us at home. We haven’t lost very many home games in conference, period, really since we’ve been here, and they handed us one this year.”

After falling to Florida on Feb. 1, Alabama moved down to the ninth spot in the conference standings, and the college basketball world started to question whether or not the Crimson Tide would be a threat in the postseason.

But a switch flipped after that loss, and the current winning streak has Alabama tied for the No. 2 spot in the SEC standings. Everything seems to be trending in the Tide’s direction, as there are only three games remaining on the schedule.

Oats is in his sixth year as Alabama’s head coach. Following the retirement of former Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl during the offseason, Oats became the second-longest tenured coach for one team in the conference. The coach in front of him: Tennessee’s Rick Barnes, who has held his position since the 2015-16 season.

Advertisement

Both Alabama and Tennessee have finished conference play in the top-4 of the standings since the 2022-23 season. The Crimson Tide was the regular-season and SEC Tournament champions in both the 2020-21 and 2022-23 seasons, while the Vols won the 2022 SEC Tournament and were the conference’s regular-season champions in 2023-24.

Advertisement

“So our guys know, but at the same time, we’ve got a lot of respect for how they play and what they do. We’ve got to come in with a healthy amount of respect for them, but we got to try to win this game.

“There’s a lot riding on this game. What happens in Arkansas-Florida, you’re either going to be all alone in second place if we could get a win, or you’re going to be one game out first. If you take a loss, now you’re in danger of losing a top-4 seed. They’ll be tied with us if we take a loss.”

“So there’s a lot riding on the SEC standings in this game here. They know that. They know what our struggles against Tennessee have Been as well.”

Subscribe to BamaCentral’s Free Newsletter



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Alabama

Selmont seeks incorporation to become independent Alabama city

Published

on

Selmont seeks incorporation to become independent Alabama city


SELMONT, Ala. (WSFA) – An unincorporated community in Dallas County is seeking to establish itself as an independent city, hoping to gain control over local government services and community priorities that have long been managed at the county level.

Selmont, located across the Edmund Pettus Bridge from Selma, is home to approximately 2,700 registered voters and carries a significant place in civil rights history.

The community was the site of a pivotal moment during the Bloody Sunday march in 1965, when roughly 600 civil rights marchers were tear-gassed by Alabama state troopers, including 13-year-old Mae Richmond.

“People ask us ‘Were we afraid?’ No. We were not afraid. We were not afraid, first of all, even as a 13-year-old child, we knew that we were doing what God was permitting us to do,” Richmond, a 60-plus year resident of Selmont, said of the historic event.

Advertisement

As an unincorporated community, Selmont lacks its own municipal government. Residents must contact the Dallas County Commissioner for public works services. It’s a situation that community leaders say limits responsiveness to local needs.

Erice Williams, a community activist leading the incorporation effort, said the change would fundamentally alter how the community operates.

“It would give us decision power and allow us to get funding that we can allocate to our own community that we can make our own priorities be clear and resolved at the same time,” Williams said.

Williams also highlighted the strain on current county services. “Connel Towns (county commissioner) is the only person we have to call, and the resources and time that he would have to serve our community is very limited,” he said.

Operation Selmont, the group spearheading the incorporation effort, is currently gathering signatures on a petition to present to the local probate judge. The organization needs approximately 500 signatures to move forward with the incorporation process and has already collected 40 percent of its goal.

Advertisement

The next meeting for Operation Selmont is scheduled for March 6 at 6 p.m.

For longtime residents like Richmond, incorporation represents an opportunity to ensure Selmont’s future and maintain its identity for generations to come.

“That we will be able to teach and train our children to give them the strength that our foreparents had that they will be able to stand up for justice and for equality,” Richmond said of her hopes for the community’s future.

Not reading this story on the WSFA News App? Get news alerts FASTER and FREE in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store!

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending