Alabama
Ole Miss Baseball Weekend Scouting Report: Alabama Crimson Tide
Life in the Southeastern Conference is not easy.
After dropping a winnable series on the road in Athens, the Ole Miss Rebels host the top 25 Alabama Crimson Tide at Swayze Field this weekend in what is a must-win series in Oxford. This Ole Miss team needs to build on a nice midweek win and keep swinging a hot bat.
Here are three things to look for in this weekend’s series against the Tide.
Away From “The Joe”
Sewell-Thomas Stadium, commonly referred to as “The Joe,” has been very kind Crimson Tide this season, giving them a 20-7 record at home.
Road games for this squad have been a different story, however. The Tide are 3-7 on the road this year, and Swayze Field is a difficult place to play for any team. An early lead could pay dividends throughout this series for the Rebels if they can make things happen on Thursday night.
In 2022, however (the last time the Crimson Tide were in Oxford), they completed a three-game sweep of the Rebels. It should be interesting to see if these cold spells on the road continue this weekend.
Elite Bats
The 2023 Alabama team doesn’t beat you with elite pitching, but they will beat you with their bats. Alabama is in the top half of all of the offensive team statistics in the SEC, ranking inside the top five in average, slugging percentage, hits, and RBIs. This Alabama team has been swinging a hot bat all year, and playing in a hitters’ park like Swayze plays right into their hand.
Former Rebel and CWS hero TJ McCants has also been a star for this Alabama team, as the change of scenery has totally unlocked his power potential. McCants is second on the team in homers (13) and third in batting average (.330). He also leads the team in stolen bases with 11.
Average Pitching Staff
While the pitching staff for the Tide is below-average statically in the SEC, they will roll with three strong, tall pitchers this weekend.
On Thursday, Gregg Farone gets the ball. Farone is a 6-foot-6, 240-pound lefty who can get really get down the mound. He will sit in the mid-to-low 90s, but with his large frame, his fastball will really get on these Rebel hitters. The same can be said for the righty on Friday night, Ben Hess.
Hess fits the same mold of the big power righties who have silenced the Rebel bats the past two weekends.
Saturday, freshman Zane Adams will take the bump for the Tide. Adams was the top left-handed pitcher out of the state of Texas according to Perfect Game, and his stuff has translated well into college baseball. He has been inconsistent at times, but when he is on, he is lights-out. Adams went eight scoreless in rout to a win over (at the time) the-top ranked Arkansas Razorbacks.
It should be another great weekend for baseball in the SEC. First pitch on Thursday is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on ESPNU.
Alabama
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (WBRC) – Pauline Love, the new head coach of the Alabama women’s basketball team, says her late college coach, Joye Lee-McNelis, is the reason she got into coaching.
Love played for Lee-McNelis at Southern Miss, describing her as a second mother. Lee-McNelis passed away last summer after a long battle with breast cancer.
A relationship that changed her path
Love said she once told Lee-McNelis she would never go into coaching, a conversation the two laughed about often.
“I used to tell her all the time, I would never do this. I would never put up with somebody like me or I would never work for somebody like her. I was like coach, you’re crazy. We used to laugh about it all the time and she was like you’ll see one day, you’ll see,” Love said.
Love had planned to work in the tech industry. Instead, she has spent 15 years in coaching.
“She pretty much paved the way for me. There’s no way I’d be sitting here if it wasn’t for her,” Love said.
High expectations at Alabama
Love returns to Tuscaloosa after previously serving as an assistant at Alabama. She was introduced as head coach in April, and was brought to tears when she mentioned Lee-McNelis during that introduction.
Her goals for the program are clear.
“I’m going to have a passion about it. I want to bring a Final Four to the University of Alabama and make Tuscaloosa proud,” Love said.
This year’s roster includes Spring Garden’s Ace Austin, back for her sophomore season.
Love said she wants her players to know that difficult times are part of the process.
“I can say for them, I’ve been there. I’ve done it. Just learn how to figure out and fight through hard things. You gotta do something hard and fight through it and I promise you it’s rewarding at the end of it,” Love said.
Love said she also wants to be a source of support for her players off the court, the same way Lee-McNelis was for her.
“I know we always get caught up in the money part of it, but I got a group of girls that doesn’t care about that. They want to care about making the fans happy and giving them something good to watch,” Love said.
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Alabama football fans are invited to a preseason pep rally Aug. 4 at the Tuscaloosa River Market.
The pep rally is part of the annual fall kickoff event hosted by the Tuscaloosa County chapter of the University of Alabama National Alumni Association.
The family friendly event will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the River Market, 1900 Jack Warner Parkway. Tickets, which include a barbecue dinner, cost $30 for adults and $15 for children ages 8 to 12. Children 7 years old and younger will be admitted for free.
The pep rally will feature live entertainment, a silent auction and a range of family-friendly activities. There will also be a cash bar with wine and beer.
Tickets can be purchased on the chapter’s website, tuscaloosacountyuaalumni.com. Membership in the local alumni chapter is not required for attendance.
University of Alabama President Peter Mohler and UA baseball coach Rob Vaughn will be part of the festivities.
Mohler began his duties as UA president on July 21, 2025.
Before being named UA president, Mohler spent nearly 15 years at Ohio State University, where he held senior leadership roles overseeing research, innovation and economic development. He also served as OSU’s acting president, providing leadership during a pivotal period for one of the nation’s largest public universities.
Mohler earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Wake Forest University and a PhD in cell and molecular physiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Duke University Medical Center before joining the faculty at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Vaughn has been UA’s head baseball coach for three years, leading the Crimson Tide to the College Baseball World Series in 2026.
The Humble, Texas, native served as head baseball coach at Maryland for five seasons before coming to Tuscaloosa.
Vaughn played collegiate baseball at Kansas State, where his position was catcher.
Alabama begins the 2026 football season on Sept. 5 with a home game against the East Carolina Pirates. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Other Alabama home games include Florida State on Sept. 19, South Carolina on Sept. 26, Georgia on Oct. 10, Texas A&M on Oct. 24, Chattanooga on Nov. 21 and Auburn on Nov. 28.
Reach Ken Roberts at ken.roberts@tuscaloosanews.com. To support his work, please subscribe to The Tuscaloosa News.
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