TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – On a wonderful day for baseball, Alabama completed their fall season of play with a split, six inning, double header against the Florida State Seminoles.
Game one was highlighted by a fifth inning Bryce Eblin three run homerun that gave the Tide a 5-3 lead that they would not surrender. This was the theme of the first game, with a lot of offensive fireworks and hard hits. Every run was scored off a homerun for Alabama, with Evan Sleight and Camden Hayslip providing two solo homeruns earlier to spark the offense.
Ben Hess started game one on the mound, and despite giving up a homerun, his fastball looked good and caused a lot of trouble for some Seminole hitters. Alton Davis II got the ball in the second inning, and the former closer had a solid inning, but gave up a run on an error. Both pitchers had good moments and provided Head Coach Rob Vaughn with a lot of options for his starting rotation.
This will be something to monitor as the season gets closer, due to the departure of a couple Alabama arms, the potential for guys like Davis II to change their roles and become effective starters seems like a real possibility.
The second game was much more of a dud for Alabama, as a 2-0 loss and not a lot of offense killed the momentum from the first game. While the lineup was different, there was just a lack of big hits in the big moments and that hurt the team.
Riley Quick got the start for the second game and went two innings, giving up three hits but no runs. It was an up and down game for him, as he looked really powerful on the mound, but Florida State did connect with some of his stuff.
A debut for Pierce George was a big moment in this second game with the Texas transfer able to throw in the high 90s. He touched 100 mph last season for the Longhorns, but today he was a little off. A walk, followed by a wild pitch and a single got Florida State on the board and George had a rough introduction to Tuscaloosa. He was able to get two strikeouts and turn the inning over to Braylon Myers to finish the third with the game still at 1-0.
The second Florida State run was scored in the fourth, after a hard-hit ball to first was not fielded cleanly by Gage Miller to make it 2-0. Alabama got a big double play to keep the game within reach, but the offense could not get any rhythm going.
The sixth and final inning is where Alabama strung some hits together, and eventually the winning run got to the plate, but Coleman Mizell grounded out and that was all for the Fall Ball Season.
Alabama now turns to the regular season, and while that is a while away these two game showcases what kind of strategy you can expect from Vaughn in his first season at Alabama. With a formidable pitching staff and an offense that can hit the long ball, The Crimson Tide should have the pieces to improve from their 2022 magical run to the Super Regionals.
