TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – On a beautiful Saturday afternoon to kick off March, the Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the North Dakota State Bison, 9-7, to clinch the series victory and set up a potential sweep on Sunday. The Tide were able to hold on despite a late 4-run Bison rally in the ninth in which NDSU had the tying run on second base.
Brennen Norton led the way offensively, going 3-for-4 with two home runs and four RBIs after going deep in Game 1. “I told myself all day today that I wasn’t going to be late on a fastball. Of course I immediately swung at two sliders in the dirt but then I got the fastball and it just kind of happened the way it did,” said second baseman Brennen Norton.
The Tide made it a point of emphasis to get off to a hot start after digging themselves a hole early in game one. Justin Lebron wasted no time, crushing the first pitch he saw off the scoreboard in left for his team-leading seventh home run of the season.
In the second inning, Brennen Norton added to the momentum, ripping a laser down the left field line for his second homer in as many days, extending Alabama’s lead to 2-0.
After a dominant first two innings, Riley Quick got into his first sizable jam in the third inning, allowing three consecutive hits and giving up his first earned run of the season. However, the Tide offense responded immediately in the bottom half of the frame, scoring a run after consecutive hits from Richie Bonomolo Jr. and Bryce Fowler.
Fowler’s run-scoring double extended his hitting streak to 11 games to open the 2025 campaign. Bonomolo Jr. has been quietly raking at the bottom of the Tide lineup, turning in a 2-for-2 performance at the plate with two walks and two runs scored.
The Bison offense wouldn’t go away that easy, as Colten Becker took Riley Quick deep in the fourth to cut the deficit back to just one. That inning marked Quick’s last inning of work as the junior surrendered his first two earned runs of the season on five hits while recording a season-high five strikeouts.
Alabama jumped out to its largest lead of the game in the fifth inning, as Brennen Norton crushed a three-run homer, his second long ball of the day, to extend the Tide lead to 6-2. Norton has been a nightmare all weekend for the Bison pitching staff, belting two homers today after sending one deep in game one.
Matthew Heigberger was excellent in relief, just as he has been all season. The southpaw hurled two scoreless frames behind Riley Quick, allowing just one hit and striking out one. The junior has yet to surrender a run this season.
The Tide offense added to its lead in the seventh inning, as Jason Torres launched a two-run homer, marking Alabama’s fourth home run of the day.
The Bison offense mounted its biggest threat of the game in the eighth inning when a pitch from Beau Bryans struck Colten Becker in the face, loading the bases with just one out. Packy Bradley-Cooney came in and issued a walk, allowing a run to score, but he responded with back-to-back strikeouts to stall the threat.
In the eighth inning, Justin Lebron collected his third hit of the day with an RBI single through the right side, extending Alabama’s lead to 9-3, which would be the final tally of the game for Alabama. Lebron finished the day going 3-for-5 with 2 RBI and one run scored.
The Bison mounted another scoring threat in the ninth, putting runners on first and third with no outs. Alabama called on Tate Robertson to close it out, but the Bison quickly capitalized, hitting a double to the alley to score one. A ground-out brought in another run, followed by a single up the middle that cut the deficit to just three.
In response, Alabama turned to Carson Ozmer to secure the save. Pinch-hitter Will Gordon sliced a single down the right-field line, bringing in another run and cutting the deficit to two. However, Ozmer responded by punching out the next batter and then forcing a flyout to end the game and seal the series victory. Ozmer secured his third save of the year.
“A win is a win, you take a win when you can get it. I thought it was the first game of the year where we really let them hang around. It was good to see [Ozmer] come in and slam the door for us there at the end,” said Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn.
NEXT: Alabama will look to pick up a series sweep of the Bison with a win in Game 3 on Sunday. The first pitch is set for 1 p.m. CT and can be streamed live on SEC Network plus.
