Alabama continued its hot start to the season with a sweep of the North Dakota State Bison. This puts the Crimson Tide at 12-0 on the season
Game 1: Alabama 12, NDSU 4
Alabama overcame an early deficit to beat NDSU by a final score of 12-4.
Sophomore Zane Adams got the start for the Crimson Tide. Adams had a rough start in the first inning, allowing 3 earned runs and three hits. However, he persevered, only allowing one hit over the next three innings.
The bullpen also shut down NDSU’s offense, allowing only three hits and 1 run the rest of the game before closer Carson Ozmer came in to clinch the save and win.
After the game, head coach Rob Vaughn praised Adams for recovering from the rough start and staying in the game.
“It wasn’t his cleanest. It wasn’t his best, but the fact we didn’t have to go to the pen until the fifth saves us for the next two days.”
Alabama’s offense once again displayed its fire power. After going down 3-0 after the first, the team put up 5 runs in the second. Second baseman Brennen Norton hit a 2-run homer, and then outfielder Kade Snell hit his first home run of the season during the next at-bat. Outfielder Richie Bonomolo Jr. hit another 2-run shot just two at-bats later.
Snell said has been working on his patience at the plate.
“I am not hitting bad by any means, but those extra base hits and stuff will come,” he said.
Alabama added 7 more runs between the seventh and eighth innings. 5 of those runs came in the seventh, where the Crimson Tide scored 2 from two singles, as well as 3 being scored from three walks when the bases were loaded.
NDSU scored off of a sacrifice fly in the 8th, but third baseman Jason Torres put the game to rest with a 2-run blast to left field.
Game 2: Alabama 9, NDSU 7
In the second game of the series, the Crimson Tide defeated NDSU 9-7, holding off a late rally.
Lebron surprisingly didn’t get on base in the 12-run performance the day before, but that didn’t happen this time. He blasted the first pitch he saw to left field for a solo homer at the bottom of the first.
“That dude hits. You’re a little more nervous if you’re the other team and you get him out three or four times in a row, because you know it’s coming,” Vaughn said. “He’s steady, and he’s just a mature hitter.”
Lebron’s middle-infield partner, Norton, didn’t have the same hitless problem coming in, as he slugged a homer in Game 1 of the series. But that didn’t stop him from hitting two more homers en route to a 4-RBI day.
“The past few days, I’ve kind of been in-between. I was telling myself to not be late on a fastball,” Norton said. “It just kinda happened the way it did.”
Alabama starting pitcher Riley Quick finally surrendered his first 2 runs of the season, but he overall still had a good line with four innings pitched, five hits, 2 earned runs and five strikeouts, and he picked up his third win in as many starts.
Torres slugged his second homer in two days in the bottom of the seventh, giving Alabama an 8-2 advantage and seemingly putting the game away. But it wouldn’t be that easy for the Crimson Tide this time.
It was 9-3 headed to the top of the ninth, but the Bison ultimately rallied to make it a 9-7 game, thanks to an RBI groundout, two RBI doubles and an RBI single. North Dakota State ultimately brought the go-ahead run to the plate, but Ozmer came in and struck out the last two batters for his second consecutive save.
“To me, we left that door wide open in a lot of different ways,” Vaughn said. “We earned that win today, but I didn’t think we finished the way that I wanted to finish.”
Game 3: Alabama 11, NDSU 3
Alabama completed its sweep of NDSU with an 11-3 win in Game 3.
The Bison scored the first run in the game thanks to a double from catcher/utility player Noah Gordon, but Alabama bounced right back in the second inning, scoring 7 runs. Torres hit his third home run of the series to tie the game 1-1, and Hodo and Horton scored next thanks to a throwing error from NDSU catcher Bennett Freider. Lebron then delivered a grand slam for Alabama to make it a 7-1 game.
Vaughn praised Lebron’s transformation from Year 1 to Year 2.
“When you’re a guy surrounded by so many other guys, I think that allows him to play more free and not force things, and man it has been a heck of a start,” Vaughn said.
NDSU tried to fight back again, with a solo home run in the fourth by outfielder Will Mann. Another run scored in the sixth, and despite Alabama not allowing a hit this inning, NDSU scored due to multiple passed balls.
Alabama put the game away in the eighth. After Snell scored from a Bonomolo Jr. single in the sixth, the Crimson Tide scored 3 more in the eighth. An infielder’s choice and sac fly on back-to-back plays made it 10-3, before a single by designated hitter Coleman Mizell allowed infielder Snell to score the game’s final run.
After not starting on Opening Day, Mizell has since found huge success at the plate and is excited to contribute to the team’s success.
“It’s just an understanding that everyone has a plan and just everyone has a timeline of their own success,” he said.
Senior Bobby Alcock got the start on the mound for the Crimson Tide. After allowing the early run in the first, he quickly rebounded, only allowing one hit and 1 run in the next three innings while also putting up seven strikeouts.
