No. 14 Alabama Baseball Evens Series With No. 5 Tennessee

The first SEC win of Alabama baseball’s season came in the encore of its Tennessee series with a bounce-back victory.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.- Things did not go according to plan for the No. 14 Alabama baseball team in its SEC opener on Friday night. The Crimson Tide rebounded with the biggest victory of its season in the encore on Saturday, evening the opening series of league play.

The final score was 6-3. Alabama doubled its run total from Friday’s contest, while No. 5 Tennessee’s total decreased substantially from Friday evening’s 11 runs. 

Greg Farone had his second outing as the Saturday starting pitcher, with head coach Rob Vaughn hoping for the left-hander to be himself on the mound and expecting that if Farone could deliver on that, Alabama would have a shot. With a 5.1 inning, 92-pitch line comprising just one run to go with four strikeouts against a deep batting order, he delivered. The game was Vaughn's first SEC win.

"That's what we expect out of him [Farone], and I've seen it," Vaughn said. "At times, when you see a lineup like that... sometimes you can start to nibble, you can start to not maybe trust your stuff as much. We talk about competing a lot, everybody talks about competing, but I say it all the time. Competing to us is believing that what you have is good enough... To do that, you've gotta go send it at them. If you're gonna go down in a ball of fire, go down with your stuff, being you."

Once again, the Crimson Tide (16-3, 1-1 SEC) scored in the first inning. This was after Farone worked around a bases-loaded, one-out jam with no damage allowed. The first two Volunteer batters of the game reached, creating an early threat. Alabama did the same and scored the first run of the night on an Ian Petrutz RBI groundout that sent home Gage Miller. "Second and third, no outs, is not what you want when you start the game," Farone said. "I think in that moment, [I was] trying to just minimize the inning. I wasn't expecting to throw up a zero, maybe just one run... If you get out of that, that just brings the whole momentum to that dugout, our dugout. And they just ran with it."

Alabama scored two further runs in the second inning, when a Bryce Eblin double that turned into an error-fest by the Tennessee defense wound up plating both himself and shortstop Justin Lebron. Lebron hit a two-run RBI single through the left side during the third inning. Combined with the Eblin knock, Lebron's RBIs and Mac Guscette’s third inning, run-scoring single off the end of the bat, the Crimson Tide entered the fourth inning leading by six. Lebron had a good day with multiple hits following struggles at the plate in the midweek and made some veteran plays with the glove. 

"[I] didn't want to make it too big, make the moment too big, or too small," Lebron said. "During the plate, I kinda changed my approach a little bit from last night, trying to pull the balls too much. Today, I was just looking to hit something hard and see it get through."

It was a long day for Tennessee starter Drew Beam, who presented a different pitch profile than Friday hurler AJ Causey. Five of his six runs were earned. He gave the Volunteers the opportunity to save some arms for Sunday afternoon's series finale, in which the winner takes the opening weekend of conference play. Beam tossed 101 pitches in eight innings one night after Causey threw 111 in 6.2 innings. The junior was the only pitcher Alabama saw on the night, allowing no hits after the fourth inning. "It's like 'MLB The Show'," Vaughn said of Beam. "It's any pitch, at any count, whatever you want, it's good... He just did a good job, and that's why he is who he is." Alabama ran him off his fastball a bit, so he came back with his cutter. "One of the biggest things that helped me tonight was seeing his fastball out of his hand," Lebron said. "Once he started throwing off-speed pitches to me, that was a big thing that helped."

Home runs were key to Tennessee’s scoring, in a similar fashion as Friday night, when the visitors hit three of them. On Saturday, designated hitter Robin Villeneuve hit one off Farone and leadoff hitter Christian Moore sent a missile to the scoreboard in left off Tyler Fay. It was part of a 4-for-5 day for him, starting off a batting order that's second in the country in home runs. "They just have an approach. Nobody in that lineup's an easy out," Farone said. "They had to make me work a little bit. I love that."

The Volunteers (18-2, 1-1 SEC) threatened in the top of the eighth, facing Crimson Tide closer Alton Davis II. They scored a run to bring the 6-2 deficit down by one. Davis retired the next two to put a stamp on his 2024 SEC debut. He then closed out the ninth inning for the win, stranding a pair of runners in the process. His performance earned him his first save of conference play. Vaughn wanted him to get out there after Fay's strong performance and expects every ounce of effort from Sunday starter Hagan Banks.

A great crowd witnessed the showdown. Lebron said it was a thrilling experience. Farone said he'd never played in front of a crowd like that, pointing specifically to a moment where "Dixieland Delight" was played. "We want this program to be one where you don't win on Saturday night against Tennessee and celebrate like it's the World Series," said Vaughn. "You want that to happen. This group needs to expect stuff like that to happen when you come into The Joe." 

How it Happened: 

• Game over. Alabama beats Tennessee 6-3 after Davis shuts things down with traffic on the bases. Series is all even with the winner of Sunday afternoon's matchup set to take it.

• E8 || Alabama goes down in order and the Volunteers are down to their final three outs. Alabama 6, Tennessee 3. 

• T8 || A run comes home for the Volunteers on a fielder's choice. Alabama 6, Tennessee 3. 

• T8 || Alton Davis is coming into the game in relief of Tyler Fay.

• E7 || The Crimson Tide is retired in order as TJ McCants pops up, Ian Petrutz grounds out, and Evan Sleight flies out. Alabama 6, Tennessee 2. 

• T7 || Tennessee's Christian Moore hits a solo home run to left field. Alabama 6, Tennessee 2. 

• The Crimson Tide goes down in order in the bottom of the sixth. Drew Beam goes six frames. The runs category won't reflect it, but he provided a good opportunity for the visitors to save a couple arms for the series finale, regardless of the outcome tonight. 6-1 Alabama.

• Fay and Farone spin a 1, 2, 3 sixth inning. Up next for Alabama are Lebron, Eblin and Miller. Lebron is 2-2. The score remains 6-1 Alabama.

• Tyler Fay is on to pitch for Greg Farone, who went 5.1 innings with 92 pitches and struck out four with five hits. One of his best outings at Alabama, along with his start against Dallas Baptist. He leaves to an ovation.

• Beam posts a clean inning in the bottom of the fifth with two strikeouts. He's up to 77 pitches with his team down five runs. 6-1, Alabama. Farone is back out to pitch the top of the sixth.

• Farone gets through five innings of one-run ball with an incident-free fifth. No further score for the visitors. He's in line for the win on his ledger, for the time being. 5, 6, 7 hitters due up for Alabama in the bottom half.

• E4 || Ian Petrutz hits a two-out single but is stranded at first base after Evan Sleight struck out. Alabama 6, Tennessee 1. 

• T4 || Tennessee's Robin Villeneuve hits a solo shot to center field to put the Volunteers on the board. Alabama 6, Tennessee 1. 

• The third inning ends with three more Alabama runs on the board in a three-hit frame. Two stranded, but the home team has taken control of this second act of the opening SEC weekend. 6-0 Alabama.

• Lebron hits a single past the left side of the Tennessee infield to score two more runs. It is now 6-0 in favor of the Crimson Tide. Big two-out AB for the freshman, who needed a night like tonight after a tough midweek.

• Mac Guscette likes to put those singles off the end of the bat where the defenders aren't. He does it again and logs an RBI for his trouble. 4-0, Alabama with two gone in the home third.

• Evan Sleight absolutely mashes a two-out liner that drills Drew Beam. He's up, but there's no way that felt good. He will remain in the game. Sleight is aboard with a single.

• Thanks in part to a veteran play on the basepaths by Justin Lebron, the top of the third inning passes with no score for the Volunteers. Farone has thrown 58 pitches. He's effective, but the visitors are making him work.

• Bryce Eblin hits an RBI double and scores on a double error by Tennessee. The first error came from the center fielder and the second from the second baseman who threw the ball into the stands. Alabama 3, Tennessee 0. 

• Tennessee goes down in order in the top of the second. Alabama 1, Tennessee 0. 

• The Crimson Tide strands the runner to end the first inning. Still 1-0. Bottom of the order due up for Tennessee.

• Alabama gets the first run of the game on an RBI groundout by Ian Petrutz, scoring Miller. TJ McCants has his hit and is on third. 1-0 Crimson Tide.

• Gage Miller leads off with a double that just missed leaving the yard one night after having his hitting streak snapped.

• Farone gets out of it with a pair of strikeouts and a two-out flyout on the first pitch. Tennessee leaves them loaded. No score at the midway point of the first.

• Tennessee leads things off with back-to-back hits from Moore and Burke. Second and third, none out. Early jam for Farone.

• First pitch from Farone crosses the plate at 7:02 p.m.

• First pitch is set for 7 p.m. CT.

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