Alabama Baseball Outlasts Alabama State in Pitchers' Duel: Roll Call

Alabama baseball took down Alabama State 2-1 at home on Wednesday.

As the score suggests, this was a pitchers' duel. The Crimson Tide tallied five hits, while the Hornets recorded seven. That said, only one of ASU's hits was worth extra bases.

Bobby Alcock (1-0) earned the win after entering in the fourth, with the right-hander allowing just one hit across 2.0 scoreless frames, adding three strikeouts. Luke Smyers was tasked with his first collegiate start, as the freshman allowed three hits and one earned run to go with two walks and three strikeouts.

Sam Mitchell and Evan Steckmesser allowed as many hits as their combined three innings played, while Kaden Humphrey and closer Matthew Heiberger combined for three strikeouts and no hits allowed in two frames.

Alabama State only used three pitchers, as Jaxon Baptist allowed two runs on four hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in 4.1 innings, Camden Matthews gave up just one hit and two walks with six strikeouts in 3.1 frames and Zane Baltz retired the one batter he faced.

Brennan Holt was the lone Alabama player to manage multiple hits, closing 2-for-3 with a double.

"Credit to Alabama State, they played hard tonight," Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn said. "The pitching staff was outstanding. Sam Mitchell, just tons of sinkers at the bottom. Bobby Alcock Just kept getting better as he went. That was more of the Bobby we saw that was the SEC Pitcher of the Week down at College Station last year. Then (Kaden) Humphrey and (Matthew) Heiberger at the end.

"I talked to our guys, winning baseball games is hard, but there's a standard to what it means to play at Alabama, and we didn't live up to that tonight. Credit Alabama State. Man, they gave us all we can handle. We didn't play the game the right way. We didn't play hard, and we're going to fix that, I can promise you.

"Today just simply was short of our standard. We're very fortunate that we showed up on the pitching staff and attacked and competed. We're going to have to be heck a lot tougher on the other side of the ball come Friday."

Countdown to Alabama Football's 2026 Season Opener

198 days (Sept. 5 vs. East Carolina at Bryant-Denny Stadium)

Roll Call: Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026

Alabama's Kristina Paskauskas was named the SEC Women's Tennis Co-Player of the Week. No. 45-ranked Paskauskas remained undefeated in dual match play after picking up a pair of singles and doubles victories against Colorado and at Minnesota, as the Crimson Tide improved to 8-0 on the year.

That's our KP! 🤩

Congratulations Kristina on being named SEC Player of the Week! #RollTide pic.twitter.com/wNOJfTwChQ
— Alabama Women's Tennis (@AlabamaWTN) February 18, 2026

Emily Jones won her second silver medal at the SEC Swimming and Diving Championships. Jones dropped 0.44 seconds off her prelim time to finish second in the event with a 50.59. The performance marked the second time this season Jones has surpassed 51 seconds in the event as she notched a 50.61 performance earlier in the year at the UGA Fall Invite.

Emily Jones captures her second silver medal in as many days!! #RollTide pic.twitter.com/kRU7e0pye2
— Alabama Swim & Dive (@AlabamaSwimDive) February 18, 2026

Here's Alabama men's golf head coach Jay Seawall's comments from a press release after the Crimson Tide finished the Watersound Invitational in eighth place: "I am proud of the way our guys played in the final round. I thought we dealt with some adversity early in the tournament but responded well in tough conditions today. Coming out of the winter offseason, I thought we began the tournament a little flat and sluggish but was pleased with what I saw today. We are going to have to build off the way we finished and try to figure out why we started slow, which was a little surprising. We are going to work on those things between now and our next tournament. But overall, I'm happy the way that we finished."

Sights and sounds from day two of the Watersound Invitational 🎥

The final round tees off this morning!#RollTide pic.twitter.com/qBPmQbDWhr
— Alabama Men's Golf (@AlabamaMGolf) February 18, 2026

Wednesday's Alabama Crimson Tide Results:

No. 11 men's golf at the Watersound Invitational: eighth place with a team total of 1-under par 837 (285-278-274)

Swimming and diving at SEC Championships:

Women's 100 Back: 2nd | Emily Jones – 50.59; 14th | Ella Menear – 52.67
Men's 100 Back: 8th | Tommy Hagar – 45.23; 18th | Cole Witmer – 46.15
Women's 200 Butterfly: 9th | Gaby Van Brunt – 1:55.20; 10th | Victoria Raymond –1:56.15; 20th | Isa Chavez-Varela – 1:58.54
Men's 200 Butterfly: 12th | Gabriel Moura – 1:43.25
Women's 100 Breaststroke: 12th | Charlotte Rosendale – 59.68; 18th | Jada Scott – 1:00.31
Men's 100 Breaststroke: 17th | Steijn Louter – 52.39; T-18th | Noah Saylor – 52.62
Men's 3m Dive: 22nd | Nigel Chambers – 297.95

Baseball: Alabama 2, Alabama State 1

Men's basketball: No. 25 Alabama 117, No. 20 Arkansas 115

Thursday's Alabama Crimson Tide Schedule:

Swimming and diving at SEC Championships, Knoxville, Tenn., 8:30 a.m. CT, Watch, Live Results

This Date in Alabama Crimson Tide History:

February 19, 1951: Clarence "Butch" Avinger accepted the Jacobs Trophy at a special ceremony honoring some of the South's top performers in Durham, N.C. Avinger was the Southeastern Conference's best blocker for 1950.

February 19, 1954: Artist Daniel A. Moore, who has his paintings depicting Crimson Tide football moments hanging all over the state, was born in Birmingham.

Alabama Crimson Tide Quote of the Day:

“He knocked me woozy. I have never been hit like that before and hopefully, I'll never be hit like that again.”

— Notre Dame QB Steve Beuerlein after Cornelius Bennett's sack in 1986.

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We'll Leave You With This...

Check out BamaCentral assistant editor Katie Windham's latest episode of the Crimson Flame Podcast, as she breaks down Alabama gymnastics' stellar start to the 2026 season!