Alabama Baseball Defeats Bradley in Successful Season Opener

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Year two of the Rob Vaughn era began with a 10-6 Alabama baseball win, as the Crimson Tide put away Bradley to open the 2025 season on a victorious note.

"Kind of a weird game," head coach Rob Vaughn said, "I thought we actually did some really, really good things today... I really liked the consistency of our at-bats. I thought we did a really good job. It can be tough earlier in the year, on both sides. On both these arms coming in and on the hitters coming in."

The Crimson Tide will now have a chance to win the series in Saturday's game, with right-hander Riley Quick toeing the slab in his return from injury at 1 p.m. CT.

The Braves' Bobby Atkinson greeted Alabama starter Zane Adams harshly, taking the southpaw deep into the student section for a three-run bomb in the first inning. The Crimson Tide got one back in the home half with a single by first baseman Justin Torres, scoring shortstop Justin Lebron.

Alabama (1-0) took a 4-3 lead in the second inning with a two-out, bases-clearing double by Lebron. Second baseman Brennen Norton hit the team's first home run of the campaign with a solo shot in the fourth. The Crimson Tide plated two more runs in the frame.

"As we say a lot, two-out knocks are backbreakers," Lebron, who finished the game with five runs batted in, said. "It really does shift the momentum, and definitely when we're down... Really sets the momentum for the game going forward."

Right fielder and leadoff hitter Bryce Fowler scored catcher Brady Neal on a single, and Lebron scored center fielder Richie Bonomolo on a sacrifice fly (Lebron's fourth RBI of the evening). Lebron then added his fifth run batted in on the day when he doubled Fowler home in the sixth. Torres subsequently singled Lebron home for a second time.

One batter later, team captain Kade Snell was the beneficiary of a bloop single which fell just fair down the left field line, capping off a three-run sixth inning for the home team. By then, the Crimson Tide was facing the visiting bullpen; Bradley (0-1) rode starter Travis Lutz for 82 pitches, but he only went 3.1 innings.

Adams ended up throwing four innings, dealing with some traffic but otherwise staying unblemished apart from Atkinson's home run. Alabama then got to showcase some of its pitching depth, and Friday's bullpen arms did not surrender any runs until a challenging ninth inning.

"He did what starters do," Vaughn said. "Zane probably had his worst stuff I've seen him have in two years here. Just didn't have command of the cutter tonight, didn't command the fastball the way he normally did. Just competed his way through four [innings]." Far from being a slight, that comment was instead an indicator of how Adams battles to good results after facing adversity.

Bradley loaded the bases with two gone in the ninth inning after adding a run, at which point the Crimson Tide sent veteran Coulson Buchanan to the hill to try and snuff out the rally. He allowed two more to cross on a Mason Breidenbach single and then loaded the bases again.

That caused the coaching staff to turn to closer Carson Ozmer, an experienced Penn transfer, to extinguish a fire that had become a very real threat to Alabama's chances. With the tying run at the plate in the form of left fielder Cole Luckey, Ozmer shut it down and preserved the win.

Vaughn said he thought the bullpen repeatedly did its job leading up to the final inning despite those struggles, emphasizing that everything is about trying to win and setting players up in roles where they will succeed. He added that his team is far from thinking it is a finished product.

Ozmer did pick up a save for his trouble, his first in his new uniform, since the tying run came to the plate. His debut appearance coming on opening night was not initially in the cards, but a big part of baseball is answering the bell when called upon.

"I had to flip the mentality pretty quickly. Didn't get that many pitches in the pen, but it's just routine for me," Ozmer said. "It was pretty through the roof tonight."

Alabama batters struck out 11 times in the game, a blemish on what was otherwise a productive showing at the plate. Every starter either hit safely or reached base. Norton's home run was the Crimson Tide's lone long ball of the game.

"When I go up there, all I really want to do is get on base. I know the guys behind me will do the rest for me," Lebron said. "Just by doing that, it kinda lets us play as a team, play as one. We got a lot of guys in the lineup that really can hit, can just play ball."

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