Alabama DH John Lemm Goes From Goat To Hero As Crimson Tide Walks Off Commodores in Game 1

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- No. 24 Alabama rode a strong start from Tyler Fay, used a three-run bomb from freshman Eric Hines to stay alive, turned in its first error-free performance in five games, and walked off the Vanderbilt Commodores, winning game one of the weekend series 5-4 to get back on track in SEC play.

"Just a gritty win," Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn said. "A gritty win. I thought [Tyler] Fay - they punished some balls that he left up that they didn't miss, but he also made some huge pitches in big spots. Did a really good job when they ambushed him for the homer, then it goes second and third and he executes pitches, keeps it at two, that's huge. Settled in and made good pitches. We tell him all the time solo homers aren't going to beat you. Wasn't putting guys on for free and was in the zone at the bottom a lot better at times. But him and Matty [Matthew Heiberger] were outstanding tonight. Matty was absolutely outstanding, tagged the zone on multiple pitches, a lot of weak contact off him, so outstanding job out of Matty. "

The Crimson Tide's resiliency was on full display in the Friday series opener. Vanderbilt put Alabama into a 2-0 deficit as Tommy Goodin took Fay deep for a two-run bomb in the third inning. First baseman Luke Vaughn led the Crimson Tide's response, leading off the home half of the inning with a triple and then scoring on Peyton Steele's infield sacrifice.

Vanderbilt got its two-run lead right back in the fourth inning as Commodore DH Colin Barczi hit a solo home run, but Alabama continued to battle.

Alabama DH John Lemm opened the fifth inning with a double, and third baseman Jason Torres followed with a single, stringing hits together for the first time on the evening. Vanderbilt third baseman Brodie Johnston pulled off a hidden-ball trick on Lemm for a cheap first out of the inning, zapping the budding Crimson Tide momentum. Vanderbilt starting pitcher Connor Fennell worked his way out of the inning without damage, preserving the Commodores' 3-1 lead.

"My whole 15, 16 years of playing baseball - I've never seen that in my life," Lemm said after the gaff. "Great that it happened in a situation that I probably should've scored in, not that great. But it's in the past now. Obviously, it's embarrassing, but then the walk-off homerun cleared that out of my mind. Just, was happy we were able to get the W."

Commodores centerfielder Rustan Rigdon piled on more adversity as he hit Vanderbilt's third bomb of the evening in the sixth inning with a solo shot, taking the score to 4-1 and seemingly slamming the door in Alabama's face.

Alabama mustered just four hits through the first five innings, but Brady Neal came up with his first hit of the night to get things started in the sixth inning. Bryce Fowler followed up, drawing a four-pitch walk, and the stage was set for Hines to clear the bases. The Tuscaloosa native drove the first pitch he saw into the Vanderbilt bullpen to tie the game 4-4 with the fifth home run of his freshman year.

Rob Vaughn turned to Matthew Heiberger out of the bullpen in the seventh inning after Fay turned in 6.1 innings of action with seven strikeouts. Heiberger put a lid on the Commodores offense with 2.2 innings of work and gave up just one hit and one walk to keep the score tied.

The sport of baseball sometimes has a funny sense of humor with a touch of irony mixed in, and such was the case on Friday as Lemm went from Crimson Tide goat to hero as he stepped into the batter's box in the ninth inning and sent a solo shot over the wall to walk off the Commodores and win game one.

Alabama DH John Lemm redeems a base running gaf by walking off the Vanderbilt Commodores with a solo home run to lead off the 9th inning.

Alabama wins 5-4 pic.twitter.com/VGHB8R7pjt
— Joe Gaither (@JoeGaither6) May 1, 2026

"First pitch, I felt like I should've hit that way over the Right Field Ragers, just took too big of a swing, got a little bit too large," Lemm said on the home run. "Obviously, got down in the count 0-2, just kind of in protect mode, just get a pitch I can handle and try to at least get on base and start the inning for the guys. I took the fastball up - I saw a fastball, I thought that was at my belt, but apparently, was nearly chest-high. I just put a good swing on it. I knew I got a fair bit of it. I thought it was going to go over by a lot more. I saw the centerfielder go to the wall, so I had to hit turbo on whatever my legs can go. But yeah, that mistake at third base is inexcusable. Some of the guys in the dugout were trying to yell. I was trying to get a sign from Coach Vaughn in that situation. Me and Coach Pat actually had no idea he had it. That's just something I need to be able to focus on, just know where the ball's at. Even looking at the pitcher on the mound. He wasn't on the rubber or on the dirt so that was something I should probably have seen and looked for."

Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on Twitter/X, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Threads, and Blue Sky for the latest news.

Alabama Crimson Tide On SI

Add us as a preferred source on Google