Alabama Draws 'Line in the Sand' To Spark Midseason Turnaround

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The sky was falling at The Joe.

Alabama baseball had lost four straight games for the first time ever under head coach Rob Vaughn. The Crimson Tide was swept in an uninspiring performance against Kentucky in Lexington to open SEC play, and followed it up with an ugly midweek loss to South Alabama.

“You get on the bus not feeling bad for yourself, but you know that something has to change at some point, or it's going to be a long season," center fielder Bryce Fowler said of the loss in Mobile.

Mindless errors were routine. Runners were stranded in the double figures. Relievers imploded on a near-daily basis. Nothing seemed to be going right for a team that opened the year with Omaha aspirations.

“There were two choices to make right there," team captain Will Plattner said. "You can say, 'Wow, this is going terrible, and we're just going to hope it goes better,' or you can draw the line and fix it."

So which choice did Alabama make?

Well, after Tyler Fay threw a no-hitter in the next game against Florida, the Crimson Tide has rattled off consecutive three-game sweeps against SEC opponents for the first time since 2002.

“It feels like two different teams," head coach Rob Vaughn said. "Adversity can callous you and harden you if you let it, or it can splinter you and make you pout and feel bad for yourself, and you start turning on each other if you let it. Just so proud of the way these guys have responded.”

While Vaughn's team has looked different on the diamond, there was no sweeping change behind it. The results have simply been a byproduct of a talented roster that has stayed the course and avoided the outside noise.

“If you'd have shown up at practice on Wednesday (after the South Alabama loss), you'd have had no idea these guys were riding a four-game losing streak, and everybody thought they stunk," Vaughn said. "I wish I could tell you I had some magic secret and I was some wizard of a coach. I'm certainly not that. What they believe is all that matters. What they think is all that matters."

That mindset has been at the center of the turnaround and has allowed the team to play carefree, in both games and practice.

"It was one of those deals like, let's just relax and have fun. Who cares what happens? We know we're good," Fowler said. "Now at practice, we have fun. You've got good music. It's good vibes. Nobody's in a bad mood. If somebody has a bad hit session, nobody cares; we're laughing, goofing off."

Alabama had faced adversity all season, going back to the opening-day loss to Washington State. Vaughn has described the team as "the most banged-up of my career," as reliever Kaden Humphrey underwent Tommy John surgery, outfielders Coleman Mizell and Logen Devenport will not play this year, and Oklahoma transfer Sam Christiansen is yet to make his debut after breaking his leg in a January practice.

The team has continued to respond to everything that has been thrown at it.

“That's what I want Alabama baseball known for. I want them known for gritty, tough grinders that love to compete, that don't shy away from adversity, that don't wilt when they get punched in the face," Vaughn said. "We don't want teams with glass jaws. The one thing I can tell you is this team can take a punch. They've taken a punch. They've responded.”

The external outlook has flipped following a sweep of No. 5 Auburn. Eleven days ago, analysts discussed the possibility of Alabama missing the NCAA Tournament. Now, the team is being discussed as a possible regional host. The message internally has remained the same throughout: stay grounded throughout the good and the bad that will inevitably come during a long season.

"We're realistic enough to know we're playing good right now," Vaughn said. "There's gonna be some adversity over these next seven weeks. And it's going to be, can we do what Platt talked about? Can we remember who we are? Can we draw that line in the sand and choose to step over it and say, this is us, win, lose, or draw?"

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