Alabama-Oklahoma Round Two: How Eric Hines Changed the Tide Since April

OMAHA, Neb. — Alabama baseball opens the College World Series on Saturday against a familiar opponent. The Crimson Tide opens play against Oklahoma, a team Alabama beat in an April series two game to one, but that was 10 weeks ago and both sides have evolved and grown in order to make college baseball's biggest stage.

What is Alabama's biggest change since facing the Sooners in the fourth SEC series of the season? The emergence of freshman outfielder Eric Hines.

"I think we've got a pretty good idea of style of play, but man, that was also, they didn't get a lot of Eric Hines," Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn said. "That was really his coming-out party. That was his first, I think, weekend starting was there. So we're a little bit different on our side, too. So you get two teams playing really consistent, really good baseball right now, battling out at one or 2:00, whatever time it is on Saturday on the biggest stage. So should be a heck of a show."

Hines logged eight appearances with three starters prior to the April series. He only had three hits, one home run, and one RBI before Vaughn inserted him into the starting lineup in the Sunday game against Oklahoma. He went on to start the next 29 games, logging 34 hits, with nine home runs and 23 RBIs, giving Alabama a powerful bat in the second half of the order.

Despite Major League Baseball opportunities, the Tuscaloosa native always knew he wanted to play baseball for the Crimson Tide. Alabama's Gatorade Player of the Year in 2025 was projected as high as a second round pick, but opted instead to stay home and join Vaughn's budding program.

"It was really just me talking to Coach Vaughn," Hines said. "We had a great phone call, he explained everything, and I loved it. I knew it was going to be Alabama ever since I started playing baseball. I really wanted to come here anyway. I think it was just the best option for me, so that's what I went with."

Hines, born in 2007, is experiencing the best Crimson Tide's best season in his lifetime, as the Crimson Tide last made a trip to Omaha in 1999. He expects the program's upward trajectory to continue under Vaughn for the foreseeable future.

"Early on in my life, Alabama baseball wasn't as big as it is now," Hines said. "I've just seen the program progress and get bigger and bigger, and it's been nothing short of amazing. I love to see this thing thrive and just growing up to see it come to fruition to what it is now."

The multi-sport athlete at American Christian Academy was also a standout football player for the Patriots, and brings the gridiron's physicality to the baseball diamond game-in and game-out, swinging for the fences at the plate and hustling on the base paths and in the outfield.

"Football builds toughness, for sure. That's what we thrive on here on the baseball team. It just brought a level of toughness and grit," Hines said.

His toughness was on display in the Tuscaloosa Regional final against Oklahoma State in the eighth inning. Alabama had just lost its lead to the Cowboys in the prior inning, but Hines stepped up and smashed a moon-ball over the left field fence to tie the game.

"Just stepping in, I was just thinking, be me, I don't have to be anything different," Hines said. "I don't have to show out for anybody. All I have to do is be myself and do my job for this team. After I hit it, it didn't even leave the yard, and I knew it was gone. Then it was just pure adrenaline. I kind of blacked out a little bit, but I still remember some stuff around the bases. I was jumping around and everything. I've never been that hyped up before. It was one of my top moments of my baseball career, for sure."

Hines has a chance to top that moment in Omaha as the freshman has progressed from a role player to a key starter in a short amount of time. He looks to add to his seven hits with two home runs and six RBIs in NCAA Tournament action as he faces the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday in the College World Series.

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