Alabama Returns to Standard In 19-4 Annihilation Of Rhode Island

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama baseball coach Rob Vaughn was open about his dissatisfaction with the team's performance in the 2-1 win over Alabama State on Wednesday. The message was heard, as the Crimson Tide put forth a complete offensive performance, headlined by two Justin Lebron home runs, en route to a 19-4 win.

"Just a relentless approach offensively," Vaughn said. "I think Lebron's homer in the first let everybody breathe a little. Once he did that, it was like alright, here we go."

Lebron's aforementioned first-inning blast traveled 417 feet, the furthest of the season for the team. Andrew Purdy added an RBI single later in the inning, setting the tone for a dominant offensive afternoon.

"We have a standard here. It's just like what everyone talks about with Coach Saban. We want to do things a certain way here," Neal said. "Point blank, we didn't do it. It was plain and simple. We did not play good, we did not run off tough at-bats, we did not play very good defense. We scored on two runs that they pretty much gave us if we're being honest. That's not what we're about."

Neal hit his first home run of the season in the third inning. By that point, the Crimson Tide had already held a 12-0 lead and was off to the races. It's a sharp turnaround for an offense that had been up-and-down at best through the first five games of the season, scoring four runs in the season-opening loss to Washington State, three in Tuesday's road win over Samford, and two in the Alabama State game. He believes a lot of the issues came down to a lack of focus from the team.

"No offense, but we've got a lot of talented guys. When we chase a 70 mile per hour breaking ball in the dirt, it's focus," Neal said. "It's not 'you're not talented enough,' it's just 'you're not focused on what you're trying to do.' That's just when you have to, from experience, say, 'Okay, I've got to reel it in, we've got to move on, attack the next pitch.' I think we handled that tonight."

Neal has been one of the team's best hitters to start the season. He moved up to third in the lineup today for the Crimson Tide and delivered, going 3-3 on the day and driving in another run with a sacrifice fly. He has also been one of the leaders in the clubhouse for the team throughout the early struggles.

With the 1-0 series lead and a dominant offensive showing under its belt, Alabama now has to show that it can display consistency on the diamond.

"At 2:00 tomorrow, it's 0-0 again. None of this matters," Vaughn said. "Can we keep that same edge? It's easy to have that edge coming off a tougher game on Wednesday, but when you do have success, learning to handle that success and still showing up with that same edge is going to be vital."

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