Bryce Fowler Walks Off Auburn To Clinch Series For Alabama

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — For the first time in the Rob Vaughn era, Alabama has won back-to-back SEC series.

Bryce Fowler hit a walk-off double in the bottom of the ninth to give Alabama a 3-2 win over the No. 5 Tigers and clinch the series for the Crimson Tide.

"I came back for reasons like this," Fowler said of the hit. "That was unreal."

It was evident from the beginning that there would be no repeat of last night's run-rule victory. Tigers' starter Jackson Sanders put together a good outing, allowing just two runs in what ended up being an elite pitching duel between him and Zane Adams. Adams ended up going 6.1 innings, striking out eight and allowing one unearned run.

That run came in the top of the first on a passed ball from catcher John Lemm. There were just four combined baserunners over the next six scoreless frames as both pitchers settled in and put together strong outings. In the bottom of the fourth, captain Will Plattner laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt on the right side that brought home Brady Neal to tie the game.

Auburn shortstop Brandon McCraine then failed to field a routine Justin Osterhouse grounder, keeping the inning alive for Alabama. Luke Vaughn singled to bring home Lemm unearned in the next at-bat, putting Alabama ahead 2-1.

Sanders' night was done after five innings, but Adams was far from finished. He entered the sixth at 85 pitches, but put together a 15-pitch, 1-2-3 frame that allowed him to come back out and strike out a final batter to start the seventh.

Adams ended the night at a season-high 107 pitches before being relieved by Bobby Alcock. Auburn responded with consecutive hits to put runners in the corners for pinch-hitter Logan Gregorio, who tied the game up with a sacrifice fly.

By this point, it was apparent that the 5800 fans at Sewell-Thomas Stadium were witnessing a great game. Add in some rising tensions via a controversial fourth-inning batter's box review that had Tigers' coach Butch Thompson on the field for nearly five minutes, and there were all the elements of a classic Alabama/Auburn contest.

Alabama got a runner to third in the bottom of the seventh, as did Auburn in the top of the eighth. Neither team was able to capitalize, and after Luke Vaughn flied out to end the eighth, the game entered the ninth still knotted at two.

Hagan Banks took the mound in the ninth. He had pitched the eighth, getting out of the frame after the aforementioned runner on third, but got into trouble once again as he walked McCraine. The shortstop stole second with two outs, putting the Tigers in scoring position.

It was there that Fowler made the first of his two big-time ninth-inning plays, making a diving catch in center field to end the frame and keep a potential McCraine run off the board.

"It's either you dive and catch the ball and look like a hero, or it gets under your glove, and you look like the bad guy," Fowler said. "He's getting to third anyway if I don't catch it, so it's just one of those deals where you lay out and hope for the best, and it went our way."

Alabama was in a perfect spot for the bottom of the ninth, with Brennan Holt, Fowler, and then Justin Lebron due up. Holt attacked the first pitch he saw, getting it to drop for a base hit and breaking for second to make it a double. Holt did not like how McCraine tried to tag him, and the two got into it. An umpire had to seperate the two to de-escalate the situation as they shouted at each other,

With the tensions at a new high, Fowler stepped up to the plate. The second pitch of the inning from reliever Ryan Hetzler would be the last, as the center fielder knocked it to left-center field for the walk-off double to bring Holt home and secure the series win.

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