Clutch Eighth-Inning Hits Drive Alabama Baseball Comeback Over Oklahoma

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Friday night baseball in the SEC is really something. A reminder of that fact was put on display by No. 12 Alabama and No. 9 Oklahoma. In a nearly four-hour game, the Crimson Tide (24-3, 5-2 SEC) plated three crucial runs in the eighth to shake off a one-run deficit and win 8-6.

Sewell-Thomas Stadium played host to the country's No. 1 team last weekend; in this league, there's no rest for the weary. For the second time in as many weekends, a team ranked in D1Baseball's top 10 made their home in the first-base dugout opposite Alabama, with an elite arm in Kyson Witherspoon.

"One of, probably the uglier games we've played this year, but it just embodied what this group of kids is. It's tough, resilient fighters," head coach Rob Vaughn said. "That's what this game was."

The Crimson Tide scored the first four runs of the game. In the bottom of the second inning, second baseman Garrett Staton got to Witherspoon with his second run-scoring double in as many games, and center fielder Richie Bonomolo Jr. added a second run on a sacrifice fly.

During the home half of the third, Alabama got two more: Shortstop Justin Lebron hit his 13th home run of the season, an opposite-field solo shot which officially established a new season high for the sophomore. Staton then wore a pitch with the bases loaded.

Oklahoma's Drew Dickerson took Zane Adams yard in the fourth, slashing the deficit in half and putting the Sooners back in it. It was two more innings until either team scored again, when Crimson Tide captain Kade Snell singled home Lebron. Snell has seven straight multi-hit games and has recently been moved to the No. 3 spot in the batting order.

"[It's the] same kind of approach," Snell said. "I'm glad to have some people around me that, and this is what I've said about our offense for, you know, ever. We just keep going and keep going. One through nine, it's just a tough AB."

The Sooners (21-4, 4-3 SEC) came within a run in the seventh, bringing in two. One of those was the result of Staton, a natural third baseman manning second Friday, missing a tag on the basepaths while attempting to start a double play.

"You trust sending it with guys like that," Vaughn said of the experienced Samford transfer, who returned this week after being absent since mid-February due to surgery for a broken finger.

Sooner first baseman Dayton Tockey hit a two-run home run off Alabama closer Carson Ozmer to take a 6-5 lead in the top of the eighth inning, scoring himself and Trey Gambill. Shortly thereafter, the turning point came.

Alabama's first four batters of the eighth reached, starting with a walk by pinch hitter Brennen Norton. Lebron and Snell hit back-to-back singles; Snell's tied the game at six apiece.

"Hitting's hitting. It's hard enough as it is," Snell said. "You don't have to add any more pressure on yourself. You just go up there and look for the right pitch to move on, and if you don't get it, we get three of them [strikes]."

The next batter, catcher Will Plattner, hit a searing double to left to give the Crimson Tide the lead back. Despite a baserunning snafu involving himself and Snell moments later, Plattner ended up at home plate courtesy of a single by third baseman Jason Torres.

Lebron, Snell and Torres all had three hits. Alabama did strike out 13 times as a team, but hit at the necessary times to make things happen. The Sooners loaded the bases in the ninth, but Ozmer held it down and got the win, staying poised after Tockey's bomb.

"He's just a vet," Vaughn said. "He's played plenty of SEC teams before and he's been in that spot. That's what you know about him. It's hard when you give up that pump to give up the lead to come back in there and execute stuff... He just kept executing pitches."

Lebron rolled over on his wrist while fielding a hard-hit ground ball in the ninth. He was momentarily down, but Vaughn hopes he will be able to go on Saturday, a game starting at noon CT which doubles as a possible series-clinching scenario for the Crimson Tide with a win. Lebron stayed in Friday's game.

"We'll get a better read in the morning once he sleeps on it," Vaughn said. "I was very happy that it wasn't the shoulder. That's the scary ones."

The two aces, Adams (four innings, 3.67 ERA) and Witherspoon (four innings, 2.31 ERA), did not necessarily engage in a gladiatorial pitching duel akin to other Friday SEC games. Adams had one fewer earned run than did Witherspoon: two. The Crimson Tide was able to win with one of the best hurlers in the country on the hill. Snell, Plattner and Staton had two runs batted in each.

"Just proud of the way we grinded him out," Vaughn said. "That guy, it's real, man. It's real, real stuff. That guy will pitch in the big leagues."

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