Live Blog: No. 18 Alabama Baseball at No. 23 Florida (Game 3)

The Crimson Tide aims to close the regular season in style with a series-deciding road win over Florida.

Mar 20, 2025; Tuscaloosa AL, USA; Alabama pitcher Zane Adams (20) pitches against Tennessee at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. / Gary Cosby Jr.-Tuscaloosa News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

SEC Tournament action begins next week for the conference's baseball clubs, but first up is the final series of the regular season. No. 18 Alabama has surging No. 23 Florida on its plate in a road series that is instrumental in shaping the postseason future of the winning team.

The Crimson Tide bolstered its hosting chances by a substantial margin with a series win at home against No. 10 Georgia last weekend. But that was somewhat tarnished on Thursday evening as the Gators defeated Alabama 7-6 in Gainesville.

Alabama led 5-0 after three innings, but blew yet another big lead. The Tide also blew a five-run lead in a May 4 loss at Vanderbilt, taking a 7-2 lead into the bottom of the eighth in a tied series. Had the Crimson Tide held on then and on Thursday, it would have 17 wins and been comfortably inside the NCAA Tournament hosting bubble.

However, the Crimson Tide stormed back on Friday night with a 9-6 victory. Alabama held a commanding 9-2 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth, but the Gators took control of closing pitcher Carson Ozmer, who holds the program record for most saves in a season. Nevertheless, as the score suggests, he got the job done.

Alabama (40-14, 16-13 SEC) aims to finish the regular season strong with a series win over Florida (36-19, 14-15 SEC) in Game 3 on Saturday at 3 p.m. CT on SEC Network+. If Alabama wins, it will receive a bye in the first round of the SEC Tournament

Left-hander Zane Adams (7-2, 4.84 ERA) gets the ball for the Crimson Tide, while left-hander Aidan King (5-2, 2.90 ERA) is on the mound for the Gators.

Be sure to refresh your browser for live updates from Game 3 between Alabama baseball and Florida. The most recent updates will appear at the top.

Live Blog:

FINAL: FLORIDA 9, ALABAMA 3

Top 9:

• But nothing came of it as Fowler grounded out and Lebron struck out to end the game and also the regular season.

• A tiny bit of excitement in the ninth, as after Jon Young Jr. (pinch hitting for Staton) grounded out, Norton reached second on a throwing error by the third baseman.

Bottom 8:

• But Alabama got out of the inning as Lebron caught a pop fly in shallow left field while Wilson grounded out to second. No harm done, but Alabama now has three lives left to make a massive comeback.

• Bryans was able to get Lawson to ground out, but two singles for Evans and Donay plus a walk to Cyr loaded the bases.

• Beau Bryans (1-0, 11.74 ERA) comes in Banks as he makes his 12th appearance of the season.

Top 8:

• Another fast inning as Bonomolo and Torres popped out while Neal grounded out. Hodo walked in between, but that would be the only offense for the Crimson Tide, which is now three outs away from losing the regular season finale.

Bottom 7:

• Brookins gets his first hit of the afternoon with a single. He has now recorded at least one hit in every game this series. But that would be all as Boser hit toward Lebron into a shift and the throw to second was well in time.

• Wilson blasts one to deep right field, but Fowler handles it. Stripling followed it with a ground out.

• Hagan Banks (0-1, 3.44 ERA) fills in for Finateri as he makes his 16th appearance this season.

Top 7: FLORIDA 9, ALABAMA 3

• The inning ended with Snell lining out to center field. Yost was responsible for all three outs. Alabama is six outs away from a loss.

• McNeillie faced Lebron for his first matchup and Lebron's fly-out to center field brought Norton home.

• Fowler proceeded to fly out to center field, which brought Norton to third but also ended King's day. In 6 1/3 innings, King gave up two runs (none earned) with two walks (one being intentional) and eight strikeouts on 94 pitches. Luke McNeillie fills in (5-2, 5.12 ERA) and makes his 25th appearance of the season.

• After a nice defensive play, Norton starts the seventh inning strong offensively with a double down the field line.

Bottom 6:

• In the next at-bat, Yost grounded out to Norton who was in shallow right field due to a shift. This shift has been utilized multiple times this series and it's worked.

• Shaky beginning to the inning as Finateri walked Donay on five pitches. However, Cyr hit into a double play.

Top 6:

• Lightning quick 1-2-3 frame for Alabama's offense, which is now nine outs away from a loss. Torres and Staton grounded out and Neal gave King his eighth K of the day. King also has now achieved a quality start in the stat sheet.

Bottom 5: FLORIDA 9, ALABAMA 2

• But fortunately for Alabama, Finateri stayed composed and struck out Lawson and Evans. Florida is 9 of 25 today and has just six strikeouts, including Finateri's two in the frame.

• The brutal inning continued as Boser successfully stole second and Lebron's throw to the plate went wide as Brookins stole home.

• Like Lehman, Finateri's first pitch didn't go as planned as Boser singled into shallow right field to bring in two runs.

• The third pitch wasn't much better as Lehman hit designated hitter Blake Brookins and a mound visit ended his extremely short three-and-out day. Aeden Finateri (3-0, 4.68 ERA), who is making his 13th appearance this season, fills in for Lehman with the bases loaded.

• Lehman's first pitch didn't go so well as Stripling hit it to third base and Torres hit Cyr in the back on throw home.

• Morris hit the next batter to put runners on the corners and a mound visit ended his day quickly. Connor Lehman (0-0, 10.38 ERA) is filling in and is making his ninth appearance this season.

• Yost took advantage of having two runners in scoring position with no outs as he grounded out to first base and Donay reached home.

• Not a great start for Morris as he walked Donay, who was quickly brought to third after Cyr doubled down the left field line.

Top 5: FLORIDA 4, ALABAMA 2

• Florida came in for another mound visit which resulted in the choice of intentionally walking Snell. Nevertheless, the plan worked as Bonomolo's fielder's choice hit toward third base was thrown home well in time. Hodo then flied out to the warning track in left field.

• Lebron coming to the plate with a runner in scoring position with one out is often extremely dangerous for Alabama's opponents, In a 3-2 count after he called time, Lebron smoked one through the third baseman's glove and into the outfield for a double with Fowler on third.

• And just like that, Fowler doubled to right center to send Norton home. The ball hit the fence but nearly traveled back in time to get Fowler but he just slid safely.

• After Staton struck out looking, Boser committed Florida's third error of the day after he couldn't field Norton's grounder. Alabama needs to take advantage of the Gators' miscues as the Tide currently has four hits compared to UF's three errors.

Bottom 4: FLORIDA 4, ALABAMA 1

• Boser continued his solid start offensively with a fielder's choice and then Lawson's single to right field put runners on the corners with two outs. But fortunately for Alabama, Morris struck out Evans, who homered in the third inning.

• While Hodo's single was nice, his best play of the day so far just came defensively as he made a diving stop on a grounder. But with one out, Adams' day was over as Jackson and head coach Rob Vaughn took him out for Austin Morris, who is making his 17th appearance this seasona and has a 3-0 record with a 5.59 ERA. Adams finishes his regular season pitching 3 1/3 innings allowing four runs on six hits with two walks while throwing three strikeouts on 72 pitches.

• After the crowd got fired up for Wilson's nice play, Florida first baseman Landon Stripling singled to left center to bring Wilson home. Still nobody out as Adams has thrown over 60 pitches.

• And just like Hodo, Wilson started the frame strong for Florida with a single. He then stole second after a very lengthy review as he just avoided the tag before touching second base with his hand while sliding.

Top 4:

• Torres followed it by reaching first on a fielder's choice. Cyr couldn't make the double play. However, Neal hit it right to him on the very next at-bat and he got the job done in an off-balance and jumping fashion.

• Promising start to the inning as Hodo gets on first with a single to right field. Hodo hit a home run late in Game 2.

Bottom 3: FLORIDA 3, ALABAMA 1

• Donay proceeded to smash one to deep left field, but Snell was able to make a play at the warning track to prevent any more harm. Adams then thanked the defense by striking out his next two batters.

• It's Senior Day at Florida as it's the final home game of the regular season. Boser, a senior, has hit a home run today and fellow senior and right fielder Ty Evans did the same to kickoff the bottom of the third inning. The ball hit the top of the center field wall and bounced out in the wrong direction for the Crimson Tide.

Top 3:

• Bit of strange at-bat by Bonomolo: Lawson couldn't track a ball in foul territory that landed right in front of him. A couple of pitches later, the ball landed in Lawson's area and he couldn't grasp it, but the homeplate umpire ruled it foul. Shortly after that Bonomolo's check swing on 2-2 was ruled a strike three by the first base umpire.

• Florida's defense tightened up a bit, well at least the outfield, as Yost sprinted forward for a diving grab to send Snell back to the dugout.

• Fowler singled to open up the inning, but after Lebron fouled out over the head of the catcher, Donay overthrew it to first and Fowler advanced to second. This resulted in a meeting at the mound by the Gators infield and head coach Kevin O'Sullivan.

Bottom 2:

• Adams walked Boser, who started the game with a blast, but Florida third baseman Brendan Lawson grounded out for the second time as the quick inning came to a close. Let's see if Alabama could add an earned run (current one is unearned) on offense.

• Good start to the frame for Adams after a concerning first as the first two outs were in the infield. Both of which were to Lebron who had to back-track a bit on one of them to make a nice play.

Top 2: FLORIDA 2, ALABAMA 1

• King proceeded to strike out Torres, designated hitter Garrett Staton and second baseman Brennan Norton, but logged his first walk of the day to Crimson Tide catcher Brady Neal in between. All six of Alabama's outs have been on strikes. That said, Norton's was extremly outside but it was still called strike three.

• Nevertheless, it looked like that would be all for none in the next at-bat as Will Hodo grounded to second base, but Florida second baseman Blake Cyr mishandled the routine double play with a massive overthrow to the shortstop on second and it resulted in Bonomolo going all the way home and Hodo reaching second. It's Florida's sixth error of the series.

• Alabama centerfielder Richie Bonomolo Jr. is the first member of the Crimson Tide to reach first base on Saturday as he did so via an infield single toward third base.

Bottom: 1: FLORIDA 2, ALABAMA 0

• Adams then got out of the frame via a nice defensive play but third baseman Jason Torres, but this has been a rough start for him so far. He had a 4.84 ERA and 1.47 WHIP coming into this one, but things are going a bit south.

• The struggles continued for Adams as he walked his next batter after the home run and then gave up a single to centerfielder Hayden Yost. This resulted in Alabama pitching coach Jason Jackson and the infield coming to the mound for a meeting with Adams.

• But Florida catcher Brody Donay moved the momentum needle right back to the Gators as he launched a solo home run in a very similar spot to Boser.

• Alabama pitcher Zane Adams shrugged it off by grounding out and striking out his next two batters.

• And just like Game 1, Florida got the scoreboard running in the first inning as leadoff hitter and shortstop Bobby Boser smashed the fourth pitch of the game over the wall in right center.

Top 1:

• King struck out Alabama right fielder Bryce Fowler and shortstop Justin Lebron to start Saturday afternoon. The frame ended shortly after as Alabama captain Kade Snell grounded out to King.

• In the first inning of Game 2, Florida pitcher Pierce Coppola struck out the side. Coppola is a redshirt junior who has experience in high pressure games like this series. Game 3 Florida pitcher Aidan King is a freshman.

Starting Lineups:

Alabama Baseball at Florida Game 3 Starting Lineups / StatBroadcast

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