Live Blog: No. 18 Alabama Baseball at No. 15 Vanderbilt (Game 3)

The Crimson Tide can start off the month of May with a series win if victorious on Sunday.

Alabama baseball at Hawkins Field. / Alabama Athletics

Alabama baseball has a massive game on its hands on Sunday afternoon in Nashville. The No. 18 Crimson Tide and No. 15 Vanderbilt are set for the rubber match in a three-game series. If Alabama wins, it will have its second conference series win in a row after losing each of the prior three.

Vanderbilt (33-14, 13-10 SEC) won the series opener in eight innings, 12-2, on Friday night. The first five innings were scoreless on both sides; a late onslaught by the home team skewed the scoreboard dramatically. The Commodores plated six runs in the eighth inning to invoke the run rule.

The Crimson Tide (36-11, 13-10 SEC) responded with a game two win on Saturday afternoon, the beneficiary of a great all-around pitching performance. Riley Quick tossed six-plus innings and closer Carson Ozmer tied a single-season program record by earning his 14th save of the season.

Designated hitter Coleman Mizell also had a pair of extra-base hits, one of which was a home run. He has been a major player in the past two SEC weekends for Alabama.

Sunday's game will be televised on SEC Network, with a 3 p.m. CT first pitch time. Both of the series' first two games were delayed an hour and a half due to inclement weather. Crimson Tide sophomore Zane Adams, who threw a seven-inning complete game against Missouri at home last weekend, will start against the Commodores.

Be sure to refresh your browser for live updates from the series finale of Alabama at Vanderbilt. The most recent updates will appear at the top.

• Bottom of the Ninth: Carson Ozmer is on the mound for Alabama. If he closes this game successfully, he'll break the Alabama program record for the most saves in a season. Snell didn't seem to have a full grasp of where the ball was in the air and it dropped right in front of him for a single by Mike Mancini (his first hit of the series). Ozmer followed this by hitting the next batter, which resulted in a mound visit. Nelson hit the ball towards the mound but Mancini decided not to go home from third. However, that didn't matter as third baseman Brodie Johnston doubled to left center to bring in two runs and tie the game. Holcomb then proceeded to launch one deep into center field for a walk-off two-run home run. FINAL: VANDERBILT 9, ALABAMA 7.

• Top of the Ninth: Fowler starts the final inning of regulation strong with a double but Lebron followed it with a pop-out towards the back end of the infield. Lebron is 0 of 5 in this one with three strikeouts and it's been far from the best series for the Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list member.

• Bottom of the Eighth: Banks gives up a solo home run to Holcomb who launched it towards right field and bounced off the very top part of the wall. It's Vanderbilt's first run put on the scoreboard since the third inning. Banks received a mound visit after allowing a walk during the next at-bat but Vaughn kept him in. However, that may not have been the best choice as Vanderbilt catcher Colin Barczi blasted a two-run shot to right field to slim the margin. Fortunately for Alabama, Matthew Heiberger subbed in for Banks and he immediately go the Tide out of the rough inning with a strikeout. ALABAMA 7, VANDERBILT 5.

• Top of the Eighth: Alabama's offense goes down 1-2-3 for the first time since the third inning. Sawyer Hawks filled in for Bryan to start the inning and struck out Mizell to close it.

• Bottom of the Seventh: Hagan Banks fills in for Adams after a really solid performance and keeps things quick frame. Vanderbilt left fielder Rustan Rigdon reached first on a throwing error, but Alabama's fielding was fine otherwise, plus a strikeout from Banks.

• Top of the Seventh: Bonomolo and Hodo each get on base with a walk and a hit-by-pitch respectively, but Vanderbilt pitcher England Bryan struck out Lebron, Snell and Staton.

• Bottom of the Sixth: Fowler dove for a ball in shallow right field but couldn't get to it as Vanderbilt batter Braden Holcomb tripled. Fowler stayed down as Staton made the throw back to the infield. Head coach Rob Vaughn and team trainers were looking at what appeared to be his right lower leg. Fowler got up after a while and tried to walk it off before deciding to stay in the game. Adams was able to get out of the frame unharmed, giving him a quality start on the stat sheet.

• Top of the Sixth: Fennell seemed to shake off a walk allowed to Snell by striking out Bonomolo, but that all changed when Hodo came to the plate and bombed a 393-foot two-run shot to center field to extend the Crimson Tide's lead. Fennell was then subbed out for Luke Guth. If Alabama wins, it will likely give Fennell his first loss of the season. Guth only threw 14 pitches before being taken out for Miller Green, but that didn't work either as Mizell and Fowler each logged RBI singles. Alabama was one batter shy of going through the entire order. ALABAMA 7, VANDERBILT 2.

• Bottom of the Fifth: Really solid frame for Adams as he struck out the first two batters and held Nelson didn't reach the oufield during 1-2-3 inning. Adams is up to four strikeouts against 21 batters faced.

• Top of the Fifth: Alabama right fielder Bryce Fowler records a two-out single, but Lebron pops out in the infield. Designated hitter Coleman Mizell became Fennell's eighth strikeout of the afternoon.

• Bottom of the Fourth: Adams gave up a single to start the frame and two of Vanderbilt's outs came via catches by Richie Bonomolo Jr. in deep center field. Adams is up to 74 pitches through four innings with the same amount of fly-outs and ground-outs.

• Top of the Fourth: Lebron strikes out again to open the frame but Fennell walked back-to-back Alabama batters. Two batters later, second baseman Garrett Staton followed this a moon shot over the left field wall to bring in a three runs for the Crimson Tide. ALABAMA 3, VANDERBILT 2.

• Bottom of the Third: Adams walks his first Vanderbilt player of the day and with two outs, that player was brought home after a single by Nelson. Nelson hit the home run earlier and has the Crimson Tide's number. VANDERBILT 2, ALABAMA 0.

• Top of the Third: Alabama batters stay quiet as we've made our way through the first order. Snell's triple is the Crimson Tide's only form of reaching first base so far. Fennell has five strikeouts against 10 batters faced.

• Bottom of the Second: Adams brushes off the home run he gave up in the first inning with a 1-2-3 frame. None of Vanderbilt's bats left the infield, as Adams earned his first strikeout of the day.

• Top of the Second: Alabama first baseman Will Hodo lines out to left center but the other two Alabama bats don't reach the infield as Fennell struck them out. Fennell has 4 Ks against seven Crimson Tide batters.

• Bottom of the First: Like Fennell, Alabama pitcher Zane Adams also showed some promise after facing his two batters (both ground-outs), but instead of giving up a triple to batter No. 3, Vanderbilt first baseman Riley Nelson took it one step further with home run to center field. VANDERBILT 1, ALABAMA 0.

• Top of the First: Vanderbilt pitcher Connor Fennell got off to a strong start with a ground-out and also struck out college baseball standout Justin Lebron. Alabama left fielder Kade Snell got the best of Fennell though as he recorded his first career triple, but was stranded there after Fennell tallied his second K of the first frame. A stat to keep in mind today for Alabama surrounds Fennell, as he's 5-0 on the season and the Crimson Tide has a chance to give him his first loss.

Alabama vs. Vanderbilt has started on SECN+ as the Mississippi State-Kentucky game, which had the earlier slot on SEC Network, is in the eighth inning. Alabama-Vanderbilt will switch over to SEC Network when that game concludes.

Starting Lineups

Alabama	Vanderbilt
1. Bryce Fowler, right field	1. Rustan Rigdon, left field
2. Justin Lebron, shortstop	2. RJ Austin, center field
3. Kade Snell, left field	3. Riley Nelson, first base
4. Richie Bonomolo Jr. center field	4. Brodie Johnston, third base
5. Will Hodo, first base	5. Braden Holcomb, right field
6. Garrett Staton, second base	6. Mac Rose, designated hitter
7. Brady Neal, catcher	7. Colin Barczi, catcher
8. Jason Torres, third base	8. Jonathan Vastine, shortstop
9. Coleman Mizell, designated hitter	9. Mike Mancini, second base
Pitcher: Zane Adams (LHP)	Pitcher: Connor Fennell (RHP)

Pregame:

• If Carson Ozmer is used today and gets another save, he will set a new record for most saves by an Alabama closer in a single season.

See Also:

manual