Matthew Heiberger Emerging as Key Bullpen Piece for Crimson Tide

The sophomore has pitched nine scoreless innings to start the season and earned his first win on Wednesday.

Alabama Baseball Player Matthew Heiberger (7) pitches against Troy at Sewell-Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa, AL on Wednesday, Mar 5, 2025. | Photo by Crimson Tide Photos / UA Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— As head coach Rob Vaughn continues to get a better sense for how his team's bullpen will look as conference play approaches, Matthew Heiberger continues to establish himself as a trusted arm who will play a big role for the No. 23 Crimson Tide.

The sophomore had arguably the best performance of his career in Wednesday's 3-1 win over Troy, allowing just one hit over four scoreless innings and earning his first win of the year.

"I thought he threw some really good change ups tonight," Vaughn said. "I thought he executed in some big spots, fielded in his position. Just all the things that elite winning baseball looks like, Matty did tonight."

Heiberger played a significant role in Alabama's bullpen as a freshman in 2024. He appeared in 16 games, logging a 5.24 ERA with a 2-0 record. He missed most of April and the first-half of May due to injury but looked solid in his three appearances after he came back.

Heiberger has been electric to start the 2025 campaign, giving up just four hits in nine scoreless innings of work on the season. The work that he put in with pitching coach Jason Jackson all winter was instrumental to this second-year leap.

"I was just able to command the zone," Heiberger said. "That was my biggest thing in the off-season. I've always been able to be in the zone with control, but command is putting it where you want to put it, and I've been working really hard on that. And I think all my pitches today, I had command with them."

Heiberger throws one of the most frustrating fastballs in the SEC, a fact that certainly is not lost on his teammates.

"We try to hit his fastball all the time. One of the most miserable things that a hitter can try to hit is his heater, because it's got action," Vaughn said. "It will carry, it'll sink, it'll cut occasionally, it's got all that. He's able to, kind of move that thing in and out, able to move that pitch up when he wants to."

Heiberger's role was very much up in the air entering the season on a bullpen that had many question marks. Vaughn referred to Heiberger as one of the team's best players in the postgame presser, making it appear very likely that the Birmingham native is going to be a key piece out of the bullpen for the rest of the season.