No. 9 Seed Alabama Baseball Advances Past No. 16 Mizzou in First Round of SEC Tournament

The Crimson Tide advances to the second round of play on Wednesday morning.

Alabama Baseball (AlabamaBSB) via X

HOOVER, Ala.— After a one-and-done appearance in last year’s SEC Baseball Tournament, Rob Vaughn and the No. 9-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide (41-15, 16-14 SEC) advanced to the second round with a 4-1 win over the No. 16-seeded Missouri Tigers (17-39, 3-27 SEC) on Tuesday afternoon. 

Mizzou got on the board first in the top of the fourth inning on a solo home run by catcher Mateo Serna which soared down the right field line. 

The Tigers' lead was short lived as the Crimson Tide responded in the home half of the inning. Alabama plated a pair of runs on two RBI singles by shortstop Justin Lebron and left fielder Kade Snell to take the 2-1 advantage.

Right-handed pitcher Tyler Fay started on the mound for the Crimson Tide and notched his longest outing of the year. In the appearance, the redshirt sophomore allowed six hits, one earned run, walked one batter, and struck out six in six innings of work.

Matthew Heiberger entered out of the bullpen to open the seventh, but went just 0.2 innings after he allowed two hits and struck out one batter. Braylon Myers and Carson Ozmer also pitched out of the pen to close out the contest. 

The Crimson Tide maintained its one-run lead through the fifth and sixth innings and extended its advantage 3-1 on a sacrifice fly by first baseman Will Hodo in the seventh. The knock brought home Snell from third, who reached base on a fielder’s choice, advanced to second on a single, and third on a wild pitch. 

Catcher Brady Neal upped the Crimson Tide’s advantage 4-1 in the eighth on a solo home run to center field, his third of the season. 

The Tigers attempted a comeback in the ninth, bringing the game-winning run to the plate after a one-out single by designated hitter Brock Daniels, shortstop Jackson Lovich being hit by a pitch, and right fielder Pierre Seals reaching on a fielder’s choice and throwing error, however a massive out by Hodo at first base and a fly out ends the game and secures the win for the Crimson Tide.

Next up, Alabama will play the No. 8 Tennessee Volunteers in the second round on Wednesday morning. First pitch is set for 9:30 a.m. CT on SEC Network.

This story will be updated with quotes.