Staton's Home Run Gives Alabama Baseball Late Lead in Midweek Win Over UAB

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— For the first time in his Alabama career, Crimson Tide head baseball coach Rob Vaughn has experienced a season sweep of UAB. The No. 15 Crimson Tide won at home 5-3 on Tuesday with the help of a seventh-inning home run from designated hitter Garrett Staton.

"Today, our best team is Brennen Norton and Garrett Staton doing what they're capable of doing," Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn said. "G had just a professional at-bat tonight... Really happy for him, too. It was a huge gut punch for him, just personally, when he got hurt."

Staton has four home runs this season (Tuesday was his fourth) and would have more had he not missed a chunk of time after a broken finger sustained on Feb. 18. His bat is back in full force.

Alabama's offensive unit was efficient. Despite being outhit 8-7, the Crimson Tide only left three men on base all night, compared to 10 for the Blazers (19-18). First baseman Will Hodo singled to score third baseman Jason Torres in the second inning, starting off the scoring.

UAB equalized in the very next frame when talented (and defensively adept) center fielder Logan Braunschweig tallied an RBI single of his own, enabling second baseman Alex Cheeseman to score. Cheeseman scored again in the fifth on a sac fly from first baseman Wesley Helms, giving UAB a 2-1 advantage.

The Crimson Tide has some veteran players in its batting order, and they stepped up thereafter. Norton gave Alabama (30-8) its first lead of the contest with his first home run since March 14, a two-run shot in the bottom of the fifth.

"He shows up every day. He works his tail off, he prepares every day," Vaughn said. "When he's in the lineup, he's ready to go. When he's not in the lineup, he's the best teammate you can ask for. He hasn't pouted. He hasn't felt bad for himself. He just kept plugging... We're gonna need that dude down the stretch."

Braunschweig scored a run courtesy of teammate Todd Clay's bat in the seventh, tying the ball game up ahead of stretch time. In the home half, Staton stepped to the plate with one away and launched an opposite-field home run to give the Crimson Tide the lead back.

"That's the kind of power he has," Vaughn said. "When he came back, he's kinda thrust right in the middle of in SEC play, so there's not any light at-bats for him in there... We're really fortunate, the difference in the game was really his homer and Brennen's homer."

Center fielder Richie Bonomolo Jr. added to the inning with an RBI double, sending Norton to the plate for his second run scored of the night. Closer Carson Ozmer handled his responsibilities in the ninth, retiring former Alabama player Camden Hayslip to end the game with two on base.

"I love being in those spots. That's what I came here to do," Ozmer said. "I'm thankful these coaches trust me in that spot. But it's just something that I've done before, so it's just go out there and do what I've done, keep executing pitches."

Ozmer is now two saves away from tying the single-season program record for saves. It's 14, and jersey No. 14 now sits at 12 on the season after Tuesday's effort. He'll continue to be valuable in high-leverage spots, like ones that can eventuate from the team's road series against No. 9 LSU from Thursday to Saturday.

Sunday starter Bobby Alcock was removed from the weekend rotation against Mississippi State amd started Tuesday, delivering 3.2 innings of one-run work with two walks. He posted a first-inning zero, which the Crimson Tide did not do in any of its weekend games against the Bulldogs.

Braunschweig and Nick Hollifield tied for UAB's game lead in hits, equaling Staton and Norton with two. The Blazers, however, did not have an extra-base hit. Norton had two RBIs. Staton's home run gave him one.

"Not a pretty win by any means," Vaughn said. "At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is what that scoreboard says at the end, and us having one more run than they did. It's what this group's done a great job of this year... If this group's got one gene, it's the toughness and winner gene."

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