Standout Performers Headline Alabama Baseball's Saturday Upset of No. 1 Texas A&M

Alabama baseball rallied back from a doubleheader sweep Friday to win another game against a No. 1 team Saturday.

Alabama relief pitcher Alton Davis II in a game against Texas A&M on April 20, 2024. / Alabama Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— The number of combined runs scored between No. 18 Alabama and No. 1 Texas A&M in the two teams' series this weekend was 61. For the Crimson Tide, Saturday's back-and-forth effort ultimately yielded runs 60 and 61. Those last two were the difference in a 10-9 upset victory over the Aggies at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

Much like the opening contest of Friday's doubleheader, Alabama (25-15, 7-11 SEC) raced out to a 5-0 lead and didn't hold it all the way through. Catcher Mac Guscette's second grand slam in as many days started the scoring. "If someone says that hitting a home run's not fun, they're lying to you," he said. "The biggest thing was that I went out there and I tried to do everything that I could to win."

He has batted in 11 runs in his last two games, a fact that spurred a "Roll Tide" from head coach Rob Vaughn upon finding it out. "That game was exactly what you wanted from this group," Vaughn said. "It was tough. They were competitive... Energy, toughness and focus, and there was no question they brought that."

After going down 5-0 and then 6-2, the Aggies (35-5, 13-5 SEC) showed a bit of the offensive punch that has placed them at the very top of D1Baseball's rankings. In the top of the fourth, leadoff man Gavin Grahovac hit a two-out double that cleared the bases and slashed the deficit down to a single run. That chased starting pitcher Zane Adams from the game. The ensuing Alabama response, a fifth-inning line drive home run from designated hitter Kade Snell off the foul pole in right, took the lead to 7-5. Snell went 5-5 at the plate on Saturday, and that run eventually loomed large.

"I love that kid," Vaughn said. "Him and I were talking during BP [batting practice] yesterday, and he was talking to me about how he was gonna sell lawn mowers when he's done playing. He was really excited to talk about it." Snell apparently has a whole plan, down to the model. "He's proven to us over time that he's not a left-right matchup guy, he's just a tough at-bat," said Vaughn.

Tyler Fay came in to relieve Adams. After that, with two out in inning number six, Vaughn made the call to send in closer Alton Davis II. Texas A&M center fielder Jace LaViolette gave the sophomore southpaw a rude welcome to the game with a two-run blast that gave the Aggies their first lead of the afternoon. From there on out, the high-energy Davis II was nails, going 3.1 innings on 75 pitches to lock down the win.

"I pitch with a lot of emotion, a lot of adrenaline," Davis II said. He was reassured by his teammates, even when he was pitching from behind, that they'd get him the runs back and he would have a chance to leave the mound a winner. "I want him to have that energy," Vaughn said. "I want them to be them. I want them to feel free to come out and express themselves to compete."

In the bottom of that sixth inning, Crimson Tide third baseman Gage Miller hit his 17th home run of the campaign and tied the game at eight runs apiece. The Aggies got it right back with a sacrifice fly in the visiting seventh, just before the stretch. In the home half, second baseman Bryce Eblin did it again. For the second straight weekend against a top-ranked team, he plated two runs with one swing of the bat. Against Texas A&M, he went after the first pitch he saw from Kaiden Wilson and connected on a two-run single. The Joe loved it, and so did Vaughn.

"I know I sound like a broken record saying this. Just so incredibly proud of him," Vaughn said. "He understands what he means to this team. I think he understands how hard he's worked... That's how I want our kids to play." He added that being part of Alabama means something to Eblin, who decided to come back after last season.

With his lead restored, Davis II stranded two runners and closed it out in the ninth inning, protecting the 10-9 score. Vaughn praised the lefty's effort to continue making pitches. "I could've kept going," Davis II said. "My arm felt good... I can do it again if I wanted to." Guscette is an extra boost of confidence for the closer, who believes in the veteran catcher's ability to steal strikes for him if he narrowly misses.

One game remains in the Crimson Tide's current homestand, a midweek tilt on Tuesday with in-state Samford. After that, the next two conference series are in tough road environments at the two Mississippi schools. Vaughn is hopeful his team carries over what it did against the Aggies, not letting anything take them out of the games mentally. "That's what we have to do," he said. "We're gonna get ready and we're gonna try to go get after Samford on Tuesday."

In six games against number one teams that encompassed an incredibly short timeframe, Alabama went 3-3 but did a number of things well. One of those things was responding when knocked down, and that mentality set the stage for Saturday's triumph. The team embraced tough sledding, and thanks to standout performances, it came away with a positive outcome to end the weekend.