⚾ 🥎 ⚾ Florida at Alabama on SECN+ : Bama sweeps #18 Florida with a 14-7 Sunday win

[Bammerboy321]

Alabama is up 8-2 with bases loaded. I really hope Vaughn has gotten these guys to turn it around.

 

[Bammerboy321]

Well top of the 9th and bases are loaded with only one out. Pitching change for Bama.

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

ALabama wins it, 8-4!

2 games in a row, and 2 really good performances in a row for Bama (other than 2 more errors)? What the hell is going on here?

Adams gave the Tide a quality start on the mound, going 6 innings, giving up just 2 runs. This is the Adams that Bama needs all season. The Tide bats made the most of their opportunities, an issue that has plagued them all year in terms of blowing scoring chances and leaving runners on base. UA managed 8 hits, but they scored runs in five separate innings, again using their newfound small ball approach to get some across. Torres was the big help in that department as he had 2 sac/squeeze bunts that scored runners from 3rd. The unsung hero of the lineup, Brady Neal, went 3-5 with 3 RBI, and Lebron added some late inning insurance with a 2 run HR. Heiberger relieved Adams to start the 7th and they tried to get him to finish out the game, which was asking a bit too much. The 9th inning proved to be too much more him and he was pulled after loading the bases (with 1 out) for Hagan Banks, but Banks got the final 2 outs.

A little hard to believe, but this is Bama's first series win over Florida in 18 years. Completing the sweep tomorrow would be some nice icing o tha cake. And they've got Upchurch plus the entire pen (other than Heiberger) available to help get it done.

 

[TerryP]

'Catch' seems a little pissed. He watched that a bit...

 

[It Takes Eleven]

'Catch' seems a little pissed. He watched that a bit...

He did watch it, and then essentially put a line on the line with his bat for the catcher to cross. College baseball is far more emotional than the pros, so unless 2 told him the pitch...

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

Good things happening.......

 

[UAgrad93]

Neal is hotter than a firecracker!

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

SWEEP!

Bama wins it, 14-7!

Ok, let's talk about the bad first. 4 more errors by Bama this afternoon. This is way past ridiculous at this point. Lebron's defense has been terrible... he makes the spectacular plays and throws but then boots an easy one or air mails a routine throw. The pros will fix that quickly, but disappointing at this staff hasn't been able to. And the pitchers... the amount of errors these guys have made on throws and pickoff attempts is silly. It didn't bite them today, but they have to get that stuff cleaned up or it will cost them more games in the future. Also in the bad column... Upchurch. As talented as he is, I noted he was going to have some growing pains this season. Today was one of those days. The unfortunate thing though, it was all self inflicted.... he couldn't find the strike zone. He never got out of the 1st inning after walking 4 of 6 batters he faced, but the good news was Bama had almost their entire pen available. And every arm was needed.

Ok, now for the good. I said going into the series that Florida was a bit overrated, and after watching this series, that opinion is only solidified. Talented yes, but overrated. Still, Bama getting the sweep was completely unexpected and a really nice surprise. Even a series win was going to be a nice prize based on how Bama has played up to this point. The first 2 games, Bama did it with pitching. Today, they did it with the bats. Going forward, they'll need both plus much better defense as often as possible. Does this sweep suddenly mean that Alabama has fixed their issues and will compete with the best in the SEC? No. It was an impressive series sweep, but this Bama squad is still a ways away from being able to go toe to toe with the best in the league. However, they can build on this. This will be a shot in the arm for them. And a massive test awaits next weekend when auburn visits Tuscaloosa for a series. Win that series against the Tigers? Then maybe we can talk about the worm turning.

Anyway, back to this one... At the plate, it took Bama a few innings to get going, but when they did, they cranked it up quickly. Lebron HR's in the 5th, and in the 6th Plattner hit a 2 run HR and Neal broke things open with a GSHR in the 6th and then added a 3 run double in the 7th. And as bad as the hitting has been this season, the lineup as a whole has done a better job of working walks, they got 7 more today (plus 2 HBP). That has at least been helpful. On the mound, the Tide used 6 pitchers in all to get it done.

Note: Florida players do not like Lebron.
Note II: This was Alabama's first series sweep over Florida since 2002.

Lebron's HR...


Plattner's HR...


Neal's Slam...


Neal's 3 RBI double...

 

[BamaFan334]

@Brandon Van de Graaff now that's a statement! No hitter and two butt whooping. Not expecting that really ever, but that shows our ability that we have no reason not to win games. Roll Tide.

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

@Brandon Van de Graaff now that's a statement! No hitter and two butt whooping. Not expecting that really ever, but that shows our ability that we have no reason not to win games. Roll Tide.

Huge series win.

IMO, the success of this team is going to rest on the arms of the 3 weekend starters and 3-4 guys in the pen. The depth in the pen is not great, in terms of SEC ready arms. And I'll be stunned if we see high offensive output very often like we did this weekend. That's why I keep banging on the defense... gonna be a lot of close games coming up even if Bama plays their best. A costly error here and there will be deadly in those games.

My hope is when Sam Christiansen returns very soon, his bat and glove help out and improve the lineup on both sides.

 

[BamaFan334]

Huge series win.

IMO, the success of this team is going to rest on the arms of the 3 weekend starters and 3-4 guys in the pen. The depth in the pen is not great, in terms of SEC ready arms. And I'll be stunned if we see high offensive output very often like we did this weekend. That's why I keep banging on the defense... gonna be a lot of close games coming up even if Bama plays their best. A costly error here and there will be deadly in those games.

My hope is when Sam Christiansen returns very soon, his bat and glove help out and improve the lineup on both sides.

Yep, pitching is the equalizer. Gotta have good pitching from little league up to the pros. Gotta have a defense behind them as well, so you are correct, need fewer errors when a guy is throwing his butt off. Hopefully we see above average arms tge rest of the year and capitalize when we get those sorts of outings from our starters.

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

Yep, pitching is the equalizer. Gotta have good pitching from little league up to the pros. Gotta have a defense behind them as well, so you are correct, need fewer errors when a guy is throwing his butt off. Hopefully we see above average arms tge rest of the year and capitalize when we get those sorts of outings from our starters.

The deeper that Fay and Adams can go, the better. It's kind of an obvious statement, but UA just doesn't have the arms compared to most other SEC teams to go into the deep end with them. Same for the bats, unfortunately. Over the next month, Bama faces auburn, OU, Arkansas, and Texas. auburn and Texas both have elite pitching. Arkansas is always at the top of the SEC in the department. And OU, despite losing Kyson Witherspoon to the draft, is really, really good too. Runs will be at a premium. The margin of error for Bama is gonna be microscopic.

 

[BamaFan334]

The deeper that Fay and Adams can go, the better. It's kind of an obvious statement, but UA just doesn't have the arms compared to most other SEC teams to go into the deep end with them. Same for the bats, unfortunately. Over the next month, Bama faces auburn, OU, Arkansas, and Texas. auburn and Texas both have elite pitching. Arkansas is always at the top of the SEC in the department. And OU, despite losing Kyson Witherspoon to the draft, is really, really good too. Runs will be at a premium. The margin of error for Bama is gonna be microscopic.

We have an Auburn commit for baseball at our high school, so I'd love to stick it to them so I can rub it in their face a little.

 

[BamaFan334]

 

[Bammerboy321]

Man this has been an incredible Bama weekend. Let's cap it off with a dub tonight in basketball.

 

[TerryP]

Good things happening.......