Alabama
18-7, 0
Florida
19-6, 0
Baseball Overcomes Early Deficit, Wins 14-7 to Sweep No. 18 Florida
3/22/2026 7:15:00 PM | Baseball
The Crimson Tide earned its first series sweep of the Gators since 2002
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Despite trailing by four runs through four innings, Alabama baseball (18-7, 3-3 SEC) scored 14 runs in its final four turns at the plate, as the Crimson Tide secured a three-game sweep of No. 18 Florida (19-6, 3-3 SEC) with a 14-7 victory at Sewell-Thomas Stadium on Sunday. With the win, the Tide produced its first series sweep of the Gators since 2002.
Brady Neal punctuated a seven-run 6th inning for the Tide, as his grand slam that same inning built a five-run Alabama lead. Neal finished his incredible afternoon with a 2-for-4 line, including a double, a home run, seven RBI, one walk and one run scored. Justin Lebron also homered for the Tide, as his two-run home run in the 5th plated Alabama's first two runs of the afternoon. Lebron managed a 1-for-4 day with a hit-by-pitch and two runs scored.
Will Plattner sparked the seven-run rally in the 6th, with his two-run home run leveling the score at 4-4. Bryce Fowler contributed to the offensive explosion, going 2-for-4 with one RBI, a walk and two runs scored. Brennen Holt was crucial to the Tide's Sunday success, as the table-setter at the bottom of the order was 1-for-1 with one RBI, three walks and three runs scored. Alabama produced nine walks in the win, with all nine starters in the lineup reaching base.
Myles Upchurch made his sixth start of the season on Sunday, though the freshman recorded just one out before Sam Mitchell entered in the 1st. Upchurch issued four walks with one strikeout and was responsible for three earned runs. Mitchell gave the Tide 2.2 innings of scoreless relief out of the bullpen, with the redshirt sophomore working around two hits and two hit-by-pitches while adding a strikeout.
Luke Smyers entered in the 4th, though the rookie southpaw also battled command issues in his brief appearance, walking the only two batters he faced. Ashton Crowther (2-1) eventually earned the win after tossing 3.1 innings of two-run ball, striking out four while allowing just a two-run home run after the Tide had claimed a 9-4 lead going into the 7th. Bobby Alcock surrendered one run on two hits and one walk after picking up the final two outs of the 7th. After entering in the 8th, Hagan Banks was nearly perfect across his 2.0 shutout innings, holding the Gators hitless while striking out one to put the finishing touches on the victory.
From Head Coach Rob Vaughn
"A great game to wrap up a great weekend. And the way we did it was just indicative of what I think this team's done over the last 10 days. Through the struggle and some of the adversity. Myles (Upchurch) just couldn't find the zone, I think he walked maybe four in the first, couldn't find the zone. Sam Mitchell comes in and picks him up, minimizes the damage and picks up his teammates. Luke Smyers comes out a couple innings later, kind of scuffling a little bit, can't find the strike zone. Here comes Ashton Crowther, he picks him up. And that's what great teams do. Offensively, we had nothing going there for a little while. Cooper Walls was really good. Mixing the changeup, the slider, and he still had 95 in his back pocket. Walls was outstanding. Finally got him out of the game and you saw the pack kind of go to work. We did a great job of just taking what the game gave us. We walked a lot late. We had big swings and big counts when we needed to. Yeah, just a special day, fun way to finish the weekend. Man, it felt good to kind of play our brand of baseball and get off on the right foot. So big game against Austin Peay on Tuesday, so we'll enjoy this one over the next couple hours and then start to recover and get ready for a big one in Huntsville on Tuesday."
How It Happened
- T1 | After a strikeout to lead off the inning, the Gators tallied a walk before a single to right. After the base-hit, a failed pickoff towards first allowed a run to score. Following the error, the Gators drew three consecutive free passes to force in a second run. With the bases still loaded, a hit-by-pitch paved the way for a third run to score. (3-0, Florida)
- T4 | Back-to-back walks saw the first two men reach, with a passed ball placing a runner at third. With runners on the corners, a sacrifice fly to left allowed UF to extend its lead. (4-0, Florida)
- B5 | Brennan Holt drew a one-out walk before Justin Lebron launched a two-out, two-run home run off the scoreboard in left. (4-2, Florida)
- B6 | With one out, John Lemm singled up the middle and advanced to second after a wild pitch. The next batter, Will Plattner, slugged a two-run home run to tie the score. Later in the inning, Luke Vaughn drew a walk and reached third after Holt's single through the right side. Bryce Fowler then walked to load the bases. With the bases full and Lebron at the plate, a wild pitch allowed Vaughn to score from third before Lebron was plunked to again load the bases. After taking a one-run lead, Brady Neal's grand slam to left suddenly created a five-run advantage. (9-4, Alabama)
- T7 | Following a one-out walk, Blake Cyr homered to left to trim the Tide lead. (9-7, Alabama)
- B7 | UA opened the 7th with four consecutive walks, with Holt's free pass forcing in a run. Fowler then proceeded to line an RBI single off the wall in left, allowing Justin Osterhouse to come home. With Neal at the plate, the Tide right fielder cleared the bases with a three-run double to right. (14-7, Alabama)
Postgame Notes
- The series sweep of Florida stands as Alabama's first three-game sweep of the Gators since 2008 and is the Tide's first series sweep of a ranked Florida team since 1995
- Alabama scored 14 runs to clinch the series sweep, the most runs scored by the Crimson Tide against the Gators since defeating UF 15-5 in the 1996 SEC Tournament Championship game
- Brady Neal's seven RBI on Sunday mark a new career high, surpassing his previous single-game best of five RBI set against North Florida on March 8 earlier this season
- Neal is the first Alabama player since Will Hodo in 2024 to produce seven RBI in a single game
- Neal also extended his on-base streak to 16 consecutive games
- In three games against Florida, Neal was 7-for-12 (.583) with one double, one home run, 11 RBI, 11 total bases, three walks and one stolen base
- Luke Vaughn elevated his team-high on-base streak to 21 games
- Bryce Fowler extended his on-base streak to 19 games and now has at least one hit in seven consecutive games
- Fowler is hitting .400 (12-for-30) with three doubles, four RBI, six walks, five stolen bases and seven runs scored over the course of his seven-game hitting streak
- Justin Osterhouse stretched his on-base streak to 13 games
- Attendance: 3,753
Up Next
- Alabama will travel to Huntsville for a neutral site midweek clash with Austin Peay at Toyota Field on Tuesday, March 24
- First pitch between the Crimson Tide and Governors is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Crowther, Ashton (2-1)
L: Russell Sandefer (0-1)
Batting:
HR: Blake Cyr 1
RBI: Karson Bowen 1 ; Blake Cyr 2 ; Cole Stanford 1 ; Ashton Wilson 1 ; Cash Strayer 1
SF: Karson Bowen 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kyle Jones 1 ; Cade Kurland 1 ; Karson Bowen 1 ; Ethan Surowiec 2 ; Blake Cyr 1 ; Cole Stanford 1
SB: Kyle Jones 2
HBP: Sam Miller 1 ; Ashton Wilson 1
PO: Cade Kurland 1
Batting:
2B: Neal, Brady 1
HR: Lebron, Justin 1 ; Neal, Brady 1 ; Plattner, Will 1
RBI: Fowler, Bryce 1 ; Lebron, Justin 2 ; Neal, Brady 7 ; Plattner, Will 2 ; Holt, Brennan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Fowler, Bryce 2 ; Lebron, Justin 2 ; Neal, Brady 1 ; Lemm, John 1 ; Plattner, Will 2 ; Osterhouse, Justin 1 ; Vaughn, Luke 2 ; Holt, Brennan 3
CS: Osterhouse, Justin 1
HBP: Lebron, Justin 1 ; Torres, Jason 1
