Alabama
19-7
Austin Peay
12-13
Bullpen Leads Crimson Tide to 6-2 Victory in Madison on Tuesday
3/24/2026 10:52:00 PM | Baseball
Alabama improved to 7-0 all-time against Austin Peay with the win
MADISON, Ala. - Alabama baseball (19-7) leaned on an efficient effort from its stable of relievers on Tuesday, as the Crimson Tide defeated Austin Peay (12-13) by a score of 6-2 at Toyota Field, the home of the Los Angeles Angels' Double-A affiliate, the Rocket City Trash Pandas.
JT Blackwood was tasked with his third midweek start of the spring on Tuesday, allowing two runs on four hits to go with one walk and two strikeouts. Blackwood opened his night with two scoreless innings before running into slight trouble in the 3rd, forcing his exit after 2.2 innings. Even so, the Crimson Tide bullpen was nearly flawless over the game's final 6.1 innings.
Connor Lehman (1-0) earned his first win of 2026 as the first man out of the bullpen, tossing 2.1 scoreless innings while not allowing a hit, adding two strikeouts. Austin Morris followed Lehman with a scoreless inning of his own, striking out two of the three men he faced. Owen Sarna, in his first appearance since Feb. 20, scattered a hit over 2.0 shutout frames, picking up one strikeout in the process. Evan Steckmesser tidied up the win after a scoreless 9th, allowing one hit with one punchout.
The Tide lineup saw Bryce Fowler finish as one of two men to manage multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with one RBI, a walk and a run scored. Brennan Holt also had a pair of hits as part of a 2-for-4 night, contributing a double and a run scored. Jason Torres led all players with three RBI, finishing 1-for-3 with a double and a walk. Will Plattner was 0-for-2 with a walk and an RBI following a sacrifice fly, while Luke Vaughn collected a double, a walk and a run scored to close his 1-for-2 line.
From Head Coach Rob Vaughn
Kind of a weird start to tonight, (Dillon) Adkins comes in and walks four straight and wasn't around the zone, I honestly thought it kind of got us off time a little bit. (Chance) Cox started sticking some fastballs underneath our righties hands. I thought it took us a little too long to adjust offensively, but finally broke through there in the fifth inning, but just really happy with the way we threw the ball. JT (Blackwood) was great out of the gate, would have liked to see him hold his stuff a little better, but (Connor) Lehman came in and did a great job. He ran that cutter under their hands. Austin Morris was extremely efficient, was good to have Owen Sarna back, he was outstanding tonight. Outside of throwing a pickoff away, we played some really good defense and made some really good plays. Good team win on the road, and now it's on to Auburn. We have a big weekend coming up and I'm excited to welcome the Tigers to town and get after it.
How It Happened
- B1 | The Crimson Tide opened its first turn at the plate with four consecutive walks, with Jason Torres drawing the fourth straight walk to force in a run. With the bases still loaded, Will Plattner lifted a sacrifice fly to right to drive in Justin Lebron (2-0, Alabama)
- T3 | The Governors led off the inning with a double, while a sacrifice bunt pushed the runner to third before a groundout to third allowed the runner to score. Immediately after the groundout, Austin Peay connected on a solo homer to tie the score. (2-2)
- B5 | Luke Vaughn lined a double into left-center as the leadoff man before Brennan Holt doubled down the right field line. Vaughn had originally stopped at third on the play, though the throw back into the infield from the APSU right fielder was off target, allowing Vaughn to score. With Holt at second, a groundout pushed him to third, leading to Lebron drawing an intentional walk. After Lebron stole second to put two men in scoring position, Torres lined a two-run double down the right field line. (5-2, Alabama)
- B8 | With one out, John Lemm smoked a pinch-hit single up the middle with one out, with Chase Kroberger replacing him at first as a pinch-runner. After a flyout, Holt singled through the left side to put runners at the corners with two down. The next man up, Fowler took advantage of the scoring chance, bouncing an infield single towards second to send Kroberger home. (6-2, Alabama)
Postgame Notes
- Alabama improved to 7-0 all-time against Austin Peay, with Tuesday's victory standing as the Tide's first win over the Governors outside of Tuscaloosa
- Connor Lehman not only earned his first win of the season, but also the first win of his collegiate career
- Luke Vaughn elevated his team-high on-base streak to 22 games
- Bryce Fowler extended his on-base streak to 20 games and now has at least one hit in eight consecutive games
- Fowler is hitting .411 (14-for-34) with three doubles, five RBI, seven walks, five stolen bases and eight runs scored over the course of his eight-game hitting streak
- Brady Neal also extended his on-base streak to 17 consecutive games
- Justin Osterhouse stretched his on-base streak to 14 games
- Attendance: 2,968
Up Next
- Alabama will host rival No. 5 Auburn at Sewell-Thomas Stadium for a three-game weekend series beginning Friday, March 27
- First pitch between the Crimson Tide and Tigers is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT, airing on SEC Network+
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Lehman, Connor (1-0)
L: COX, Chance (0-3)
Batting:
2B: PRIDGEN, Paris 1 ; CONLEY, Trevor 1
HR: VELAZQUEZ, Ray 1
RBI: TAYLOR, Zion 1 ; VELAZQUEZ, Ray 1
SH: PRIDGEN, Paris 1
Base Running:
RUNS: VELAZQUEZ, Ray 1 ; CONLEY, Trevor 1
SB: PRIDGEN, Paris 1 ; ADKINS, Dillon 1
HBP: ADKINS, Dillon 1
Batting:
2B: Torres, Jason 1 ; Vaughn, Luke 1 ; Holt, Brennan 1
RBI: Fowler, Bryce 1 ; Torres, Jason 3 ; Plattner, Will 1
SF: Plattner, Will 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Fowler, Bryce 1 ; Lebron, Justin 2 ; Kroberger, Chase 1 ; Vaughn, Luke 1 ; Holt, Brennan 1
SB: Lebron, Justin 1
CS: Fowler, Bryce 1
