No. 4 Texas baseball clinches series victory over No. 11 Alabama
By David Wasson
Published:
The Texas Longhorns locked up a critical SEC series victory Saturday, downing No. 11 Alabama 3-1 in front of 6,878 at Disch-Falk Field in Austin.
Saturday’s win, coupled with Friday night’s 10-2 victory over the Crimson Tide, improved Texas to 30-7 overall and 11-5 in SEC play. Alabama (27-12, 8-8) has lost five of its last six games. Game 3 of the series is set for Sunday (2 pm ET, SEC Network+).
Alabama grabbed an early 1-0 lead Saturday in the top of the first when Brady Neal doubled home Bryce Fowler.
The Crimson Tide made that margin stick until the seventh inning – which is when Texas broke open the defensive battle for good. Jayden Duplantier began the rally with an RBI single to right, Carson Tinney added an RBI single up the middle and Adrian Rodriguez lifted a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1.
Aiden Robbins finished 3-for-4 for Texas, which finished with eight hits. Reliever Haiden Leffew (3-1) earned the victory, while Sam Cozart struck out all three Alabama hitters he faced in the ninth for his sixth save. Longhorns starter Ruger Riojas gave up just three hits and struck out 11 in five innings of work.
In all, 19 of the Crimson Tide’s 27 outs came via strikeout. Reliever Matthew Heiberger (2-2) took the loss for Alabama.
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
