Alabama Baseball Sweeps UAB in Fall Exhibition Doubleheader

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Alabama beat UAB 6-1 and 8-7 in two seven-inning fall exhibition games at Sewell-Thomas Stadium Friday night.

Game 1: Alabama 6, UAB 1

Freshman Wyatt Williams got the starting nod for the Crimson Tide and tossed three innings, allowing one run on two hits while striking out three and showing excellent command by not walking any batters.

The Blazers' lone run came on an RBI double down the third-base line off the bat of No. 9 hitter Baylor Roberts in the top of the third inning.

The Crimson Tide responded in the bottom of the fourth inning with four runs to take a 4-1 lead, with two of those runs coming with two outs. Sam Christiansen, who missed all of last season, crushed an RBI double off the wall in center field to even the score at one apiece, his second double in as many at-bats.

Jaser Arms drove home Christiansen with an RBI groundout. Missouri transfer switch-hitting catcher Mateo Serna added another run with an RBI single before Justin Osterhouse came across to score on a wild pitch.

Christiansen's performance was particularly encouraging for Alabama after he missed the entire 2025 season.

"Sam's been great, man. That kid can just really hit," head coach Rob Vaughn said. "He hit in this league before, obviously hammered two doubles today."

Left-handed pitcher Luke Smyers replaced Williams in the top half of the fourth and threw two scoreless innings, striking out four. It was a bounce-back outing for Smyers against the Blazers after allowing six runs and recording only one out against UAB last season.

Owen Sarna entered in relief of Smyers in the top of the sixth inning and recorded six outs without allowing a run while notching two strikeouts.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Crimson Tide added two more runs on a sacrifice fly from Peyton Steele and an RBI single by Zack Johnson to extend the lead to 6-1.

Vaughn praised the team's execution in the opener, pointing to the clean performance as a positive sign.

"The first game, that was kind of the best part. It was an incredibly clean game," Vaughn said. "We didn't put one guy on for free, didn't walk a guy, didn't make an error, just played baseball and had kind of a comfortable win."

Game 2: Alabama 8, UAB 7

Alabama rallied from an early three-run deficit to defeat UAB 8-7 in the second game, completing the doubleheader sweep of the Blazers.

Freshman Bubba Coleman led the offensive charge, driving in four runs, including a game-tying three-run home run in the third inning.

Alabama struck first in the bottom of the first inning when a throwing error allowed a run to score on what appeared to be an inning-ending double play. However, UAB answered in the second, scoring four runs to take a 4-1 advantage.

Cutter Smith tied the game with an RBI single before Rhys Jones delivered a two-out RBI double to give the Blazers a 2-1 lead. Jake Brown followed with a two-run single up the middle to extend UAB's advantage to three runs.

The Crimson Tide responded in the bottom of the third inning. After Chase Kroberger and Chandler Taylor opened the frame with consecutive singles, Coleman launched a three-run home run to left field, tying the game at 4-4.

Coleman's big night highlighted the freshman's offensive potential as he delivered one of the best performances of the evening. Vaughn praised Coleman's hitting ability and approach at the plate.

"Bubba can hit, man. He can really, really hit, and he's always hit," Vaughn said. "That guy's played more baseball than maybe any of these young freshmen coming in. I mean, he just loves playing."

Vaughn also praised Coleman's approach at the plate, noting that he capitalized on mistakes from UAB's pitching staff.

"He took three really, really good swings, long at-bats, competed, took some pitches, fouled off some pitches," Vaughn said. "And then got three mistakes, really, and punished all three of them."

Alabama took the lead for good in the fourth inning. Jojo Williamson and Gage Petrutz opened the frame with back-to-back singles before a balk brought home a run. Taylor followed with an RBI single to give the Crimson Tide a 6-4 advantage.

Coleman continued his productive night with an RBI double into the right-field corner, bringing home another run and extending Alabama's lead to 8-4. His four RBIs accounted for half of the Crimson Tide's eight runs.

UAB threatened to erase the deficit in the fifth inning, taking advantage of a throwing error on a pickoff attempt to score a run. Andrew Hunt followed with a two-run single to cut Alabama's lead to 8-7.

The Crimson Tide bullpen settled in from there. Adrian Vargas delivered two scoreless innings in relief, allowing no hits while recording three strikeouts. Evan Malone worked through trouble in the sixth inning, getting help from Petrutz, who threw out a runner attempting to steal to end the threat.

Tate Troxell took over in the seventh and closed out the game with a scoreless inning to secure the 8-7 victory.

Vaughn was pleased with how the younger players responded after falling behind, particularly with the coaching staff allowing them to work through the adversity rather than bringing more experienced players back into the game.

"I loved the way they competed," Vaughn said. "I loved going down 4-1. We weren't gonna bring any of those older guys back. It was like, hey, this is y'all's game, go do it."

Vaughn specifically highlighted the contributions from Coleman, Taylor and Petrutz during the comeback.

"Chandler Taylor with some big swings in there. Gage Petrutz with some bigger swings. Obviously, Bubba with the huge homer," Vaughn said.

Alabama finished with 10 hits in Game 2, with Coleman accounting for four RBIs and Taylor delivering a key RBI single during the fourth-inning rally.

Freshman Jack Rostock started for the Crimson Tide, allowing four runs on four hits over two innings while striking out four. Vargas followed with two scoreless innings before Malone tossed two innings and Troxell closed out the final frame.

The two victories gave Alabama a successful night against UAB as the Crimson Tide continued evaluating their roster with approximately a week remaining in fall practice.

Vaughn said the team's young players have shown promise throughout the fall, even as the coaching staff continues to determine how the roster will come together before the spring season.

"These outside competitions are so good, because you get to see them compete against other teams," Vaughn said. "We've obviously got some room to grow, but those young guys have played a really good brand of baseball."