Crimson Tide’s Dominant Pitching Fuels Game One Win Over Ole Miss

TUSCALOOSA, ALA. – Alabama claimed game one of its three-game set against Ole Miss with a 5-4 victory, thanks in large part to an outstanding performance by the Crimson Tide’s pitching staff, with two Alabama pitchers combining for an impressive 16 strikeouts in Thursday’s win.

Get our free mobile app

The Crimson Tide sent out their usual Friday starter, Tyler Fay, who pitched seven strong innings. Matthew Heiberger, who has been a valuable closer for Alabama this season, came in to pitch the final two innings, securing the Crimson Tide’s 17th conference win and 37th overall victory of the season.

Alabama associate head coach Jason Jackson spoke to the media after the Crimson Tide’s game one win, emphasizing how valuable both pitchers are to the team and the crucial roles they played in Thursday’s victory.

“I mean just with what he [Tyler Fay] did tonight I thought was the biggest you know that’s a team that can really hit and you know they kinda live off the homers, that’s a big piece of their offense and you know that they are gonna get some here and there but we talked about it before the game we gotta make them be solo homers of their gonna get one and he did a good job of not letting that effect what he did you know he gives up a solo homer to start the game, just left the fastball a little too much in the middle, and comes back and punches the next three guys out and I don’t think he even flinched or batted an eye.”

Fay delivered an impressive performance on the mound in his ninth win of the season, with the junior's record being 9-3 on the season. He went on to allow three runs, two of them solo home runs, but minimized the damage by striking out 11 batters over seven innings.

After giving up a solo home run on his first pitch, the right-hander responded by striking out the next three batters to retire the side.

This kind of performance is nothing new for Fay, who is coming off back-to-back double-digit strikeout games. The junior recorded 10 strikeouts last Friday in Alabama’s 8-3 win over South Carolina. Today, Fay allowed seven hits but only three runs, two on solo home runs in the first and sixth innings, and the third on an RBI single from Rebels’ catcher Austin Fawley.

In his final inning, Fay struck out two batters, with his 11th strikeout retiring the side and stranding the game-tying run at first base. Heiberger then came in from the bullpen to close out the game and earned his fourth save of the season.

Jackson was asked about Heiberger’s performance and the value of having a closer who thrives in high-leverage situations. He responded that the left-handed closer seems to perform even better when the stakes are highest. Jackson also noted that Heiberger had an advantage against Ole Miss’s lineup, which featured several left-handed hitters.

“Mattie [Matthew Heiberger] has been really good he just got such a slow heartbeat, he’s been like that since he was a freshman and he actually I think sometimes elevates, he pitches better in the big moments, and it kinda set up like that with the way they did their lineup you know with Tyler [Fay] on the mound they went a little bit left handed heavy so when it came back to it, and you know some of those guys at the top right there when you got [Dom] Decker, and [Will] Furniss, and [Tristan] Bissetta like some of those lefties at the top just matched up good, but yeah Mattie’s been awesome for us.” 

Heiberger was electric in his two innings of work. He opened the eighth with three straight strikeouts to retire the side. In the ninth, he allowed two hits and a walk that led to a run, but responded with two strikeouts to end the game, stranding the tying run at second and the go-ahead run at first. Heiberger finished with a career-high five strikeouts in his fourth save of the season.

Over his last five games, Heiberger has pitched 10 innings, allowing just two runs and eight hits while striking out nine. Alabama has won all five of those games in which he appeared.

Finally, Jackson discussed the value of having a starter like Fay who can pitch deep into games, followed by a reliable closer like Heiberger. He noted what a luxury it is to only need one reliever from the bullpen in the first game of a series.

“When you get length on a Friday night out of him [Tyler Fay], it really shortens the game for that bullpen, so it’s good to be able to use Matt [Matthew Heiberger] for two, and you didn’t have to use Hagan [Banks] or some of these other guys, and so now those guys hopefully available as the weekend goes on.” 

It certainly makes things easier when you have a starter like Fay, who has pitched at least five innings in 13 consecutive starts, falling short of that mark only in the season opener against Washington State. He’s gone at least six innings eight times and at least seven innings five times this season.

Heiberger has also made multiple appearances in conference series this year, pitching in two games in at least six different series this season.

With the SEC Tournament in Hoover approaching and the regionals to follow, Alabama will rely on the stellar performances of Fay and Heiberger to keep the bullpen fresh and help the Crimson Tide make a deep run in the NCAA tournament.

Alabama will be back in action Friday at 6 p.m., looking to clinch the series with another win over Ole Miss.

Follow @Micahnichols0 on X (formerly known as Twitter) and tune into Tide100.9 for all your Alabama baseball, football, and basketball coverage.