Tide Pick Up Sweep of in-state Foe Ahead of Arkansas Series

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The No. 8 Alabama Crimson Tide (26-8) takes down in-state opponent Samford (14-17) 16-2 to pick up the season sweep of the Bulldogs and advance to 8-2 in midweek matchups this season.

Tuesday's victory marks Rob Vaughn's 100th win at the University of Alabama.

Alabama starting pitcher JT Blackwood earned credit for the win, his first of the year. Blackwood allowed six hits, two earned runs, and three strikeouts across 4.2 innings.

Samford starter Will Andre was tagged with the loss on the evening. The freshman allowed four earned runs across 0.1 innings.

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The Crimson Tide began to pour it on the Bulldogs early. A Bryce Fowler double and Justin Lebron put runners on the corners for Brady Neal. Neal got plunked, loaded the bases with no outs for Jason Torres.

Torres sent a single back up the middle to plate a pair of runs, pushing the Alabama lead out to a quick 2-0.

After a John Lemm strikeout to put the first out on the board, Eric Hines sent a single through the left side of the infield to score the third run of the ballgame for the Tide.

A Luke Vaughn walk juiced the bases again, setting up Chase Kroberger to ground into an RBI fielder's choice to extend the Alabama lead to 4-0.

Samford cut the Tide's lead in half in the top of the second, thanks to a two-out Jackson Harris RBI double and a Parker McDonald RBI single. 4-2, Alabama.

The Bulldogs retired the top of the Alabama order in the second, but Blackwood returned the favor the following frame, dropping the Bulldogs in 1-2-3 fashion.

Alabama fired back in the bottom of the third and didn't look back. Back-to-back home runs in the form of a three-run jack from Luke Vaughn and a Chase Kroberger solo shot — the first hit of his career — pushed the Alabama lead to 8-2.

The Alabama pitching staff continued to deal, as Blackwood tossed 1.2 shutout innings before relievers Connor Lehman and Anthony Pesci combined for 2.1 innings of no-run baseball to keep the Bulldogs at bay.

Alabama doubled its run total in the fifth and sixth innings, plating four runs in both frames, spearheaded by a Samford error in the fifth and a Hines two-run bomb in the sixth as Alabama cruised to a 16-2 win.

The Crimson Tide welcomes No. 22 Arkansas to Tuscaloosa on Friday for the first matchup between the two squads since Alabama took down the Hogs in 2024.

For more Alabama Baseball, Basketball, and Football content from Simon Besnoy, follow him on Twitter at @SimonBesnoy and stay tuned to Tide1009.com for daily news.