Adams Dazzles, Eblin Comes Through in Alabama Baseball’s Sunday Win Vs. No. 1 Arkansas

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— The Alabama baseball team had lost five in a row entering Saturday’s contest. After Sunday’s game, the No. 25 Crimson Tide (24-12, 6-9 SEC) had collected two straight wins against the number one team, and taken the series. 

Alabama's weekend triumph over Arkansas (30-5,12-3 SEC) marked the first series win over a No. 1-ranked team since 2009, and Sunday was the first shutout of such a team in program history. Late run support following an incredible start on the mound propelled the home team to a 5-0 victory.

"I just love the way we played," head coach Rob Vaughn said. "You're not guaranteed success, but that's the standard. Not the result, but the way we attack the game is the standard... Arkansas is elite. That's a really good ball club over there."

Freshman left-hander Zane Adams has been starting on Sundays since the injury to Hagan Banks in March sidelined him for the season. Sunday’s outing was Adams’ finest hour yet, seeing him spin eight shutout innings against the top-ranked team in the country. The decision to start him in the rubber game against the Razorbacks was not made until Saturday.

"Sean Stryker, our trainer, goes, 'Zane came in earlier and told me he was gonna start tomorrow,'" Vaughn said with a laugh.

It wasn't a strikeout-heavy day for Adams, but he showed his stuff all afternoon long, attacking the zone relentlessly. He issued one walk and threw 97 pitches. The breaking ball, in particular, was working. "I knew if I could get ahead in counts, the fastball would play better, [and] everything else plays better," Adams said.

The only run he got until trotting out to the mound for his eighth and final inning was an Ian Petrutz single that plated catcher Mac Guscette. With that lone run to back him up for much of his day and facing down one of the top lineups in the SEC, he just kept getting outs. Adams worked on mechanics in practice this past week, and the only real trouble he was in during the sixth inning resulted in the Razorbacks stranding men on the corners with no damage. "It was a little self-inflicted that inning," Adams said. "The only thing I was thinking about was, "Man, I gotta get back in attack mode.'"

A lack of free passes was a pivotal stat in the ball game. Had Adams been walking players up and down the opposing order, he would not have put together the longest start by an Alabama pitcher all season long. "That's just attacking," Vaughn said. "Mentality does matter. That's the reality of it. When you don't put guys on for free, hitting's just hard."

"I don't need to nibble to get guys out," Adams said. "My stuff's good enough. Just throw strikes."

In the bottom of the seventh, the Crimson Tide's power broke through as second baseman Bryce Eblin put a stamp on his return to action with a two-run home run. Eblin missed time leading up to this series with a hamstring injury. He felt 100 percent like the offense needed to deliver for its starting pitcher, and he was the one to do it.

"After the first inning, we were all hyped for Zane, and obviously we knew that we were gonna be in this game to win. Obviously, we play to win," said Eblin. "It was a hell of a start." On the home run plate appearance, he was looking for a fastball, got one elevated and "smoked it," in his words. Adams threw his last inning with a 3-0 cushion.

Two more runs in the eighth inning provided needed insurance for Alabama. It is never a given that a single run is enough to win an SEC game, regardless of the opponent. On Sunday, it would have been, as closer Alton Davis II slammed the door on the visitors in the ninth inning.

The camouflage hats which were a staple of the program's 2023 postseason run returned for the series against the Razorbacks. Vaughn recognized the flak he was likely to get from purists for it, but the implication was that the players wanted to wear them. "I don't care what we wear," Vaughn said. "Mo [assistant coach Mike Morrison] came up to me... and it wasn't a question. It was like 'Hey, the boys wanna wear this today.' I said alright, let's send it." Vaughn suggested that the baseball diehards who are displeased with the uniform choice might be able to appreciate beating the number one team in the country.

Texas A&M could well be the next top-ranked squad in the next D1Baseball rankings, due to release on Monday. The Aggies are fresh off a sweep against Vanderbilt, winning 12-6 Sunday. That is the team the Crimson Tide faces next weekend following a midweek against UAB on Tuesday. One of the other aspects about playing baseball in the SEC is that there's no rest for the weary.

"They showed they could compete with [number one teams]," Vaughn said. "Belief is everything in this game, believing you belong... They'll present a little bit different of a challenge, but you've got two Texas guys [Vaughn and Adams] sitting up here, and it'll be fun competing against the Ags this weekend."