Alabama Sweeps Jax Classic

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Alabama swept the Jacksonville Classic off the back of elite pitching and clutch hitting, including an epic comeback against Ohio State Sunday afternoon.

Game One: 9-2 win vs. Coastal Carolina

The Crimson Tide opened up the weekend with a decisive win over Coastal Carolina, one of the strongest mid-major programs in the country.

Alabama southpaw Zane Adams earned the ball to start the weekend again, tossing 4.1 innings, only allowing two hits and one earned run while punching out six batters.

Crimson Tide reliever Tyler Fay earned the win on the bump Friday, tossing 1.2 innings of shutout baseball to help keep the Chanticleers offense quiet.

Despite putting up nine runs Friday evening, the Crimson Tide had an uncharacteristically poor offensive outing.

Alabama's offense recorded just three hits; however, they worked 18 free passes via walk, hit by pitch, or error to generate nine runs Friday evening.

Richie Bonomolo Jr. and Brennen Norton led the Tide offensively with two RBIs a piece and five combined walks.

Rob Vaughn following the 9-2 win over Coastal Carolina:

“Kind of a weird night, right? It’s freezing cold in the state of Florida, we weren’t thinking it was not going to be like coming to the University of Maryland but it was. We kind of a had run through on Wednesday playing Alabama State – we had a frigid game and I was impressed with our approach to the game. That was not a game where we were going to line up and hit a lot of homers. I thought the hardest hit balls were outs, so it was kind of a weird night, but we won the battle of the strike zone. Our guys were unbelievable. Between a good start and really good relief outings, we found a way to get it done against a really good team.

Game Two: 4-0 W vs. No. 12 NC State

In game two, the Crimson Tide shut out their first-ranked opponent, NC State, to advance to 2-0 on the weekend.

Crimson Tide starter Riley Quick earned the start Saturday, tossing four one-hit innings while striking out four Wolfpack batters. Quick earned credit for Saturday's win.

Matthew Heiberger and Hagan Banks combined in relief over 3.2 innings, allowing two hits and striking out three.

Connor Ball entered the game for the Crimson Tide after Banks, walking one batter before being pulled for closer Carson Ozmer. Ozmer pitched 1.1 innings to clinch the win for the Crimson Tide, earning his second save of the season.

In a slow offensive day for the Crimson Tide, Brennon Norton, who hit the lone homer of the afternoon, and Kade Snell, who tallied two hits, stood out for the Tide.

Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn after taking down No. 12 NC State:

“It really starts with your starting pitching, and [Riley Quick] did an unbelievable job. He really set the tone and honestly got better as the night went along. I thought his best stuff might have been in the third and fourth, but he was outstanding. The theme of the night was really how we threw the baseball. [Matthew] Heiberger was outstanding, [Hagan] Banks was outstanding, [Carson] Ozmer came in and didn’t even have his best stuff against the lefties, but he’s a vet. He just competed through it. We had some timely hitting, I thought we could have executed a tick-better early, maybe could have given ourselves a little bit more of a cushion, but that’s a good team over there. Now we turn our attention to trying to finish the weekend, so I want to see this group be mature and have a quick turnaround and finish this thing tomorrow.”

Game Three 12-10 W vs. Ohio State

In the final game of the weekend, Alabama fought back from down 10-0, scoring 12 unanswered runs to walk off the Buckeyes in epic fashion.

Bobby Alcock earned the start again on Sunday, pitching well before a hanged curveball was knocked into the outfield by Ohio State second baseman Lee Ellis to jump the Buckeyes out to a 3-0 lead.

OSU began to pour it on the Crimson Tide in the top of the fourth, scoring seven runs led by another three-run jack from Tyler Pettorini.

Down 10-0, Alabama superstar Justin Lebron finally put the Crimson Tide on the board in the bottom of the fourth with a three-run home run.

JT Blackwood and Aidan Moza would work together the rest of the game to shut out the Buckeyes, giving the Crimson Tide a chance to mount a comeback.

The Crimson Tide began to scrape back in the seventh. A Richie Bonomolo Jr. RBI single set up another Lebron three-run bomb to pull within three runs.

In the eighth, Crimson Tide captain Kade Snell ripped a double down the right field line to plate two more runs, cutting the Ohio State advantage to 10-9.

Robertson dropped the top of the Ohio State order in 1-2-3 fashion to keep the Ohio State lead at one in the ninth.

One-out walks by Coleman Mizell and Jason Torres set up Will Hodo's walk-off jack into the construction in the outfield at 121 Financial Ballpark to send the Crimson Tide back to the Capstone undefeated.

Vaughn following the Crimson Tide's wild comeback against Ohio State.

"I just can't tell you how proud I am of our kids. Obviously, not the start we wanted. We left guys on base and we gave them some stuff in the middle innings, but [our guys] just kept showing up. I brought them together there in the fourth and I said 'We'll go the bullpen, they're going to hang us five zeroes and we're going to come back and win this thing', and you could just feel it in the dugout. It never felt like we panicked, we just kept setting innings up and kept punching. Obviously, having Justin Lebron going out there and hitting two opposite field pumps gets you back in it. That comeback does not happen without Aidan Moza and Tate Robertson. Just unbelievable poise and competitiveness from [the team] gave Will Hodo a chance to get it done."

The Crimson Tide retake the diamond Tuesday afternoon against Jacksonville State at 4 p.m.

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.