Elite Pitching Carries Alabama Baseball To Series-Finale Win Over Texas

After striking out 17 times on Friday and then 19 times on Saturday, the Crimson Tide's offensive struggles continued on Sunday afternoon in Austin, as the team punched out 13 times and scored just two runs. But elite days on the mound from Myles Upchurch and Ashton Crowther carried No. 11 Alabama to a 2-1 victory over the No. 4 Longhorns to salvage a game and remain at .500 in SEC play.

"Just a much-needed win," head coach Rob Vaughn said. "I don't care how we get it. I told them, I said, if we win 24-23 or 1-0, it doesn't matter as long as you're on the right side of it. What an incredible job by our arms."

The first six innings were almost identical to Saturday's contest. Alabama scored an early run, this time off a Jason Torres RBI single in the second inning, and both pitchers threw elite games. Upchurch got in trouble in the bottom of the first as he walked three batters, but did not walk another Longhorn for the rest of his 5.1 inning outing.

Alabama was put down 1-2-3 in the third and fourth innings, but had opportunities to give the defense some cushion in the middle innings. Brady Neal flew out with runners on second and third to end the fifth, and Brennan Holt struck out looking to strand the bases loaded in the sixth.

Longhorn starter Luke Harrison regularly got out of jams, giving up just two runs off eight hits while striking out a career-high 10 batters over seven innings. Alabama would add a second run in the seventh, as Neal grounded out to score Bryce Fowler.

Crowther, who took over for Upchurch with one out in the sixth, recorded eight consecutive outs to get Alabama to the bottom of the ninth with a 2-0 lead. With a righty-heavy Texas lineup, Vaughn and pitching coach Jason Jackson opted to keep the left-handed Crowther in the game over the right-handed Hagan Banks, who has served as the regular closer this year.

With Alabama three outs away from a massive victory, Crowther recorded the first out and then allowed a double to Anthony Pack Jr., just past the outstretched glove of a diving Fowler in center field, who nearly made a highlight-reel snag. Ethan Mendoza then knocked the next pitch up the middle to score Pack and cut the deficit to one.

Jackson visited Crowther on the mound, but opted to keep him in the game with right-handed Temo Becerra up. Becerra grounded into a fielder's choice, keeping a runner out of scoring position. Crowther then got the final batter swinging to end the game and give Alabama something to hang its hat on after a disappointing start to the weekend.

The win snaps a five-game SEC losing streak for the Crimson Tide, who led in four of those games. Alabama, which sat in third place in the conference at 8-4 just two weeks ago, is now down to 9-9 in SEC play. There was plenty that the team's play this weekend left to be desired, notably the 49 strikeouts by Crimson Tide batters, which is likely a program record for a three-game series. Despite the flaws, the outlook at 9-9 is a whole lot better than 8-10 in a conference where 4th and 12th place were seperated by just two games entering Sunday.

"We've got some work to do," Vaughn said. "Just call it what it is. We've got to get better in some areas, and we're going to put our heads down and work."

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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/alabama as Elite Pitching Carries Alabama Baseball To Series-Finale Win Over Texas.

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This story was originally published April 19, 2026 at 3:43 PM.