Alabama baseball secured a 6-2 victory over Austin Peay on March 24 at Toyota Field in Madison, improving its all-time record against the Governors to 7-0. The Crimson Tide now holds a season record of 19-7, while Austin Peay drops to 12-13.
The game was marked by strong performances from Alabama’s bullpen. JT Blackwood started for the third time this spring, allowing two runs over 2.2 innings before being relieved. Connor Lehman earned his first collegiate win after pitching 2.1 scoreless innings without allowing a hit and recording two strikeouts. Additional relief came from Austin Morris, Owen Sarna—making his first appearance since February—and Evan Steckmesser, who combined for five shutout innings.
At the plate, Bryce Fowler went 2-for-4 with an RBI and extended his on-base streak to twenty games and hitting streak to eight games. Brennan Holt also had two hits and scored a run, while Jason Torres led all players with three runs batted in.
Head Coach Rob Vaughn said: “Kind of a weird start to tonight, (Dillon) Adkins comes in and walks four straight and wasn’t around the zone, I honestly thought it kind of got us off time a little bit. (Chance) Cox started sticking some fastballs underneath our righties hands. I thought it took us a little too long to adjust offensively, but finally broke through there in the fifth inning, but just really happy with the way we threw the ball. JT (Blackwood) was great out of the gate, would have liked to see him hold his stuff a little better, but (Connor) Lehman came in and did a great job. He ran that cutter under their hands. Austin Morris was extremely efficient, was good to have Owen Sarna back, he was outstanding tonight. Outside of throwing a pickoff away, we played some really good defense and made some really good plays. Good team win on the road, and now it’s on to Auburn. We have a big weekend coming up and I’m excited to welcome the Tigers to town and get after it.”
Other notable achievements included Luke Vaughn extending his team-high on-base streak to twenty-two games; Brady Neal reaching seventeen consecutive games on base; Justin Osterhouse stretching his own streak to fourteen; while attendance for Tuesday’s game reached nearly three thousand spectators.
Looking ahead, Alabama will host No.5 Auburn at Sewell-Thomas Stadium for a three-game series beginning Friday.
