The University of Alabama baseball team (9-0, 0-0 SEC) has begun its second year under head coach Rob Vaughn in inspired fashion, winning its opening nine games for the third consecutive season.
They initiated their campaign with a three-game home sweep of Bradley in Tuscaloosa, scoring 40 runs in only 23 innings of play.
Midweek victories over Middle Tennessee State and Alabama State preluded a trip to the Jax College Baseball Classic tournament, where the Tide took home the title after beating Coastal Carolina, #12 NC State, and Ohio State.
Most recently, UA dispatched Jacksonville State in a wild offensive showcase highlighted by a 13-run second inning. The Crimson Tide smashed five home runs in the frame alone, with shortstop Justin Lebron hitting two of them.
Crown. Him. @JustinLebron15 | #RollTide pic.twitter.com/WA8o0U6No2
— Alabama Baseball (@AlabamaBSB) February 25, 2025
The visiting Gamecocks made a spirited effort to crawl back in the game during the fourth and fifth innings, but Alabama was nonetheless able to lock down a 20-11 victory.
“What a start and what a finish,” Vaughn said. “We let them get back up off the mat a bit in the middle innings, but that’s a good offense, and those guys can really hit. [Jacksonville State] coach [Steve] Bieser and his team capitalized on every mistake we made, and you have to credit them for not rolling over. It tells you a lot about their makeup.”
“The combination of [sophomore reliever] Tyler Fay and [senior reliever] Braylon Myers there at the end kind of squashed what they had going,” Vaughn added. “Some things I wish we could have taken back and fix a bit in the middle, but a win’s a win and we’re going to move on and turn our attention to North Dakota State [on Friday afternoon].”
Although the undefeated Crimson Tide hasn’t yet been recognized with a ranking in the D1Baseball.com Top 25, Lebron has racked up a host of individual accolades.
Several UA players have contributed to the team’s hot start: junior outfielder Bryce Fowler ranks top-ten in the nation in RBIs with 17, senior infielder Will Hodo sports a .375 batting average, sophomore pitcher Riley Quick hurled four shutout frames against 12th-ranked NC State, and the aforementioned Fay and Myers have combined to toss 11.1 scoreless innings.
Lebron’s efforts, however, have gone unmatched by any of his teammates.
https://twitter.com/CollegeBSBHub/status/1894849068045594764
Named a first-team Freshman All-American last season, the sophomore has lived up to expectations in 2025, bashing a nation-leading six home runs while driving in a nation-leading 21 runs. He’s currently slashing .412/.543/1.059 and maintaining a sky-high 1.602 OPS. The Florida native has hit multiple homers in two consecutive games and was named the Jax College Baseball Classic MVP.
Justin Lebron’s two home run game on day three propels him to being named Player of the Tournament!🏅#BestOutsideOfOmaha pic.twitter.com/LPTydgcnN0
— Jax College Baseball Classic ⚾️ (@JaxCBC) February 24, 2025
Lebron attributes the team’s offensive success to the team’s trust in one another.
“I think it’s just the fact that we’re just going to push it along to each other and the fact that we believe in each other,” Lebron said. “I think that’s the biggest thing when we’re playing on a team, especially where it’s not a one person sport kind of thing. So we kind of just push it along to each other play for each other, and it just kind of rolls.”
The Crimson Tide return to the field over the weekend when they host North Dakota State for a three-game series at Sewell-Thomas Stadium that will be televised on SEC Network+.
Charles Vaughan is a contributing writer for Yellowhammer News.
