HOOVER, Ala. – No. 9 seed Alabama baseball fell 15-10 to No. 8 seed Tennessee on Wednesday at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, eliminating the Crimson Tide from tournament play. The loss drops Alabama to 41-16 overall in 2025.

Richie Bonomolo Jr. led all Tide hitters with a 3-for-5 effort at the plate, producing two doubles and four RBI, as his go-ahead, two-run double in the fifth gave Alabama its first lead of the afternoon. Justin Lebron tallied two RBI as part of his 1-for-4 day, while Brennen Norton managed multiple hits, including a double and an RBI, closing his 2-for-4 line. Bryce Fowler and Jason Torres also doubled, as Alabama managed five doubles on Wednesday.

Aeden Finateri was tasked with his fifth start of the spring and his second against an SEC opponent. The senior tossed 1.2 innings, allowing four hits and two earned runs to go with one walk and one strikeout. The Tide utilized eight different relievers against the Volunteers, including Zane Adams (7-4), who suffered the loss after surrendering three runs in the sixth.

From Head Coach Rob Vaughn

“You know, when (Tennessee) came out, they were swinging the bats extremely well early. I thought we minimized and did a good job of minimizing innings early. Were able to tie the game up. They make kind of a costly error there with two outs, and Richie (Bonomolo Jr.) follows that up with a huge double that gave us the lead there, and you’re kind of back in it. So, to grab the lead there in the middle is exactly where you want to be. And then we just couldn’t stop them. I mean, that offense was firing on all cylinders today. They didn’t make mistakes. They capitalized on stuff. At the end of the day, just couldn’t slow them down. These kids fought and scratched and clawed to the very end, just too big of a hole to get ourselves out of there. Wish we would have played a little bit better there, but we’ll turn our attention to this week and get to work and, hopefully, play baseball for a couple more weeks.

How It Happened

• B1 | Tennessee opened the scoring after an RBI double. (1-0, Tennessee)
• B2 | An RBI single plated another run on the board for the Volunteers. (2-0, Tennessee)
• T4 | Bryce Fowler started the inning with a double to right and was followed by Kade Snell, who drew a walk. Richie Bonomolo Jr. then doubled to left-center, bringing home Fowler. (2-1, Tennessee)
• B4 | The Volunteers responded with three runs after a two-run RBI single and a run-scoring wild pitch. (3-1, Tennessee)
• T5 | Jason Torres led off the inning with a double to right-center and advanced to third after a passed ball. Brady Neal eventually walked to place runners at the corners, with Brennen Norton lining a single through the left side to plate Torres. After Justin Lebron drew a two-out walk to load the bases, Snell sent a grounder to second, with the throw to first missing the target, allowing Norton and Neal to score. Bonomolo Jr. capitalized, lining a two-run double to left-center to put the Tide in front. (6-5, Alabama)
• B5 | UT leveled the score after an RBI single. (6-6)
• B6 | Tennessee regained the lead after five hits and two walks led to five runs. (11-6, Tennessee)
• B8 | A two-run home run and a two-run double tacked on to the home team’s lead. (15-6, Tennessee)
• T9 I Neal opened the inning with a bunt single before Norton doubled to right, winning a 15-pitch at-bat. Fowler worked a one-out walk to load the bases, leading to Lebron’s two-run single. Snell lifted a sacrifice fly to right before Bonomolo Jr. produced an RBI single to center. (15-10, Tennessee)

Postgame Notes

• Alabama recorded five doubles on Wednesday, matching its season-high
• Wednesday marked the 18th game this season the Crimson Tide has scored 10-plus runs
• Richie Bonomolo Jr. has now reached base in 53 of 57 games this season
• Bonomolo Jr. produced two doubles, recording his first two-double game since March 2 against North Dakota State
• Bonomolo Jr. is the first Alabama player to record two doubles in a game since Garrett Staton at Vanderbilt on May 3
• Bonomolo Jr.’s four RBI were his most in a game since he produced five RBI against Samford on April 1
• Kade Snell has now reached base in 51 of his 56 games this season.
• Bryce Fowler extended his on base streak to 10 games
• Brennen Norton collected his 20^th RBI, marking his first RBI since April 19 at LSU
• Zane Adams made his first relief appearance of the season in the sixth inning, and his first since April 3, 2024, at Samford

Up Next

• Alabama will await its 2025 NCAA Tournament seeding, as the Tide will prepare for Regional play
• The 2025 NCAA Tournament Selection Show is scheduled for Monday, May 26, with coverage tentatively set to begin at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN2