TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama baseball fell 8-4 to Washington State on Opening Day at Sewell-Thomas Stadium on Friday, snapping a streak of 19 consecutive wins during Opening Weekend.

Justin Lebron opened his junior campaign with a 1-for-3 evening, lifting a two-run homer to right in his final at-bat in the ninth. The Golden Spikes Award Watch List selection also drew a pair of walks across his five plate appearances. Bryce Fowler was the lone member of the Tide to produce multiple hits, closing 2-for-3 with two singles. Peyton Steele drove in Alabama’s first run of the new season following an RBI double in the 2nd, while Jason Torres was responsible for a run-scoring walk in the 5th.

Tyler Fay (0-1) was tasked with the starting nod on Opening Day and surrendered five earned runs and five hits over 3.2 innings, striking out seven. JT Blackwood and Austin Morris allowed an earned run each across their respective outings, while Sam Mitchell retired six of the seven batters he faced, including two strikeouts, managing 2.0 scoreless frames out of the bullpen.

From Head Coach Rob Vaughn

“Obviously not the way you want to start things out, but I said it from the jump, I think we’re going to learn a lot about this team after our first loss, but I didn’t want that to be night one. It’s not how we want to start. We had an awesome, awesome crowd there. Man, the students showed up, we just didn’t get it done tonight. Credit to Washington State, they played their butts off, played hard, executed pitches, and they did a good job tonight. But we’ll show up tomorrow and see how tough this group is. They’re ready. They’re prepared. They need to just make sure they show up in themselves. And I like our chances.”

How It Happened

• T1 | The Cougars opened the scoring with two-run single to left field by Max Hartman. (2-0, Washington State)
• B2 | Justin Osterhouse drew a two-out walk, allowing for a double by Peyton Steele to bring in the Crimson Tide’s first run of the season. (2-1, Washington State) 
• T3 | After stealing second, Trevor Smith advanced to third on a groundout by Gavin Roy. Hartman eventually brought in Smith with a single to right field (3-1, Washington State)
• T4 | Ryan Skjonsby homered to right field, tacking on two more runs after Matt Priest walked in front Skjonsby. (5-1, Washington State) 
• T5 | Hartman would extend the Cougars lead, homering to right field with two outs. Later in the inning, Priest doubled to score Ollie Obenour, who reached on an error. (7-1, Washington State) 
• B5 | The Tide worked the bases loaded after Bryce Fowler, Justin Lebron and John Lemm each earned free passes. Jason Torres would follow with a one-out walk, forcing in Fowler. (7-2, Washington State) 
• T7 | Hartman opened the frame with a walk, later stealing second. An Obenour single pushed Hartman third base and touched home as the result of a fielder’s choice. (8-2, Washington State) 
• B9 | In the final frame, Fowler led off the inning with an infield single, leading to Lebron’s first home run of the campaign, a two-run blast the opposite way to right field. (8-4, Washington State)

Postgame Notes

• Friday’s setback snapped a streak of 19 consecutive Opening Weekend victories for the Tide, a streak that began in 2019
• The defeat also snapped an 11-game Opening Day winning streak, with the Tide having not suffered a loss on Opening Day since 2014
• John Lemm drew two walks on Friday, extending his on-base streak to 36 games, a streak that began on March 22, 2025, during his time at Southern Illinois
• Justin Lebron extended his hitting streak to 10 games that has remained intact since May 11, 2025
• Tyler Fay punched out seven hitters on Friday, marking a new career high. Fay had previously struck out six batters twice during the 2025 season, most recently at Southern Miss in the
• ATTENDANCE: 4,888

Up Next

• Alabama will continue its three-game set against Washington State on Saturday, Feb. 14 at Sewell-Thomas Stadium
• First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT, airing on SEC Network+