TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama baseball (14-3) secured a series sweep of North Florida (8-9) on Sunday, as freshman Myles Upchurch’s brilliance on the mound helped lead the Crimson Tide to a 12-2 win over the Ospreys at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The game was made official after seven innings due to the 10-run mercy rule.

Upchurch produced a career-best 11 strikeouts over 6.0 innings on Sunday, surrendering just four hits and one walk. The rookie right-hander exited in the 7th after the first two men of the inning reached, responsible for just one earned run at the time of his departure. Upchurch struck out at least one batter over his six full frames on the mound, including multiple punchouts between the 2nd and 6th innings. Ashton Crowther saw an inherited run score, but the southpaw induced a double play and a groundout in the final inning to seal the win.

Brady Neal maintained his blistering pace at the plate, going 2-for-5 with one walk, five RBI and two runs scored, highlighted by a grand slam in the 4th. Bryce Fowler also managed multiple hits, closing 2-for-5 with a two-run home run and a stolen base. Jason Torres was 1-for-3 with a double and three RBI, while Justin Osterhouse drove in a run as part of a 1-for-4 afternoon. Brennan Holt reached base in three of his four plate appearances, adding a base-hit and a stolen base to go with two walks.

“Good weekend, good one today. This felt like it could have been Presbyterian 2.0. We had two pretty successful games, but we had some rain, not sure if we were going to start on time, it just felt like a recipe where we could have been kind of sluggish today. But the quickest way to make you’re not sluggish is to throw the ball like (Upchurch) did on the mound. He just kind of smothered (North Florida). I brag about (Upchurch’s) poise, but that’s what makes him good. The moment’s not too big, he’s not trying to do anything extra, and today you saw when (Upchurch) has all four pitches going for him. He was outstanding and held them at bay until the fourth where Brady (Neal) gave us a big swing there. I’m happy with the weekend and now we turn our attention to Troy.”

How It Happened

• B1 | Alabama opened its first turn at the plate with consecutive walks by Justin Lebron and Brady Neal. John Lemm then laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Lebron and Neal into scoring position. Jason Torres drew the third walk of the inning, loading the bases for Andrew Purdy, who was hit by a pitch to bring Lebron home. (Alabama, 1-0) 
• B2 | Back-to-back walks by Peyton Steele and Brennan Holt opened the inning, with Bryce Fowler following with a single to left to load the bases. Neal then hit a sacrifice fly to center, allowing Steele to score. (Alabama, 2-0) 
• T3 | North Florida’s Seth Alford lifted a one-out solo home run to left-center. (Alabama, 2-1) 
• B4| Leading off, Steele reached first on as the result of an error and moved to second after Holt drew a walk. With one out, Lebron scampered to first on an infield single, loading the bases. Neal then launched a grand slam to left. After the grand slam, Lemm singled to third base with Purdy drawing a walk, putting two on for Justin Osterhouse. The Tide left fielder lined a single to left to drive in Lemm, capping the five-run inning. (Alabama, 7-1) 
• B5 | Lebron led off with a walk and was followed by a Neal single and another walk by Lemm, loading the bases. Torres then delivered a bases-clearing double to center, scoring three. (Alabama, 10-1)  
• B6 | With two outs, Holt singled through the left side, eventually stealing second. The next batter, Fowler proceeded to homer off the scoreboard in left. (Alabama, 12-1) 
• T7 | The Ospreys began the inning with the first three men reaching base, while Eric Fouraker bounced into a double play to allow a run to score. (Alabama, 12-2) 

Postgame Notes

• Upchurch’s 11 strikeouts are the most by the freshman over his first four collegiate starts, surpassing his previous best of nine strikeouts set against Washington State on Feb. 14
• Following Sunday’s start, Upchurch has struck out 31 batters over his first 18.2 innings, equating to a 14.9 strikeouts per nine innings mark
• Brady Neal’s grand slam marks the Tide’s second grand slam this season, joining Justin Lebron (vs. Iowa, Feb. 27)
• Neal’s five RBI stand as a new career high
• Neal is now hitting .400 (20-50) over his first 17 games and has reached base in each of his last eight games
• Bryce Fowler extended his on-base streak to 11 games
• The Crimson Tide stole three bases on Sunday, as Alabama is now 38-of-40 in stolen base tries this season
• Alabama has stolen at least one base in 16 of its first 17 games
• Sunday marked the sixth game this season the Tide has scored at least 10 runs
• Attendance: 3,316

 Up Next

• Alabama will remain at home for a midweek matchup against Troy on Tuesday, March 10
• First pitch between the Crimson Tide and Trojans is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT, airing on SEC Network+