FRISCO, Texas – Alabama baseball (9-3) fell victim to a terrific pitching performance by Houston (6-4) starter Kendall Hoffman, as the Crimson Tide were defeated 8-2 by the Cougars on Sunday at Riders Field. In spite of the loss, Alabama was named the 2026 Frisco College Baseball Classic champions as the result of the Tide’s 2-1 record across the weekend and its head-to-head victory over Oregon State.

Bryce Fowler drove in one of Alabama’s two runs with an RBI double in the 5th, as the Tide center fielder finished 1-for-4. Justin Lebron slugged his seventh home run of the season in the 8th, ending his day 1-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch and a stolen base. Justin Osterhouse was the only member of the Tide finish with multiple hits, going 2-for-4. Brady Neal and Peyton Steele collected one hit apiece.

Myles Upchurch (2-1) fought for 3.2 innings while suffering his first collegiate loss, as the freshman was responsible for two earned runs on four hits with two walks, one-hit-by-pitch and four strikeouts. Evan Steckmesser was first in relief of Upchurch, surrendering three hits and three runs (two earned) with one strikeout across his 1.0 inning of work.

Austin Morris impressed on Sunday, totaling 2.1 scoreless innings with three strikeouts. Luke Smyers allowed two earned runs on three hits with one punchout over 1.1 frames, while Anthony Pesci made his first appearance of the season in 9th, scattering one hit and a walk in 0.2 innings.

“The story of the game was Kendall Hoffman. I knew watching video of him, no one had really hit him hard. I loved our at-bats in the first, even in third we had some really good at-bats. Loved our at-bats there, but man he settled in and executed which is how you have an arm pitching into the eighth. Credit him, he was outstanding today. This team needed this game today. I’ve never coached a team that was ‘good’ that wasn’t comfortable playing from behind. We needed that, we just weren’t good enough in that spot today.”

How It Happened

• T3 | The Cougars led off the inning with a walk and a single, while a sacrifice bunt pushed both men into scoring position. After the bunt, a two-run single to left plated the first two runs of the day. (2-0, Houston)
• T5 | UH padded its lead with three consecutive singles to begin the 5th, leading to a run. With one out and runners on the corners, a Tide error at second allowed for an additional run to cross the plate. The Cougars then lifted a sacrifice fly to account for the third run of the inning. (5-0, Houston)
• B5 | Peyton Steele lined a one-out single into left and later advanced to second on a wild pitch. After a groundout towards the right side of the infield pushed Steele to third, Bryce Fowler lifted a double off the wall in left to bring him home. (5-1, Houston)
• T8 | A hit-by-pitch put the leadoff man on for the Cougars, as a productive out and a passed ball advanced the runner to third. With the Alabama infield forced to play in, a single up the middle tallied a run for UH. (6-1, Houston)
• B8 | Justin Lebron slammed a solo homer to left with outs to keep the Tide in striking distance. (6-2, Houston)
• T9 | With one out, the Cougars managed a single and a double to put two in scoring position, leading to an intentional walk to load the bases. A single to right field preceded an RBI groundout, plating two insurance runs for UH. (8-2, Houston)

Postgame Notes

• Justin Lebron extended his on-base streak to 12 games on Sunday
• Lebron stole his 10^th base of the season in the 1st and is now a perfect 10-for-10 in stolen base attempts this season
• Luke Vaughn has now reached his base in nine consecutive games
• Bryce Fowler stretched his on-base streak to seven games
• Attendance: 4,802

Up Next

• Alabama will return home for a midweek contest against Jacksonville State on Tuesday, March 3
• The Crimson Tide and Gamecocks are scheduled for a 4 p.m. CT start, airing on SEC Network+