Alabama baseball has now extended its opening weekend winning streak to 19 games following a three-game series sweep of Bradley this weekend at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The Crimson Tide hasn't lost an opening weekend game since 2019.
Alabama flashed the potential of what it could be a in a dominant showing this weekend. Over the three-game series, the Tide outscored the Braves 40-13. The results of the three games were as follows:
Game 1: Alabama 10, Bradley 6
Game 2: Alabama 19, Bradley 3
Game 3: Alabama 11, Bradley 4
The only game that ever appeared in doubt was the series opener on Friday. Bradley broke out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, but the Crimson Tide scored the next 10 runs of the game to overcome the early deficit.
Stiffer competition is coming for Rob Vaughn's squad, but it was still an encouraging start to the season for Alabama.
3 biggest takeaways from Alabama's season-opening sweep of Bradley
3. Riley Quick's return was encouraging
Sophomore Riley Quick had Tommy John surgery a year ago and his return to Alabama baseball's rotation is a huge lift for Vaughn's club. Quick is back earlier than initially expected and he made his return by starting Alabama's Saturday game.
It's obvious that Quick is on a shorter pitch-count at the moment, which is understandable. He threw three scoreless innings on Saturday, giving up two hits and striking out four. Most encouraging was that Quick's fastball was clocked at the park as high as 98 MPH.
Quick's return is a big lift, and his velocity coming off of Tommy John is encouraging.
2. Jason Torres off to a hot start
Miami transfer Jason Torres got his Alabama career off to a hot start. He went 6-for-12 in his first series with the Crimson Tide. He led Alabama with 8 RBI and had a huge game on Sunday in the Tide's 11-4 win.
Torres went 3-for-4 and drove in five runs, finishing just a double shy of the cycle. Torres was a big pickup in the Transfer Portal for Vaughn and company. He hit .333 in 39 games for the Hurricanes last season and adds another capable bat to the lineup.
1. There aren't many better players out there than Justin Lebron
Justin Lebron is a major leaguer. Coming off of an outstanding freshman season in Tuscaloosa and with expectations sky-high, Lebron showed the country that even the lofty expectations set for him might not be high enough.
Bradley could not keep Lebron off the bases. In 12 plate appearances, Lebron got on-base nine times. He went 5-for-8 at the plate and drew four walks. He homered and drove in seven runs, finishing the weekend series with an astronomical 2.108 OPS.
Lebron is one of the top players in the country and could put this Crimson Tide team on his back and lead them a long way.
Alabama has two games in the middle of the week coming up. They play Middle Tennessee on Tuesday and Alabama State on Wednesday, both in Tuscaloosa. Those will serve as warm-up games before the Tide heads to Jacksonville, Florida.