Alabama baseball moved to a perfect 12-0 on the season with a three-game weekend sweep of North Dakota State at Sewell-Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa.
The Bison were overmatched, and the Crimson Tide did what they should have done against a weaker opponent. The Tide's bats were popping once again as they outscored North Dakota State 32-14 across the three games with only Saturday's contest being semi-competitive. Alabama won on Saturday 9-7, but that game only got tight at the end as the Bison brought in four runs in the 9th inning.
Alabama hammered North Dakota State 12-4 on Friday and 11-3 on Sunday to complete the series sweep and remain undefeated.
3 Takeaways from Alabama baseball's sweep of North Dakota State
3. If this team has an Achilles Heel, it's going to be with the pitching staff
It remains to be seen whether this team has the arms to be a serious contender in a stacked SEC. Riley Quick seems to be the best bet to be a true ace in this rotation but he's still working his way back from injury. He has pitched well though, and looked solid again against North Dakota State on Saturday, throwing four innings, allowing five hits, 2 earned runs, one walked, and striking out five.
Zane Adams got roughed up a bit in the first inning on Friday but pitched well after that. The bullpen shut it down in the final five innings, allowing just one run, no walks, and struck out six.
Bobby Alcock was solid on Sunday, allowing a couple of earned runs across four innings. The competition will pick up in the coming weeks and we'll find out for sure if the Crimson Tide's weekend rotation is good enough.
2. Brennen Norton has stepped up in the absence of Garrett Staton
Alabama lost Garrett Staton to a broken finger that required surgery a couple of weeks ago. Brennen Norton entered the starting lineup and has been outstanding.
Norton is hitting .357 with an OPS of 1.209. He had a big weekend against North Dakota State, homering three times, including two in Saturday's 9-7 win. He's now second on the team in home runs behind only Justin Lebron.
Alabama needed Norton to step up with Staton out and he has delivered.
1. Justin Lebron continues to look like the best player in the country
If there's a better player in the country than Justin Lebron, I haven't seen him yet. The Crimson Tide's star shortstop had his first hitless game of the year on Friday against the Bison, but rebounded by going 4-of-9 in the final two games of the series and hitting a pair of home runs and driving in seven runs.
Lebron leads the SEC with 8 homeruns and has been electrifying at the plate. He's hitting .383, slugging an obsence .979 with an OPS 1.462.
He's been arguably the best player in the country so far this season and is the main reason the Crimson Tide is off to such a good start. He might be the best athlete on Alabama's campus right now, period.
The Crimson Tide has two mid-week games this week. They travel to Jacksonville on Tuesday to face Jacksonville State and then face a stiff test at home on Wednesday against a good Troy team.