Just three weeks ago, it appeared all hope was lost for the Alabama baseball season. The Crimson Tide had just gotten swept by Kentucky on the road to open SEC play, and then dropped a disheartening mid-week game to South Alabama to fall to 15-7 overall. At the bottom of the SEC standings, a postseason berth seemed like a long shot.
Since then, Alabama has won 10 out of its 11 games, including nine in a row at one point before Friday's road loss to Oklahoma. That loss was sandwiched around two wins over the No. 11 team in the country, however, and the Crimson Tide earned its third consecutive SEC series win as a result.
Alabama is now 25-8 overall and 8-4 in conference, putting them in sole possession of third place in the league standings behind Georgia and Texas.
Alabama earns series win over Oklahoma on the road
After sweeping back-to-back home series over Florida and Auburn, going on the road was the true test of whether Rob Vaughn's team could sustain their recent success.
Alabama piled on eight runs in the second inning of the series opener on Thursday night to build a 10-1 lead, highlighted by homers by Bryce Fowler (x2), Jason Torres, and Justin Osterhouse. Things got a little dicey, but the Crimson Tide held on to a 10-7 win.
Friday's game two was a bit frustrating, as Alabama's nine-game winning streak was snapped. The Tide could only plate two runs despite racking up eight hits in a 4-2 loss.
In Saturday's rubber-match, some erratic Oklahoma pitching and an error allowed Alabama to plate three 1st-inning runs. It turned out to be all the Crimson Tide needed.
Freshman Myles Upchurch worked around some control issues of his own, with him and Ashton Crowther combining to throw 6.2 innings, holding the Sooners to just two runs. Matthew Heiberger and Hagan Banks shut the door over the final 2.1 to allow Alabama to escape with a 3-2 win and the series victory.
The No. 16 Crimson Tide will likely take another sizable jump in the baseball polls this week, likely inching closer to the Top 10.
There's no time for complacency, however, as there are no easy outs in the SEC. After a mid-week game against Samford on Tuesday, the Crimson Tide will host Arkansas in Tuscaloosa next weekend.