Alabama Crimson Tide news from Monday and Tuesday, April 13th and 14th.
Alabama softball suffers bad loss at a bad time against Samford
No. 2 Alabama softball had put itself in position to potentially be the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. They might have thrown that away on a random Tuesday night against in-state Samford.
Patrick Murphy's team had avoided any bad losses all year, coming into Tuesday night's matchup a perfect 27-0 in non-conference action. But the Crimson Tide's bats couldn't come up with the big hit against the Bulldogs, blowing an early 2-0 advantage with Samford plating three runs in the fifth inning. Kaitlyn Pallozzi ran into trouble that Vic Moten couldn't bail her out of, and Samford took a 3-2 lead that they held onto.
Alabama managed just six hits for the game and suffer their first bad loss of the season. It was a bad time for that kind of performance.
Alabama will look to bounce back on Friday to open a three-game home series against Kentucky.
Alabama baseball bounces back with rout of UAB
Alabama baseball needed a rebound effort on Tuesday night in a mid-week contest at UAB following a three-game home sweep at the hands of Arkansas over the weekend.
Led by three doubles from Brady Neal, Alabama turned a close game into a late-inning laugher. Alabama trailed 6-5 going into the sixth inning, but that's when the bats turned up the heat on the Blazers.
Caleb Barnett ripped a double with the bases loaded that drove in everybody to give Alabama an 8-6 edge they wouldn't relinquish. The Crimson Tide got some insurance with an RBI knock by Neal in the 7th and then another big hit with the bases loaded in the 9th. Andrew Purdy cleared the bases with a three RBI triple to give Alabama the 12-6 lead, which is how it ended.
It was an important win for Rob Vaughn and company to build a little momentum before heading to Austin to face No. 2 Texas.
Alabama basketball still active in the Transfer Portal
There have been no additional commitments yet following Kentucky big man Brandon Garrison's commitment to Alabama on Sunday night, but Nate Oats and his staff are working.
Oats and assistant coach Preston Murphy flew up to visit Syracuse transfer forward Donnie Freeman, who is a priority target for the Tide. Both Kentucky and UConn are heavily pursuing Freeman, too.
On Tuesday, Alabama hosted Mississippi State transfer Jamarion Davis-Fleming on a visit as Oats continues to pursue frontcourt options.
It's easier said than done, but the Transfer Portal requires patience. There will be plenty more to come, but things have been relatively quiet since Garrison's commitment. But remember that one came seemingly out of nowhere.
Alabama football gets some positive recruiting news
In the aftermath of the A-Day commitment from 3-star DL AJ Pauley, Kalen DeBoer and Alabama got a couple more pieces of good news this week, if no additional commitment.
5-star QB Elijah Haven has locked in his commitment date of April 25th, and things continued to trend heavily in favor of the Crimson Tide. Haven will choose between Alabama, Auburn, and Georgia next Saturday.
Kalen DeBoer has also made a strong impression with 4-star WR Khalil Taylor, the No. 70 overall recruit in the composite. Alabama extended an offer to Taylor on Monday, and the former Penn State commitment immediately set up an official visit that will take place in June.
Kalen DeBoer updates the injury status of Noah Rogers
NC State transfer WR Noah Rogers went down with a scary leg injury during the A-Day scrimmage, which required him to be carted into the locker room. Unfortunately, DeBoer revealed on Monday that Rogers would miss an extended period of time, with his injury bleeding over into the beginning of the regular season.
Rogers was in a good spot to earn a starting role for Alabama. Fortunately, the Tide has plenty of depth at the position, and guys like Rico Scott, Derek Meadows, and Cederian Morgan will look to take advantage of the opportunity in front of them.
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