TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – No. 7 national seed Alabama baseball (40-19) punched its ticket to the Super Regional round of the 2026 NCAA Baseball Tournament, as the Crimson Tide topped Oklahoma State (39-22) following a back-and-forth 9-7 win on Sunday night at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Alabama not only advances to its first Super Regional since 2023 but will play host to the best-of-three series for the first time since 2006.
Neal was the hero for the Tide, as the Alabama catcher broke a 6-6 tie in the 11th with a two-out, three-run home run. The senior finished 1-for-4 with four RBI, also driving in a run with a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch. Eric Hines finished with three hits in five at-bats, including a game-tying solo home run in the 8th after the Cowboys claimed their first lead of the night the half inning prior. Jason Torres also homered for the Tide, as his solo home run in the 5th gave his side a two-run cushion. John Lemm was 2-for-4 with two RBI and a walk, while Brennan Holt tallied a run batted in as part of a 1-for-5 evening. Peyton Steele and Justin Lebron both managed two hits each, with the latter collecting a double.  Eight of the nine starts in the Tide lineup produced at least one hit, as Alabama finished 8-for-19 (.421) in two-out situations.
Myles Upchurch was tasked with the start in the Regional Final, with the freshman giving his dugout a sturdy effort in the 15th start of his rookie campaign. Against one of the nation’s most potent lineups, Upchurch held OSU to just five hits over 6.0 innings, allowing four runs to go with two walks and nine strikeouts. Ashton Crowther entered in the 7th and surrendered back-to-back home runs to relinquish what was a 5-4 Alabama lead at the onset of the inning, though the southpaw did well to limit the damage to just the two runs. Hagan Banks (2-0) offered a gritty performance over the game’s final 3.0 innings, surrendering just one run and five hits while striking out six, including the final out of the ballgame, to close out the Alabama win.
From Head Coach Rob Vaughn
“Oh my goodness, what a game. What a game. I told the umpire about the eighth or ninth inning, however this thing shakes out, this is what college baseball is all about. That was two teams absolutely fighting, scratching, clawing, and emptying the tank for whatever they could. So proud of our guys, and kind of bookended by both sides, right? The young superstar (Myles Upchurch) gets the start for us, and tried to give me a heart attack by putting a guy on for free to start every inning, but doing typical Myles stuff. Executing pitches, minimizing stuff, just a great start from him, and then everybody came in and did their job. I told (Hagan Banks) about 500 times since he’s been here how grateful I am for him, because when I came here, I remember talking to him on the phone for a long time, and that guy could have gone anywhere he wanted to go and opted to stay here and trust our staff, and for him to be standing on that mound to finish that thing, they couldn’t script that up a better way. And then a guy like Brady Neal, same thing, came to us two years ago and he trusted us for another year, but could have signed and could have moved on, and comes back and not only absolutely hoses the guy at second base here in extras, but gets the huge swing. So proud of our kids. We talk about toughness a lot in this program, and you had toughness just oozing out of these guys today. So, so grateful for this group. Really excited for Tuscaloosa. I tell you what, we might not have had the numbers at the beginning, but (the fans) were rocking. That’s what it’s supposed to look like, and they were into it, they were fighting with us, and you could feel it. These guys could feel it, and now fortunate enough to get to run it back one more time this weekend. As exciting as this is, the job’s not done, and these guys know that. So, it’s time to turn our attention to whoever comes next and have a great week of practice. We’re going be one of 16 teams that still gets to play baseball in the month of June. It’s pretty dang exciting. Now, it’s time to go punch that ticket to Omaha next weekend.”
How It Happened
- T2 | Jason Torres was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and was followed by John Lemm, who lined a sharp single to right to put two on with nobody out. Eric Hines then grounded into a tough-luck double play, moving Torres to third with two outs. Brennan Holt then slapped the first pitch he saw into left field for an RBI single. (1-0, Alabama)
- T3 | Peyton Steele and Bryce Fowler both singled to center to begin the inning, with Lebron bouncing into a would-be fielder’s choice, though an errant throw to second allowed all runners to advance safely and load the bases with no one out. Brady Neal was plunked to force in a run before John Lemm lined a two-run single to right two batters later. (4-0, Alabama)
- B3 | Remo Indomenico opened the Cowboys half of the frame with a four-pitch walk, leading to Deacon Pomeroy’s two-run home run. After consecutive strikeouts, Kollin Ritchie doubled down the left field line and later scored after two wild pitches. (4-3, Alabama)
- T5 | Torres led off the inning with a solo homer to left-center that landed in the Crimson Tide bullpen. (5-3, Alabama)
- B6 | Avery Ortiz started the inning with a solo home run to right. (5-4, Alabama)
- B7 | Brock Thompson and Ritchie connected on back-to-back, two-out, solo home runs. (6-5, Oklahoma State)
- T8 | With one out, Hines immediately leveled the score with a majestic solo home run to left. (6-6)
- T11 | Steele beat out a dribbler to shortstop for a one-out single, though came up hobbled and was replaced by Chase Kroberger at first. After a foul out, Justin Lebron also beat out a slow grounder to shortstop, putting two on with two outs. In a 1-2 count, Neal lined a go-ahead, three-run home run to right to give the Tide the lead. (9-6, Alabama)
- B11 | Ritchie singled up the middle with one out and later took second on defensive indifference. Then, Campbell Smithwick and Colin Brueggemann both drew one-out walks to load the bases. Garrett Shull threatened after lining an RBI single into right to plate Ritchie, but Hagan Banks finished the game with a swinging strikeout of Indomenico to end the contest and send Alabama to the Super Regionals. (9-7, Alabama)
Postgame Notes
- Alabama will host its first Super Regional since 2006 as the result of Sunday’s win
- The Crimson Tide swept the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional, winning all three games to improve to 15-2 (.882) in 17 all-time contests as a Regional host
- Brady Neal, Justin Lebron, Bryce Fowler, Eric Hines, John Lemm, Hagan Banks and Tyler Fay were all named to the 2026 NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional All-Tournament Team, with Neal garnering Tournament MVP honors, as voted by the media
- Alabama earned its 40th win of the season, marking the first time the Tide has won 40-plus games in consecutive seasons since 2005-06
- The victory was only the Tide’s second win this season when trailing after seven innings
- Neal’s go-ahead home run in the 11th was the Tide’s first game-winning home run since Neal’s solo blast at Jacksonville State on March 31 earlier this season
- Hagan Banks’Â six strikeouts tied his career high, matching his career-best total set at Texas A&M in 2023
- Banks’ 69 pitches thrown were also a career-high, occurring in his 62nd career appearance
- Lebron stretched his on-base streak to 13 consecutive games
- Fowler has now reached base in 10 straight games
- Brennan Holt improved his on-base streak to eight games
- Sunday’s contest marked the Tide’s first extra-inning game this season
- Attendance 3,768
Up Next
- Alabama will host the NCAA Tuscaloosa Super Regional, though an opponent, times, dates, and broadcast information are still to be determined.
