Alabama
South Carolina
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (05/29/2026) — The Alabama Crimson Tide built a four-run third inning and held on for a 7-5 win over the South Carolina Upstate Spartans on Friday at Sewell-Thomas Stadium, riding a multi-homer night and a steady start on the mound to a wire-to-wire victory.
Alabama never trailed. The Crimson Tide opened the scoring in the third, tacked on through the middle innings, and absorbed two late Upstate rallies to close out the win.
How It Happened
The game turned on Alabama's third inning. Justin Lebron sparked the frame and came around when Jason Torres doubled to left, scoring Lebron to make it 1-0. Moments later, Eric Hines drove a three-run homer to right that plated Torres and John Lemm, pushing the lead to 4-0 before the Spartans had answered.
South Carolina Upstate responded in the bottom half of the order's next opportunity, getting on the board when Tyler Lang lifted a sacrifice fly to center to score Henry Zenor, cutting the deficit to 4-1. Maloy Heaghney advanced to third on a throwing error by center fielder Bryce Fowler on the play.
The Crimson Tide kept adding on. In the fourth, Lebron singled to left to score Fowler for a 5-1 edge, and Upstate again countered as P. Lucas hit a sacrifice fly to left to bring home Trey Bentley, trimming it to 5-2. Alabama extended the margin in the fifth when P. Steele drew a bases-loaded walk that forced in Torres for a 6-2 lead.
Lebron capped his big night in the sixth, homering to left to make it 7-2 and giving Alabama a five-run cushion.
Turning Point
That third-inning surge — and Hines' three-run homer in particular — set the tone and gave Alabama a lead it would not relinquish. With the score showing zero lead changes and zero ties on the night, the early four-run burst proved decisive. When the Spartans mounted their late push, the runs Alabama banked in the third through sixth innings provided the margin it needed.
Upstate did make it interesting down the stretch. Johnny Sweeney homered to right in the seventh, scoring Zenor to cut the deficit to 7-4. In the ninth, Bentley doubled to left to bring home Heaghney and pull within 7-5, with Sweeney advancing to third. But Alabama closed the door from there to secure the two-run win.
Star of the Game
Lebron was the catalyst for the Crimson Tide, finishing 3-for-5 with two runs scored, two RBI and a home run. He was involved in scoring across multiple innings — scoring on Torres' third-inning double, driving in Fowler with a fourth-inning single, and launching his sixth-inning solo homer to left.
Hines provided the game's biggest swing, going 1-for-5 with a run, three RBI and his three-run homer in the third. Torres added a productive day at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two runs, an RBI and two walks. On the mound, Zane Adams turned in a strong start, working 6.0 innings and allowing six hits and two runs while striking out five. Matthew Heiberger followed with 3.0 innings, surrendering four hits and three runs with one strikeout.
For South Carolina Upstate, Sweeney led the way at 1-for-4 with a run, two RBI, a home run and a walk. Bentley went 2-for-5 with a run and an RBI, and Zenor reached and scored twice. Out of the bullpen, Brad Benton was sharp, tossing 3.0 scoreless innings on three hits with a strikeout.
What It Means
The win adds to Alabama's resume as the Crimson Tide showed the ability to build an early lead and weather late pressure. Getting length from Adams and timely power from Lebron and Hines is the kind of formula that travels well.
For South Carolina Upstate, the loss was a hard-fought one. The Spartans never stopped chipping away, answering Alabama's runs in the third and fourth and adding home-run power from Sweeney late, but the early hole proved too much to overcome. The continued production from Bentley, Zenor and Sweeney gives Upstate a foundation to build on.
