Alabama Sweep Valpo in Another Elite Offensive Output

The No. 17 Alabama Crimson Tide (8-0) swept the Valparaiso Beacons (2-5) in an 11-1 offensive onslaught to take home a second consecutive weekend series sweep. Alabama reliever Braylon Myers earned his first win of the season, while Valpo starter Lucas Foley notched his first loss of the campaign.

"Alright, obviously kind of the end to a really good weekend," said Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn to open the press conference. "You know, we've talked in here. I feel like, about every game, we're trying to be a better version of ourselves. Play cleaner, play better, be more efficient in what we're doing. And I thought we really did that all weekend"

Valparaiso threw a jab early on starter Greg Farone thanks to a Connor Giusti two-out RBI single. Farone held his ground and forced a Kevin Denty fly out to TJ McCants to end the inning.

The Crimson Tide weren't down for long, responding with a haymaker as an Evan Sleight double down the right field line sent Will Hodo and Gage Miller home, giving Alabama a 2-1 lead. A lead that Rob Vaughn's squad would never hand back to the Beacons.

Farone went a quick 1-2-3 with the bottom of the Valpo order in the top of the second. The Tide would tack two more due to a Gage Miller two-run shot to left field, which extended the Crimson Tide advantage to 4-1.

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Farone made fairly quick work of the Valpo offense in the third. The Tide threw another punch to Brian Schmack's Valparaiso squad in the bottom of the third; Mason Swinney would single Will Hodo home, followed by a Justin Lebron sac fly to send Evan Sleight across home plate.

Righty Austin Morris relieved Greg Farone before the start of the fourth. Farone, who started Tuesday's matchup against Middle Tennessee State, finished with a line of 3 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, and 5 K.

"Kind of stick to the plan with JJ [Associate head coach Jason Jackson]. I mean, it felt really good to get out there on the weekend with the guys. Help give the guys a chance to win. Kind of stick with the day-to-day stuff that JJ points out for us and coach Price and everything, so it felt good," said Greg Farone about making a surprise weekend start.

Morris dug into a quick hole, walking three straight batters into a no-out, bases-loaded situation. Coach Vaughn stuck with the freshman, letting him crawl out of the sticky situation. Morris did just that, recording back-to-back strikeouts and a groundout to end the inning with no damage done.

The Tide offense would continue to cruise as Ian Petrutz single-knocked Gage Miller home.

Braylon Myers would come in for the Tide after Morris, tossing two innings of shutout ball, earning the junior the win.

The Tide would go scoreless in the fifth, but a McCants solo shot to center and a Sleight RBI-double would tack on two in the sixth to make the Alabama lead 9-1, knocking on the door of a fourth-consecutive run-rule win.

Transfer Pierce George would earn the ball in the seventh, striking out two in a 1-2-3 inning.

In the bottom of the seventh, TJ McCants would send the 'Bama faithful home early, smacking a two-run homer to earn another run-rule win for Rob Vaugh and the Crimson Tide.

"Oh, it felt good," said TJ McCants about his two homers after a rough start to the game. "I actually just talked to [...] I told Evan [Sleight] and Ian [Petrutz], and I was like, I remember one time at Ole Miss, I struck out three times and then hit two homers to end the game. And they were like, well, I mean, might as well do it now."

The Tide are set to travel to Birmingham to take on the UAB Blazers at Regions Field, their first road test of the season.

For more Alabama Baseball content from Simon Besnoy, follow him on X/Twitter at @SimonBesnoy and stay tuned to Tide1009.com for daily news.