The Washington State Cougars struggled to find their rhythm on Saturday afternoon, falling 11-1 to the Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa. The loss drops the Cougars to a 1-2 record early in the season, while Alabama moves to 2-1 after the dominant performance at home.
Alabama took control of the game early, scoring a single run in the first inning when John Lemm hit an RBI single up the middle to bring home Justin Lebron. The Crimson Tide offense really broke loose in the third inning, putting up five runs to pull away. Brennan Holt started the surge with a solo home run to right field, followed later by a two-RBI single from Andrew Purdy. Defensive errors by the Cougars also contributed to the inning, allowing two more unearned runs to cross the plate.
The scoring continued for Alabama in the fourth inning as they added four more runs to the scoreboard. After a bases-loaded walk by Purdy, Brady Neal drove in two more runs with a single up the middle, and Peyton Steele followed with an RBI double to extend the lead to 10-0. Justin Lebron added one final run for the Crimson Tide in the fifth inning with a solo home run to left field.
Washington State managed to break the shutout in the top of the sixth inning. Max Hartman reached base and was driven in by Kyler Northrop, who hit a single up the middle to put the Cougars on the board. Despite the late effort, the WSU offense was held to just five hits throughout the game and struck out 12 times against the Alabama pitching staff.
Myles Upchurch earned the win for Alabama, pitching four scoreless innings and recording nine strikeouts while allowing only two hits. Griffin Smith took the loss for Washington State, giving up six runs over 3 1/3 innings of work, four of them being earned.
The game was played in front of a crowd of 4,378 people with cloudy skies and temperatures in the high 60s. This contest concluded the scheduled meetings between the Cougars and the Crimson Tide for the 2026 season.
The Cougars’ next matchup is a four-game series against Cal Poly. The first game in the series is at 6pm on Feb. 20 at Cal Poly.
