Jason Jackson praises Alabama players for resiliency

In front of a sold-out home crowd at Sewell-Thomas Stadium in the Tuscaloosa Regional, Alabama secured a thrilling win over Troy Saturday night to extend their record to 2-0 in the regional round of the NCAA Tournament. In an exciting matchup that featured six lead changes, the Crimson Tide had a late offensive surge that propelled them to an 11-8 win over the Trojans.

Alabama’s interim head coach Jason Jackson spoke after the big win, praising his players not just for their resilience on Saturday, but all season.

“That’s just kind of their personality, that’s kind of their M.O. with everything that they do,” Jackson said. “These guys are, not to say the same thing over and over, but it’s an older, very resilient group and they love each other, they love playing for each other, and that dugout they never think they’re out of it.”

The Crimson Tide drew first blood on Saturday in the second inning, as a two-run home from junior center fielder Caden Rose gave Alabama an early 2-0.

Troy responded the very next inning with five runs of their own, highlighted by a three-run home run from William Sullivan. But Alabama had a short memory, and followed Troy’s five-run inning with a four-run inning of their own fueled by several singles from the Crimson Tide lineup to give themselves a narrow 6-5 lead heading into the fifth inning.

“We have a lot of firepower offensively, we got some depth on the mound, and they really believe in each other,” Jackson said. “So I think those things go a long way.”

All those factors ended up paying off for the Crimson Tide Saturday, as pitching efforts of Aidan Moza, Hunter Hoopes, and Alton Davis II helped keep Troy scoreless in the final three innings of the ballgame. And Alabama’s offense took care of the rest to steal the victory.

Troy entered the top of the ninth inning with an 8-7 lead over Alabama, but a late four-run offensive outburst by the Crimson Tide helped surge them to a late win. A throwing error sent two runners home for the Crimson Tide, followed by an Andrew Pinckney triple and a Dominic Tamez single that would earn Alabama two more runs to give them the 11-8 lead they’d need to secure the win.

The Crimson Tide now will look to ride that momentum into their game Sunday, as they’ll face the winner of Troy versus Boston College at 9:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+.