No. 13 Alabama baseball sweeps Lipscomb in its final series before SEC play begins

Alabama baseball swept Lipscomb in its final non-conference series of the season. Due to inclement weather in Tuscaloosa on Friday, the Crimson Tide played a doubleheader on Saturday, winning 20-13 and 10-1. On Sunday, Alabama completed the sweep with a 10-5 victory.

In game one, the No. 13 Crimson Tide found themselves in a back-and-forth affair. Runs came in bunches for both teams, leading to a final that looked more like a football score. Game two was much more comfortable for Alabama, as it took a 4-0 lead in the first and led throughout. Lipscomb managed some solid offense again in Sunday's third game, but the Bisons just couldn't keep up with Alabama's early onslaught of runs.

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Here are some more takeaways from Alabama's (15-1) series sweep of Lipscomb:

Alabama baseball's "Heater" goes cold

Alabama's ace pitcher Ben Hess, nicknamed "Heater," has enjoyed a stellar start to the season. His last start, a 12-0 mercy-ruling of Indiana, featured a career-best 10 strikeouts with just one walk and one hit allowed through five innings pitched.

"Heater" came out cold in game one on Saturday, though. After putting up a 1-2-3 inning in the first, Hess surrendered his first home run of the season to Lipscomb's Trace Wilhoite in the second. The Bisons hit another home run off Hess in the third, a two-run blast that gave them a 3-1 lead.

Hess pitched the first four innings of game one. He had four strikeouts, hit one batter, and allowed four hits, two walks, and three earned runs in what was easily his worst statistical performance of the season. Alabama will need a better showing from Hess when SEC play begins next weekend.

Gage Miller has a stellar Saturday

Third baseman Gage Miller might as well be seeing beach balls instead of baseballs when he steps to the plate. The Crimson Tide's leadoff hitter has been on an absolute tear lately, with an active hitting streak that now stands at 15 games.

"That dude just hits, man," coach Rob Vaughn said. "That guy is just a professional hitter that's still in college right now. He dominates fastballs, he controls the strike zone. That's why I love him at the top, it gets him a whole lot of at-bats, and it doesn't let that starter really settle in."

Miller launched a solo home run in Alabama's first at-bat to give it a fast 1-0 lead in game one. After Lipscomb scored six unanswered runs over the next four innings, Miller added another solo home run to start the Tide's seven-spot fifth inning. He also brought Justin Lebron home with a sacrifice fly for the last run of the fifth. For the first game, Miller went 3-for-4, hitting two home runs and a double with three runs, three RBIs and one walk.

Game two featured more of the same for Miller, as he finished 4-for-6 with two doubles, an RBI and scored once. A two-game stretch of that caliber is impressive in its own right, but to do so in a doubleheader is a testament to Miller's toughness and consistency.

Alabama baseball gets a great start from Greg Farone

After the first game lasted nearly four hours and saw Alabama use six different pitchers, the Crimson Tide needed a long and strong start on the mound in game two. Greg Farone gave them exactly that.

"I thought we did a little bit of uncharacteristic stuff on the mound in game one with some freebies," Vaughn said. "Obviously, we went through quite a few arms, so we needed Greg to give us a good start and get some length in that second one, and he did exactly that."

Farone pitched five innings and allowed just three hits. He added six strikeouts and clinched his second win of the season. The Bisons did not score with Farone on the mound.

"I got ahead a lot with the fastball and was just pounding the zone with it," Farone said. "KG (catcher Kameron Guangorena) did a great job behind the plate, JJ (pitching coach Jason Jackson) called a great game too. I kind of just trusted everything going into the outing and just dominated from there."

Farone has stepped up as a member of Alabama's starting rotation since Riley Quick's season-ending Tommy John surgery. For the season, Farone has pitched 15⅔ innings with an ERA of 1.72, the best among the Tide's starters. He has struck out 21 of the 58 batters he's faced and allowed just 11 hits, two walks and three earned runs.

What's next for Alabama baseball?

Alabama will face Southern Mississippi on the road on Tuesday, March 12, before returning home to open SEC play with a series against No. 8 Tennessee the weekend of March 15-17.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama baseball sweeps Lipscomb; scores and takeaways from the series