2026 Fall College Baseball Reset: Alabama

The Alabama Crimson Tide made magic happen last spring. Alabama got through a tough Regional before a two-game sweep of St. John’s in the Super Regionals. That opened the door for the Crimson Tide’s first College World Series berth under head coach Rob Vaughn. Now, with a fresh roster for 2027, the club must try to make magic happen again.

The Returnees

We’ll get more into it in the next section. But the bottom line is this: the 2027 Alabama team won’t be close in look compared to the 2026 club. Alabama lost the top four home run hitters, plus the top six hit leaders.

Eric Hines, a regular as a freshman for the Crimson Tide, is the most notable returning hitter.

Hines was a valuable asset for Alabama last season, as he hit nine home runs and picked up 39 hits in 39 games. He didn’t walk a lot but was nonetheless important.

Luke Vaughn returned for his senior season. The catcher/infielder hit nine home runs and picked up 36 total hits across 55 games as a regular. Vaughn got on base a lot, which helped balance out the .217 batting average. He walked 27 times and was hit 13 times.

Peyton Steele, Justin Osterhouse, Chase Kroberger, Andrew Purdy, and Jojo Williamson also returned.

Steele and Osterhouse both saw regular time for the Tide. Osterhouse was one of those players who helped keep Alabama’s offense going with a .382 on-base percentage.

Kroberger and Williamson didn’t start much; the two combined for nine total last season. Purdy, now a sophomore, slashed .173/.333/.288 over 24 contests.

As for the pitching staff, Myles Upchurch is the most notable returning arm.

Upchurch slotted in as one of the three regular starters for Alabama last spring, and thrived. While the now-sophomore dealt with his fair share of walks (41), he struck out 78 over 72 innings. He’s one of the many pitchers nowadays with fleshed-out arsenals from the onset of his college days: fastball, curveball, slider, and changeup.

Much of the Alabama bullpen from 2026 is also back in place. Matthew Heiberger, Sam Mitchell, Ashton Crowther, Connor Lehman, and Owen Sarna returned.

The Newcomers

Given that much of the 2026 Alabama nucleus (think Justin Lebron, Tyler Fay, Zane Adams, Bryce Fowler, Brady Neal, Jason Torres) was made up of either pro-ready juniors or seniors, a significant transition was going to happen after last season.

After losing Neal, the Tide went and picked up another SEC catcher in the portal, bringing in Mateo Serna. With Missouri, Serna was a regular for two seasons (’25 and ’26) and did provide value offensively with 11 combined home runs and 24 extra-base hits over those two years.

Serna had a great summer in the Cape Cod League, as the senior slashed .300/.388/.500 with three home runs and eight total extra-base hits for Yarmouth-Dennis. Roughly around the league median, with respect to swing and swing-and-miss rates.

Another notable addition for the offense was Griff Rardin, now a sophomore from Shelton State CC. Last year, Rardin batted .403 with six home runs and 23 total extra-base hits.

Michael Senay was the innings leader for South Florida last season. Senay posted a sub-4.00 ERA as a freshman for USF, and walked just 17 over 81 innings. A fly-ball tendency pitcher, Senay only had 55 strikeouts for the Bulls.

Tall left-hander Miller Green transferred over from Vanderbilt. Green didn’t see much time in 2026, as he only pitched in 4.1 IP for the Commodores. He did strike out seven.

Lastly, the Tide have 13 new freshmen on the roster. The most notable of that bunch was Hudson DeVaughan, who was a 19th-round pick by the Royals this past July but didn’t sign. Tall, hard-throwing pitcher who will be eligible for the MLB Draft again in 2028.