Alabama baseball shortstop Justin Lebron has batted in a lot of runs this season. After Tuesday night, he now has a walk-off RBI to add to his 2025 season statistics.

Lebron was the late hero in the No. 12 Crimson Tide’s 4-3 win against North Alabama at Toyota Field in Huntsville. Three batters after catcher Will Plattner reached base on a leadoff walk in the bottom of the ninth, the sophomore shortstop singled him home for the victory and his 51st RBI of the year.

The Lions (7-15) were also outdone by a strikeout clinic from the Alabama (23-3) pitching staff. Starter Aeden Finateri, Coulson Buchanan, Tyler Fay, Braylon Myers and closer Carson Ozmer combined for 14 punchouts in the game.

The Crimson Tide has walked off two midweeks in a row, defeating another in-state team, South Alabama, 6-5 in 10 innings last Tuesday in Tuscaloosa.

“What a great atmosphere in Madison tonight. A very well-pitched game by both teams came down to your best player needing to be your best player, and he got it done,” head coach Rob Vaughn said. “College baseball is such a rollercoaster, and on a night that we were not elite at the plate, and couldn’t really string anything together, we pitched well enough to give Lebron a chance.”

Alabama’s infield got a boost prior to the contest, when a reworked lineup card (with designated hitter Coleman Mizell at the top) included Samford transfer Garrett Staton at second base. Staton had not played since Feb. 18, when he broke his finger in the fourth game of the season.

He wasted no time getting back into the action, doubling with two out to score two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning for the first runs of the contest by either side. That was his lone hit of the night, but it was a big one.

North Alabama equalized with a two-run bomb from left fielder Nash Rippen against Fay during the top of the sixth inning. That meant a no-decision for Buchanan. In the next inning, Mizell delivered in his new spot, singling to bring home center fielder Richie Bonomolo Jr. on an error.

The designated visitors got to Ozmer in the eighth, sending home a run charged to Myers on a sacrifice fly courtesy of Jonathan Lane. The Crimson Tide went down in order in the home half, but the Lions couldn’t do anything with a leadoff walk of their own in the top of the ninth.

It was the final pitcher of the night, Carson Howard, who got hit with the loss for giving up the walk-off hit to Lebron. On the whole, Tuesday was not a bad day for the North Alabama staff. Two of the four arms the Lions used didn’t allow an earned run against an SEC team ranked in D1Baseball’s top 15.

Plattner was only in the game because starting catcher Brady Neal, who took a beating behind the dish, was hit in the throat by a foul ball in the sixth. He toughed that inning out before being replaced in the next.

The Crimson Tide was able to escape what would have been a bad loss had things shaken out that way. It will face No. 9 Oklahoma at Sewell-Thomas Stadium this weekend, as the Sooners continue to settle into playing a full SEC schedule.

“Proud of the toughness and fight, and now we turn our attention to a great Oklahoma team coming to town this weekend,” Vaughn said.