Rob Vaughn challenges Alabama fans to show up for Tuscaloosa Regional Final on Sunday night

Alabama head baseball coach Rob Vaughn looked into the Sewell-Thomas Stadium stands on Saturday, with his Crimson Tide up 7-2 entering the bottom of the seventh, and was stunned by what he saw — empty seats. Following the eventual 7-5 victory over South Carolina-Upstate, Vaughn took a moment during the postgame press conference and publicly challenged Alabama baseball fans to show up in droves for Sunday night’s Tuscaloosa Regional championship game: “We need more.”

And Vaughn, in his third season in Tuscaloosa, didn’t mince words with his challenge, calling on the local community to fill the 8,500-seat venue on Sunday night when it plays the winner between second-seeded Oklahoma State and USC-Upstate. The Cowboys held a dominant 12-0 lead entering the eighth inning of Sunday afternoon’s elimination game. First pitch in the Tuscaloosa Regional final is set for 7 pm CT.

“The crowds have been good the last two days, especially through the rain delay, and obviously you have softball on TV. But I’m going to say this, and people may get mad at me, but we need more – we need more,” Vaughn said Saturday night, per the Crimson White’s Davis Cornell. “I look out there and it’s 7-2 and we have people gone, and the stands aren’t full. Tomorrow night at 7 o’clock, we need 7,000 people up here rocking. And I think these guys deserve that.

Rob Vaughn on the fans tonight and what he expects from them tomorrow:

"I'm going to say this, people may get mad at me, but we need more. We need more, like I look out there and it's 7-2 and we got people gone and the stands aren't full. Like. Tomorrow night at seven o'clock,… pic.twitter.com/6iGdW2m3D9

— Davis Cornell (@DavisCornell2) May 31, 2026

“And not 7,000 people in the stands being entertained, 7,000 people helping, scratching, clawing and fighting for every pitch for nine innings,” Vaughn implored. “This town loves a winner, man, and we have a group of winners here. So we need them to show up for these boys tomorrow and make this place Hell for whoever we play tomorrow night.”

Alabama’s postgame notes listed Saturday’s Sewell-Thomas Stadium attendance as 4,089.

The Crimson Tide enters tonight’s Regional final with a 39-19 overall record and ranked seventh nationally. A win Sunday night would not only secure a Tuscaloosa Super Regional next weekend, but a second-consecutive 40-win season for Vaughn and the Crimson Tide — a feat that hasn’t happened since 2005-06. 2006 is also the last time Tuscaloosa hosted a super regional.

Superstar shortstop Justin Lebron continued to power the Crimson Tide at the plate Saturday, batting 3-for-5 with a home run, three RBI and two more steals to give him 40 on the season. Lebron is considered among college baseball’s top prospects in the upcoming 2026 MLB Draft, with MLB Pipeline recently mocking him to the Texas Rangers with the No. 16 overall pick in the first round. A rare five-tool player, Lebron is currently ranked as the No. 5 overall draft prospect by MLB Pipeline and the No. 19 rated prospect by Baseball America.

“He’s not going to go out and win batting titles, he might be a 45-grade hitter, but he’ll have 60 power, 60 speed, 60 arm, 60 defense, and he’s a definite shortstop,” MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis wrote last month. “He’s just one of those guys that the batting average is just the least impressive part of the package, but it’s also not a very important part of the package. He’s not a terrible hitter either, the strikeout rate is around 19 percent this year. It was closer to 25 percent last year. He’s drawn more walks as well.”