FLORENCE, Ala. (February 14, 2026) – The University of North Alabama baseball team fell on Saturday in the final game of a three-game series with SIUE, 2-1. However, UNA won the series with a doubleheader sweep on Friday.
A total of 1,350 fans filed in as Hall of Fame head coach Mike D. Lane, representatives from Bank Independent and representatives from UNA officially cut the ribbon to signal the official opening of the new ballpark during Saturday's contest.
North Alabama (2-1) threw six pitchers during the contest with John Allen Stogner getting start on the rubber. The senior right-hander went 3.1 innings before Jordan Touhey made his debut in the top of the fourth.
Alongside Touhey, Carlos Carmona, Kelly Crumpton and Sawyer Toney made their North Alabama debuts on the mound as all threw an inning each. Toney struck out two batters in the top of the ninth to give the Lions a chance.
SIUE (1-2) used two runs in the fourth and fifth innings to steal the final game of the series.
Stogner earned the game three start and got into an early jam with two Cougars on in the first two batters. However, Stogner had an out up his sleeve on the next at-bat. As he went through his stance, he caught the second base runner leaning towards third.
He chased him down to third base where he pitched the ball to Dylan Coleman before second baseman Justin Santoyo cleaned up the first out with the tag. A fly out and a Stogner strikeout ended the jam of a first inning.
The Cougars were on the hunt in the second, forcing another tough situation with runners at first and second. However, the runner at first decided to steal while the Cougar at second did not budge off a ball in the turf.
Catcher Will Millard kept the ball in front and noticed the miscue, tracking down the runner out to the middle of the diamond and forcing another situational pickle for the out.
A single pushed runners to the corners. SIUE tried for the stolen base at second but to no avail as Millard laced one to catch the runner stealing; a fly out ended the inning.
The Lions found a bit of life in the bottom of the third as Santoyo found a single through the left side of the infield. Center fielder Tait Nunnally laid down a bunt to move the runner into scoring position.
Petey Craska stepped in for the rip through the right side which gave Santoyo the ability to score for the lead, 1-0. The Cougars used four hits in the next two innings to earn the two scores before holding the Lions scoreless the rest of the way.
Pitchers of Record
W – Joseph Martin (1-0)
L – Jordan Touhey (0-1)
S – Easton Harris (1)
COMING UP NEXT
North Alabama continues an eight-game home stretch against UAB at Mike D. Lane Field at Bank Independent Stadium on Tuesday at 3 p.m.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
