Alabama Baseball Selected to NCAA Regional for First Time in Seven Years

The Crimson Tide will play in the Ruston Regional and is joined by Louisiana Tech, N.C. State and Rider

Alabama baseball ended a seven-year NCAA-tournament drought on Monday morning. 

The Crimson Tide was selected as a No. 3 seed to the Ruston Regional and will play No. 2 NC State at 2 p.m on Friday to open play. 

It is the first time since 2014 that Alabama has made the NCAA tournament. 

The No. 1 seed and host Louisiana Tech will face off against No. 4 Rider in the night cap on Friday. 

Regional play will run through Monday, June 7 and is double-elimination until one team is left standing, who will then advance to the NCAA Super Regionals. 

Overall, this is Alabama’s 25th appearance in the NCAA tournament. The Crimson Tide holds a 70-49 (.588) record in the NCAA tournament, including a 56-35 (.615) mark in Regionals. Alabama has claimed seven Regional championships in program history including titles in 1950, 1983, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2006, 2010.

Coming into Selection Monday, the Crimson was firmly on the bubble after going 2-2 at the SEC tournament in Hoover, Ala. last week. Both wins came against top-25 competition in No. 23 South Carolina and No. 4 Tennessee. 

Alabama finished the regular season with a 31-24 record, including a 14-19 mark in Southeastern Conference play. 

Nine SEC teams made the 64-team field. Officially, the Crimson Tide was one of the last four teams in, joined by Michigan, North Carolina and UC-Santa Barbara. 

“I’ve been in this league 18 years as an assistant coach or head coach, and this is by far the best the league's ever been," Alabama coach Brad Bohannon said following his team’s departure in Hoover. "I am exceptionally proud to have 14 league wins. That is so hard to do. I'm not going to apologize for our league record. I believe, if you put teams like Arkansas and Vanderbilt and Tennessee and Florida and Mississippi State in these other leagues, their league records would look a lot different.

"If we're trying to get the best teams in the postseason — if we're using the eye test — I think we're a No. 2 seed. I can tell you this, I think our league should have 12. There is no No. 2 seed that wants any part of Auburn's lineup. There's no No. 2 seed that wants to face Landon Marceaux in Game 1 of a regional, or Tyler Ras and Dylan Smith with Chase Lee and Landon Green behind them.”

Per the selection show, Alabama was one of the last four teams into the tournament. 

Overall, the SEC had nine selections, with seven hosting regionals. LSU and Georgia were also on the bubble, with the Tigers getting an invitation, but the Bulldogs did not. 

How to Watch Alabama in the Ruston Regional 

2021 NCAA Baseball Tournament Schedule, TV Info and How to Watch