Talk of the Tide: Don't Count Alabama Baseball Out of Ruston Regional
It might have been one of the last four teams in the 64-team NCAA tournament field but no one should underestimate Alabama baseball in the Ruston Regional this weekend.
The Crimson Tide (31-24, 14-19 SEC) earned a No. 3 seed and will face the ACC tournament runner-up in No. 2 seed NC State on Friday afternoon at J.C Love Field at Pat Patterson Park on the campus of Louisiana Tech, who will is the one seed and will face Rider that night.
Yes, on paper Alabama is sliding into the NCAA tournament having just won three of its last 12 games. Two of those victories came in its first two games of the SEC tournament last week, beating South Carolina 9-3 and Tennessee 3-2.
Its final two games in Hoover didn't go so well, dropping a 7-2 contest to Florida then being run-ruled by the Volunteers 11-0 in seven innings.
However, when you put the fact that nine of those last 12 games have come against regional hosts in Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Florida and Tennessee into consideration and that the Crimson Tide had the second-hardest scheduled in the nation, then Alabama should have a sense of a healthy-confidence this weekend against the likes of the Wolfpack, Bulldogs and Broncos.
Leaving the meat-grinder of the SEC schedule should help the Alabama bats wake up because, with all due respect, no conference really compares to the top-level talent in the SEC on the mound.
Facing pitchers like Arkansas' Kevin Kopps, Vanderbilt's Kumar Rocker and LSU's Landon Marceaux for the last two and a half months means there's nothing new that Crimson Tide hitters can see.
All-SEC first team catcher Sam Praytor will need to deliver for the Crimson Tide on offense, along with designated hitter Owen Diodati and third baseman Zane Denton.
Praytor and Diodati were pivotal in the team's two wins in Hoover.
Second baseman Peyton Wilson provides a steady attack at the top of the lineup, while the re-assertion of first baseman Drew Williamson, who returns from a broken hamate bone could provide some extra life.
Alabama coach Brad Bohannon announced on Thursday that junior right-hander Tyler Ras would get the nod for game one against the Wolfpack. NC State will go with righty Reid Johnston, who boasts an ERA of 4.18 with a 7-2 record and one save.
The New Jersey product has gone at least six innings in all of his last three starts and only given up nine earned runs with 15 strikeouts. Ras has returned to his early-to-mid season form after giving up eight earned runs a piece in the two starts before then against Missouri and Vanderbilt.
If Ras can hand the game over to Chase Lee, who has only given up five earned runs in 37.1 innings this season, late on Friday, then Alabama could find itself in the winners bracket on Saturday.
Bohannon could deploy a similar plan for the regional like he did in Hoover — Ras in game one, then a bullpen arm like Jacob McNairy, who tossed 4.2 scoreless innings in that win over No. 4 Tennessee, on day two, and Dylan Smith, who owns the school's single-season strikeout record with 106, for the regional championship on Sunday.
However, if the Crimson Tide ends up in the losers bracket after the first day, Smith would likely go on Saturday instead.
For Alabama to advance to the super regionals, its pitching will have to be the main reason why as NC State led the ACC in batting this year at .285 and Louisiana Tech finished second in Conference USA at .308.
In terms of stopping the Wolfpack, Alabama will have to neutralize catcher Luca Tresh, shortstop Jose Torres and outfielder Tyler McDonough, all of whom are ranked in the top 110 of MLB.com's 2021 draft prospects.
McDonough is certainly NC State's most important player as he leads the team in hits, doubles, home runs, runs scored and base on balls.
Louisiana Tech has arguably the deepest bullpen Alabama could see with dual closers in Landon Tomkins and Kyle Crigger. If he doesn't go in game one, Bulldogs lefty Jonathan Fincher could be waiting in the wings for the Crimson Tide.
He's thrown three complete games this season alone and sports a 7-3 record with an ERA of 3.18.
Regardless of what happens this weekend, Alabama is back in the NCAA tournament for the first time in seven years and that's good news for a program that has seen some dark days in recent memory.
Maybe, just maybe, Bohannon and company could shock the college baseball world and extend its season another week in the super regional round against, presumably, the No. 1 overall seed in Arkansas.
