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After bouncing out of the SEC Tournament on Saturday, the Crimson Tide now hopes to earn an at-massive bid from the NCAA Tournament choice committee.
HOOVER, Ala. — The destiny of Alabama baseball’s season is now inside the hands of the NCAA Tournament selection committee. Following its 11-6 loss to Florida on Saturday, the Crimson Tide is now removed from the SEC Tournament and could should wait till Monday to study if it will be selected to an NCAA Regional for a second straight yr.
“I might inform you that I’m going to move fishing tomorrow and now not check my telephone each minutes and hit refresh for each score, but that’s precisely what I’m going to be doing,” Alabama head instruct Brad Bohannon said following Saturday’s loss. “You recognise, you’ve were given to determine out who you’ve were given to cheer for, a group that you don’t recognize any of the players or the coaches halfway throughout the united states that you’re cheering for. It’s not a exceptional feeling to be hoping approximately things not in your control.”
Alabama (31-27) entered Saturday projected as the very last team in the 64-group match, consistent with D1Baseball. Baseball America had the Crimson Tide as the first team out in its projection.
Entering Saturday, Alabama ranked No. 43 in RPI and had the fourth-satisfactory electricity of schedule within the nation. The Crimson Tide is 7-16 towards groups ranked in the pinnacle 25 in RPI and six-1 in opposition to teams ranked between 26-50.
“I bet I’m intended to pull on the front of my jersey right now and rattle off all the good stuff about our resume and quite simply omit the no longer-so-suitable matters,” Bohannon stated when asked to make his case to the choice committee. “But obviously we’re on the bubble, and we’ve got carried out a few actually correct matters this 12 months. We received a sequence from Texas A&M, we beat Arkansas 3 out of 4, break up 4 video games with Georgia. Did a lot of right matters.
“Look, you ask each person on this league, I’d inform you there’s 12 groups on this league, we should be in. Ole Miss has one of the great 5 offenses inside the u . s ., Kentucky is playing top notch proper now, the way their closing 3 or 4 weeks. We all deserve to be in.”
Alabama’s struggles against midweek warring parties could show high-priced as it is simply nine-7 in opposition to teams ranked 51 or excessive in terms of RPI. Another thing in an effort to hang-out the Crimson Tide is its failures in close video games as it’s far 7-12 in one-run contests this season.
“If you just win one or two extra of those, your RPI is inside the 30s,” Bohannon said. “I suppose we’ll be very risky in a local if we’re able to get in. I truly believe on this team. We’re manner higher than final yr, and we deserved to be in ultimate yr, but we’ve got a better pitching team of workers, we are better offensively, we are higher defensively. We’ll desire for the quality.”
Before struggling back-to-lower back losses to Texas A&M and Florida to bow out of the SEC Tournament, Alabama rattled off five directly wins, claiming a regular-season series against Arkansas remaining weekend as well as winning video games in opposition to Georgia and the Razorbacks this week in Hoover.
The Crimson Tide gained lower back-to-returned SEC series in early April, beating Texas A&M two out of three video games in Tuscaloosa, Ala., before recording a road sweep of Ole Miss. Alabama observed that up by way of handing Tennessee its first SEC loss for the duration of a Friday night time game in Knoxville.
“I suggest, we confirmed what fight we’ve got got,” Alabama first baseman Drew Williamson said Saturday. “We confirmed what man or woman the team has. I sense like we have were given a few big wins that show that we belong in a regional.”
The NCAA Tournament choice display will take place Monday at 11 a.m. CT and could be televised on ESPN2.
“I simply advised the children, howdy, we’re obviously at the bubble and really don’t know what to inform you,” Bohannon said. “We’ll get returned to Tuscaloosa, we’ll take the next day off, and whilst we discover some thing out we find something out. At this factor in time, we want to expect to play.”
© Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK
© Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK
© Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK
© Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK
© Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK
