Alabama Baseball Opens NCAA Regional Play: "I'll Be Shocked If We Don't Come Out and Get After It"
At 1 p.m (CT) on Friday, Alabama baseball will see its first pitch in an NCAA Regional game for the first time since 2014 when the Crimson Tide takes on NC State at J.C Love Field at Pat Patterson Park on the campus of Louisiana Tech in Ruston.
Right off the bat, Alabama faces a tough test with the Wolfpack, who is one of the better teams in the country at the plate. NC State led the ACC in batting at .285 and slugging percentage at .491 and finished second in home runs with 76.
"Our kids are excited," Crimson Tide coach Brad Bohannon told the media on Thursday. "It's going to be a tremendous challenge. NC State looks like an SEC team. They led the ACC in a lot of categories. Just a really nice mix of speed, power, left and right. We are going to have out hands full slowing them down. They are a very active offense and aggressive on the bases. Really good club. Really good offensive team."
Bohannon also announced that junior right-hander Tyler Ras would be getting the starting nod on the mound in game one. The Middleton, N.J product has been steady for the Crimson Tide of late, going at least six innings in his last three starts and only allowing nine earned runs while striking out 15 batters to just five walks.
"I expect Rassy will give us a good start and our kids will play really well," Bohannon said. "It should be a great college baseball game."
Ras' counterpart for NC State will be Reid Johnston, a junior right-hander from Enfield, N.C. Johnston sports a 7-2 record with an 4.18 ERA and one save.
While the Wolfpack's offensive power is undeniable, its defense is just as stellar. NC State boasts a .983 fielding percentage, which is the best out of the four teams in the Ruston Regional.
For Alabama to secure a spot in the winners bracket, it will need to neutrailze 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.
If the Crimson Tide is to capture a victory on Friday afternoon, it would play the winner of Louisiana Tech and Rider at 6 p.m Saturday night.
Bohannon gave his scouting report for the Bulldogs and Broncos.
"I normally take things one day at a time," Bohannon said. "But when you have potentially three new opponents in three days, you have to do some prep work. La Tech won 40 games, which is really hard to do, especially in a season where not everyone got 56 games in. They are old as dirt and I mean that in a good way. They have three games that are sixth-year players. We had some games in Hoover where seven of the nine guys for us were either freshman or COVID-freshman so La Tech is older.
"Older kids manage the emotion of the game and are consistent. Older kids are typically better at the game, too. They may not be faster or stronger but they are just mature and have a lot of toughness and play the game the right way.
"Rider's hot right now. They just won their conference tournament and they have some experience as well, certainly more than we do. Anybody that's in a regional is a really good club. We've all got our strengths and weaknesses and for us to beat any of these teams, we are going to need to play our A game."
Alabama got its first and only practice at the "Love Shack" on Thursday afternoon and confidence from the club's skipper was sky high afterwards as it looks to appear in its first Super Regional since 2010.
“It was just like most every other practice the last three months,” Bohannon said. “It doesn’t mean we’re going to play well or we’re going to win, but I’ll be shocked if we don’t come out and really get after it and play well. Hopefully it will be enough to win.
“I feel very, very comfortable with the feeling in the bus and in the dugout, and the temperament of the group. I’m very comfortable going into [Friday] with that.”
