Brad Bohannon Announces Opening Weekend Starting Pitchers for Alabama Baseball

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohannon announced the starting pitchers for this weekend's opening series against Northeastern.

Freshman left-handed pitcher Connor Prielipp will get the Friday start, followed by sophomore right-hander Connor Shamblin on Saturday and freshman lefty Antoine Jean will start on Sunday.

"I really had no interest whatsoever in starting a freshman opening day," Bohannon said. "But if I didn't I'd have 35 kids in the dugout looking at me funny. He's really just had a tremendous fall and preseason. He's kind of separated himself from a stuff perspective and has really performed so he is a freshman but he's a really mature and confident young man.

"I think he'll do a great job."

If Prielipp impressed Bohannon enough to earn an opening day start as a freshman, he must be something special. The Tomah, Wis., native was the overall No.2-ranked high school player in his home state and the No. 1 left-handed pitcher according to Perfect Game's rankings.

Despite his hesitancy to start Prielipp on opening day, Bohannon is confident in his choice.

"He's thrown a ton of strikes," Bohannon said. "He's got a lot of swing-and-miss. He throws multiple first pitches for strikes. You know, the amount of innings that he's pitched since he's been here if you look at the strikeout and hits and walks per innings pitched its pretty impressive so hopefully he can have that kind of success against the teams that we're playing."

Shamblin is the only returning pitcher for the Crimson Tide to earn a weekend starting spot. Last season, he earned a 2-1 record in four starts and finished his season with an ERA of 6.26. In 23 innings pitched, Shamblin gave up 19 runs on 20 hits, walking 17 and striking out 26.

Jean will be the other freshman getting a start for Alabama on opening weekend against the Huskies. Jean hails from Montreal, Quebec, in Canada. At his high school of École Édouard-Montpetit, Jean was the No. 8 baseball recruit out of Canada according to Baseball America. He was also listed as the No. 5 left-handed pitcher and the No. 21 overall player out of Canada according to Perfect Game.

In addition to naming his starting pitchers, Bohannon also said that redshirt-sophomore catcher Sam Praytor suffered a jammed thumb this past weekend in a scrimmage while sliding into a base. Bohannon said that while the injury did not appear serious, its too early to determine his injury status.

Bohannon also revealed that he has set his starting lineup for Friday, but will not reveal the lineup until just before the game starts (3 p.m. CT, SEC Network+).