Tyler Ras Delivers When Alabama Baseball Needed It Most
HOOVER, Ala. — It takes a special kind of athlete to fulfill a request made with such confidence that the head coach has no choice but to oblige.
But that's exactly what Alabama junior right-handed pitcher Tyler Ras did on Tuesday while helping propel his No. 10-seeded Crimson Tide to a 9-3 victory over No. 7-seed led South Carolina in the first round of the 2021 SEC Baseball Tournament.
In the dugout last Saturday during Alabama's series against Mississippi State, Ras asked Crimson Tide coach Brad Bohannon to start against the Gamecocks.
With a lot of pressure on the line including a potential for an NCAA Regional, Bohannon acquiesced to the young pitcher's request.
"Coach, you've got to start me on Tuesday," Ras said, according to Bohannon.
"You know what, [Ras], I do," Bohannon chuckled.
Ras did exactly what Alabama needed him to do, pitch six strong innings, allowing three runs off of five hits, with one walk and four strikeouts. In the process, he took a lot of stress off of a shallow bullpen that saw a lot of action last weekend against the Bulldogs.
"Ras is from New Jersey — he's never lacked confidence," Bohannon laughed. "He's been a rock for us and made it really easy for us to not move him off of that Friday night spot or the first game of the series. Just real proud of him. I think our kids maybe compete a little bit harder behind him because they kind of feed off of his mojo, his confidence.
"Just happy for him and proud of him. [...] He gave us great effort today, like he's done all year, and we're proud of him."
In order to progress in the tournament, and maybe season, a win was a must. However, nearly as important was the Crimson Tide not having to go deep into their bullpen in order to give the team some much-needed rest for the next two days.
"It's the only way to stick around here for a while," Bohannon said. "[...] It was huge. We pitched a lot of guys on Friday and Saturday this past week. And just a lot of those guys getting an extra day is big this time of year, and especially the guys like Will Freeman that have pitched twice a week and Chase Lee are the guys I'm thinking about."
Had the Crimson Tide lost on Tuesday, it most likely would have been eliminated from contention in the NCAA Regional race. However, the win and the opportunity for two more games to make a statement dramatically improved Alabama's chances.
"This was a great team win for us," Ras said. "Knowing that this could be our last one definitely drives us a little bit more. But we came out today, and as long as we got to the double elimination, I think we knew that if we put together good at bats and good defense and the pitching went out and did its thing we could make a couple of games and make a run basically in this tournament."
Alabama will next face No. 2-seeded Tennessee on Wednesday (1 p.m. CT, SEC Network). Even if the Crimson Tide loses, it will still have another opportunity on Thursday and then again on Friday should the team win either of those games.
In a rotation that has experienced several injuries to players like Connor Prielipp and Antoine Jean, Ras (7-4) being able to take up the mantle as Friday starter as the season progressed played a crucial factor in getting the team to this point. While it wasn't always pretty, Ras got the job done on multiple occasions.
The importance of Ras' confidence and dedication to the program was not lost on second baseman Peyton Wilson.
"Tyler Ras has been awesome all year long," Wilson said. "He goes out there — every time his number is called, he just competes his butt off every time he's out there. It's great to be able to watch him just go out there and compete and have fun while doing it.
"He's been a huge help for us this year. We've been a little short on arms all year long, and he's just been reliable the whole year. It was really good to have him just how he was all year long."
