Rob Vaughn Confident Alabama Baseball Has Earned Hosting Bid

HOOVER, Ala.— After a 4-1 first round win over the No. 16-seeded Missouri Tigers in the SEC Tournament, the No. 9 Alabama Crimson Tide (41-16, 16-14 SEC) baseball team’s run in Hoover came to a close with a 15-10 loss to the No. 8 Tennessee Volunteers (42-15, 16-14 SEC) in the second round.

Although the Crimson Tide’s bats were explosive in the second half of the contest, the problems on the mound were too much to overcome.

Now, Alabama waits until the weekend to determine if it has done enough to host a regional for the first time since 2023. Its official regional will be revealed on Selection Monday, May 26.

After boasting a record north of 40 wins which included 16 regular season wins in conference play and currently having a ranking of No. 11 in RPI (which dropped two spots after the game against Tennessee) and No. 17 in strength of schedule, according to Warren Nolan, Alabama baseball head coach Rob Vaughn is not questioning where his team will be placed next week.

“The reality is, like, we won 17 games in our league,” said Vaughn. “17 games in this league. I don't know what our RPI is after today's game, but it's got to be in the top 12 at least. To me, it's a no-brainer. This team went out and won every single midweek game all year. We lost one non-conference game all year. We've done some really good things. You win 17 games in the league with the top 12 RPI. I think it's kind of silly that we're talking about, are we hosting, are we not? It should be seeded in the top 16. Now within that, it's out of our control. You come here and you win two or three games, you completely take it out of any committee's hands.

"But a lot of these teams that you're seeing kind of as locks to host are teams we played this year or teams we beat this year, and some of these things. This league is just something different. Believe me, I spent a lot of time out of this league and got super annoyed with every coach. I got up here and was like, man, you're two games over .500 in your league and you think you should host, and then you come walk through this league and you understand exactly why you should host doing that.”

Vaughn emphasized that he believes the team has earned a hosting spot, but is getting ready for whatever the future holds for the team.

“But like I said, it's out of my control. Now, do I think this team has done enough? I don't think there's any doubt. I think that resume should speak for itself. But it's in the hands of the committee now, and we'll get back to Tuscaloosa, get back to work, and be prepared for whatever comes next week.”

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