After getting eliminated from the SEC Tournament, Alabama baseball had to patiently wait to see if it would be hosting a regional or if it would be traveling for the regional round.
On Monday, the wait came to a close. Alabama was selected as a No. 2 seed in the Hattiesburg, Miss., regional hosted by the No. 16 national seed Southern Mississippi. The Crimson Tide are joined by the No. 3 seed Miami (Fla.) and the No. 4 seed Columbia.
Alabama’s first game of the regional will be against the No. 3 seed Miami (Fla.) on Friday. If the Crimson Tide win Friday’s game, they would face the winner of No. 1 seed Southern Mississippi and No. 4 seed Columbia. The winner of the regional would most likely face the No. 1 national seed and SEC tournament champions, Vanderbilt, in the super regionals.
An early second round exit of the SEC Tournament last week may have been the difference in Alabama missing out on hosting a regional. The Crimson Tide enter the NCAA Tournament 13th in the RPI and were the only team in the top 16 in RPI not picked to host a regional. The selection does, however, make it three consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament for Alabama for the first time since 2009-2011.
Under second year head coach Rob Vaughn, Alabama reached 40 wins in the regular season for the first time since 2002. The Crimson Tide finished the regular season 41-16 and went 1-1 in the SEC Tournament.
No. 2 seed Alabama will face No. 3 Miami (Fla.) on Friday at 2 p.m. in Hattiesburg. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
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