Men's Golf Advances to NCAA Finals

The Alabama men's golf team finished second at the NCAA Central Regional Tournament and will now advance to the NCAA Finals which will be held on May 29-June 2 in Williamsburg, VA. The Crimson Tide finished with a team score of 898 and Alabama’s Michael Thompson finished tied for fourth at 220 after firing a 2-under 70 on Saturday.

Tulsa won the regional at 31-over par 895. The 10 teams that advanced from the regional into the team finals were Tulsa (895), Alabama (898), Louisville (899), Lamar (900), Tennessee (904), Oklahoma State (906), Texas Tech (907), Michigan State (915), Texas (918) and Minnesota (918).

Alabama’s Matthew Swan finished with a 226, Mark Harrell had a 227, Gator Todd a 230 and Joseph Sykora a 235.

It is the second time coach Jay Seawell has taken Alabama to the finals. His 2005 team finished tied for sixth at the NCAA East Regional to advance and finished 28th overall in the NCAA finals at Caves Valley Club in Owings Mills, Md.

It will be the 10th time in school history that Alabama has been to the finals. Its best finish was a tie for third in 1975 when Jerry Pate was a player.

The 30 teams that will be competing for a national championship, 7 are from the SEC, are as follows:

Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Auburn, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, Duke, East Tennessee State, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Lamar, Louisville, Michigan State, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma State, South Carolina, Southern California, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, Texas Tech, Tulsa, UCLA, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest.

SEC Baseball Tournament Bracket Announced

The 2007 SEC Baseball Tournament is set to begin Wednesday morning at Regions Park (formerly the Hoover Met) in Hoover, AL with the 7th seeded Alabama Crimson Tide and 2nd seeded Arkansas Razorbacks playing in Game 1 at 10 AM. Alabama took two of three from Arkansas two weeks ago in Tuscaloosa and will probably face Roger Clemens Award nominee Nick Schmidt in game one. Alabama defeated Schmidt two weeks ago when he only lasted 3 plus innings making it his shortest outing of the year and giving him his first loss of the season. While Arkansas did earn the 2nd seed they have struggled down the stretch losing their last three SEC series to LSU, Alabama, and Ole Miss.

Alabama's game will be followed by 6th seeded Florida taking on 3rd seed South Carolina. Vanderbilt earned the league's top seed and will play in the third game on Wednesday against rival and 8th seeded Tennessee, who clinched a tournament berth on the last day of the season with a win over Florida. In the night cap, 4th seeded Mississippi State will meet rival and 5th seeded Ole Miss in the last game of the day.

Auburn, Georgia, LSU, and Kentucky were the four SEC teams that did not make the eight team field. It was the first time in 22 years that LSU failed to make the SEC Tournament.

The complete SEC Baseball Tournament bracket can be seen by clicking here: 2007 SEC Tourney

Tide Softball Wins Tuscaloosa Regional

The 5th ranked and top seeded Alabama softball team had their backs against the wall this weekend after a day one loss to Tennessee Tech in the NCAA softball Tuscaloosa Regional. Alabama had to win 4 games in two days to continue their season and they did just that.

After defeating 2nd seeded Cal and 3rd seeded Florida State on Saturday, the Crimson Tide beat 4th seeded Tennessee Tech twice on Sunday to advance to a NCAA Super Regional. Alabama won Sunday's games 19-10 and 7-2 in front of 1,289 enthusiastic fans at the Alabama Softball Complex to advance in the NCAA Tournament.

Blair Potter was the star of the day as she pitched both games throwing 221 pitches, 146 of them strikes, striking out 16 batters in 12 2/3 innings. Potter allowed four earned runs on 12 hits with three walks to run her record to 20-2.

“If I had to throw a few more I think I could do it,” Potter said. “I didn’t expect to start again, but it’s nice to know the coaches think I can to it.

The Crimson Tide offense also pounded the same pitcher that held them to one run in the tournament's first game. Tennessee Tech’s Bonnie Bynum, who had baffled Alabama and California on the tournament’s first two days, gave up 11 runs (eight earned) on eight hits in eight innings with just one strikeout on the final day.

Alabama (54-8) will now travel approximately 2,645 miles to Seattle, WA to take on the PAC 10's Washington Huskies (38-17), who beat Georgia on Sunday to win the Lincoln (Neb.) Regional, for a best-of-three Super Regional. The NCAA is expected to announce today whether the Super Regional will be played Friday-Saturday or Saturday-Sunday in Seattle.

Baseball Wins Series at #20 Miss. State

The Alabama baseball team entered the weekend hoping to play well enough to win at least one game and make the eight team SEC Tourny later this week. Might as well take a road series win over a top 20 team as well.

Alabama (31-24, 15-15) collected the series win over the #20 Mississippi State Bulldogs with a 9-7 win on Sunday in front of 7, 181 fans at Dudly-Noble Field in Starkville, MS.

Junior Will Stroup turned in another quality performance pitching eight plus innings giving up 7 runs surrendering 11 hits, no walks, and collecting five strikeouts.

“The score does not show how the game went," Stroup said after the 126-pitch outing. “I had a balk and we lost a few fly balls in the sun. We basically gave them five runs, but that is part of the game. Things like that happen in baseball. We settled down and got the job done."

Alabama took an early lead with two runs on three hits in the top of the first off MSU starter Josh Johnson. Salem started the inning with a single and stole second base before moving to third base on Belcher’s ground out. Avila and Matthes then followed with back-to-back RBI doubles as Alabama took a 2-0 lead.

The Tide put four runs on the board to knock out Johnson (2-3) in the third. Alex Avila drew a leadoff walk and scored on Bentley’s two-run home run to right-center field. It was the junior’s 12th home run of the season.

“We came out shining the bat from pitch one," Bentley said. “We are a really good team when we get the lead. This was a big win for us today. This gives us three good weekends the past month against three really good teams."

Alabama tied Florida for 6th place in the SEC standings but will enter the tournament as the 7th seed, as Florida owns the tie breaker over Alabama. Jim Wells' bunch will play in game 1 of the SEC Tournament against 2nd seeded Arkansas at 10AM on Wednesday from Regions Park in Hoover, AL.

Baseball Takes Series From # 6 Razorbacks

The Alabama baseball team took down another top 10 opponent this weekend as they won 2 of 3 games from the 6th ranked Arkansas Razorbacks at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The series win puts the Crimson Tide (29-23, 13-14) in 7th place in the SEC, a half game up on Kentucky and LSU and 1 1/2 games up on Tennessee.

Alabama defeated Arkansas 9-5 in the rubber game on Sunday and was led by senior CF Emeel Salem, playing his final game at the Joe. Salem had four hits in the game including a two run homer to break a 4-4 tie in the 6th inning. Junior Will Stroup pitched a complete game for the Crimson Tide.

Arkansas (37-16, 17-10) won Saturday's game 12-5 and pounded out four homers in the contest. Alabama won Friday nights opening game 10-0 behind a dominant pitching performance from Tommy Hunter and big offensive days from Salem and sophomore 3B/DH Alex Avilla.

Alabama now heads to Starkville, MS to take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs in a three game series this week. The games will be starting a day earlier than usual with game one on Thursday. Games 2 and 3 of the series will be played on Friday and Saturday.

A complete overview of SEC Baseball is provided here....The Road to Hoover

Stunned Softball Ready To Host Tuscaloosa Regional

Most teams would be happy to host a NCAA Tournament Regional, but not when you get the 11 seed when you went into last week ranked # 1 in the country. The Alabama softball team was dealt a tough hand yesterday as the NCAA Softball Championship bracket was announced.

“Alabama could easily have been ranked higher," former UCLA and U.S. Olympic catcher Stacey Nuveman, a softball commentator for ESPN, said during the selection telecast. “The first thing I thought about was the SEC conference, and it really seems like they got raked over the coals."

Tide Head Coach Patrick Murphy agreed. “I think Stacey Nuveman said it best," he said. “You look at RPIs, you look at number of wins, the strength of the conference this year, I don’t think anybody saw this coming."

Alabama was not the only team in the SEC with a right to be upset. The Southeastern Conference had three teams rated in the top six at the end of the season, but only top-ranked Tennessee got a good enough seed to host through the super regional round if it advances, and the Lady Vols were seeded fifth despite being ranked No. 1 for much of the season. No. 6 LSU got the 10th seed and was shipped to a regional at Stanford, after they just won the SEC Tournament.

Whinning aside, Alabama can still play its way to Oklahoma City and show the NCAA they made a mistake in its selections by first winning its regional. Alabama, the top seed in the Tuscaloosa Regional, will host Tennessee Tech (48-17) at 6 p.m. in Friday’s first round in the double-elimination event, which runs through Sunday. California (33-30) and Florida State (44-23) will play in Friday’s other first-round game at 3:30 at the Alabama Softball Complex.

Baseball Looking to Roll Over Hogs

The Alabama baseball team will take on another top 10 squad this weekend as they host the # 8 Arkansas Razorbacks in a three game series at Sewell-Thomas Stadium in the season's final home stand.

Arkansas (38-14, 16-8) is currently second overall in the SEC and first in the SEC West and will certainly provide stiff competition for the Tide. The Hogs are led by a stellar pitching staff which includes Friday nights starter, Nick Schmdit (9-1, 2. 69 ERA), Saturday starter Jess Todd, (7-2, 3.07), and Sunday's starter Duke Welker (5-2, 3.50). Offensively, Arkansas is led by Danny "The Hammer" Hamblin, who enters the series hitting .275 with 17 HR, and 51 RBIs and Logan Forsythe, who is hitting .345 with 6 HR, and 42 RBI.

Alabama (27-22, 11-13) enters the series fighting to reach the SEC Tournament. Alabama is currently in 8th place, which is the final spot as 8 out of the league's 12 teams make the tourny. If Alabama can close out the season strong they could shoot up the standings as the 3rd place through 10th place teams are only separated by 3 1/2 games.

Alabama is led offensively by senior CF Emeel Salem, who is hitting .347 with 6 HR and 29 RBIs. Sophomore Alex Avilla leads the Tide with 46 RBIs and 11 HR. The weekend rotation will see sophomore Tommy Hunter (5-4, 4.00 ERA) start on Friday night, sophomore Miers Quigley (4-5, 4.09) getting the ball on Saturday, and converted set up man Will Stroup (1-0, 4.01) starting on Sunday.

Alabama will need to play very well to win this series, as honestly, Arkansas is a better club. The Razorbacks are experienced, talented, and very good this year. While Alabama is much younger than the Hogs, a series win would put the Tide in good position to make the SEC Tournament later this month.

Softball Downs Georgia in SEC Tourney

Alabama needed extra innings to down the #6 seed Georgia Bulldogs on Thursday afternoon in the first round of the SEC Softball Tournament, but got it done and defeated Georgia 3-2 in 9 innings.

Trailing 2-0 until the 6th, Alabama came back to tie the score at 2-2 in the bottom of the 9th inning when Sophomore Kelli Eubanks led off the inning with a double. Katie Johnson then moved pinch runner Mallory Benak to third with a sac bunt, and Brittany Rogers singled up the middle to score the game winning run.

Senior Blair Potter got the start for Alabama and pitched a solid five innings only surrendering two runs on five hits and collected three strikeouts. Chrissy Owens came on in the sixth and pitched three scoreless innings and collected the win. She improved to 24-3 on the season with the victory.

Alabama, the 3 seed, meets # 2 seed LSU today at 5pm in Auburn, AL.

#1 Ranked Softball Readies for SEC Tournament

The #1 ranked Alabama softball team earned the # 3 seed in the SEC Tournament starting Thursday and will play the first game of the tournament against the 6th seed Georgia Bulldogs. Alabama was tied for 1st in the SEC last week, but fell to third after dropping two games to top seed Tennessee this past weekend.

The top eight teams make the tournament and this year Auburn, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, and Kentucky did not make the field. The tournament will be held at Jane B. Moore Field in Auburn, AL.


The Tournament bracket is as follows:

2007 SEC Softball Tournament:

Thursday, May 10
Game 1 - # 3 Alabama vs. # 6 Georgia 11 a.m. CT
Game 2 - # 2 LSU vs. # 7 South Carolina 1:30 p.m. CT
Game 3 - # 4 Florida vs. # 5 Mississippi State 5 p.m. CT
Game 4 - # 1 Tennessee vs. # 8 Ole Miss 7:30 p.m. CT

Friday, May 11
Game 5 - G1 winner vs. G2 winner 5 p.m. CT
Game 6 - G3 winner vs. G4 winner 7:30 p.m. CT

Saturday, May 12
Game 7 - G5 winner vs. G6 winner 12:00 p.m. [FSN South]

Baseball Rolls Past Gators on Sunday, Drops Series

It took a little longer for Alabama to put Florida away on Sunday, but they finally got it done. After blowing a four run lead, the Crimson Tide avoided a three game sweep at the hands of the Gators with a extra inning 7-5 win. Tyler Odle hit his first career home run for the Tide in the 10th inning, on a two run blast that put Jim Wells club in front for good.

Odle had gone 0-4 on the afternoon with two strikeouts before the big blast. "I had not had a good day at the plate, so I was just looking for a good pitch to hit. It was a fastball, middle-in and I got a good swing on the ball. This was a big win." said Odle.

It certainly was a much needed win for Alabama after dropping Friday and Saturday's games to the Gators 6-2 and 9-3 respectively. With the win Alabama now finds itself eighth in the SEC standings with 6 games remaining in the regular season. Eight of the twelve SEC teams make the SEC Tournament later this month in Hoover, AL.

Alabama host the # 8 Arkansas Razorbacks this weekend. Arkansas is currently 36-14 overall and 16-8 in the SEC. A full preview of the series will be provided later in the week.

Alabama Heads to Gainesville to Meet Gators

With nine SEC games remaining in the regular season, each one becomes crucial for teams trying to make it into the eight team SEC Tournament later this month. Every year a team either makes or misses the tournament by one game. With the exception of Arkansas and Vanderbilt (who have good enough records to relax) that leaves 10 teams fighting it out for 6 spots. That makes this weekend's three game series between the Alabama Crimson Tide and Florida Gators in Gainesville, FL a big one.

Alabama (26-20, 10-11) has won 4 of its last 6 games including last weekend's series win over #4 South Carolina. Alabama is also swinging the bats as well as they have all year scoring 45 runs in its last four wins with 23 of those coming in its last two games. The Tide pitching staff, now very thin with former Saturday starter Bernard Robert being booted off the club, has received a much needed week of rest. If Jim Wells stays with the same weekend rotation as he did against the Gamecocks that would send sophomore Tommy Hunter (5-3, 3.67 ERA) to the hill on Friday night, sophomore Miers Quigley (4-4, 3.72) to the hill on Saturday, and possibly Austin Hyatt (4-1, 3.53) or another Tide arm on Sunday.

Florida (23-23, 10-11) comes into the series with an identical SEC record with Alabama, but is headed in another direction as they were swept last weekend at Vandy. UF is led by senior star and Golden Spikes Award nominee Matt LaPorta. LaPorta currently has a 20 game hit streak and is hitting .472 with 12 HR, 29 RBI, and 16 walks. He is the SEC's version of Barry Bonds, and it seems like he has been at Florida since 1958. Florida is a team that jumped out of the gates early in conference play but is stumbling to the finish, primarily due to a shaky pitching staff. The Gators were blown out in each of their games last weekend at Vanderbilt. The Gators weekend rotation is projected to be Kyle Mullaney (2-1, 5.93 ERA) on Friday night. Bryan Augestein (4-5, 6.35) on Saturday, with Billy Bullock (2-5, 5.09) taking the hill for the Gators on Sunday.

This should be a very entertaining series, but for the Tide to win it they need good starting pitching. The Gators are always big and strong, play in a smaller park, and try to beat you with the long ball. If the Alabama pitching staff can run together multiple good starts and the bats continue to roll as they are, Alabama should win this series.

Florida's official athletic website has a preview of the game with a statistical breakdown here: Bama-UF Preview

Tide Rolls Over Delta Devils

The bats continued to sizzle for the Alabama baseball team as they rolled to a blowout win over the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils, 12-1, on Tuesday night. The Crimson Tide has scored 45 runs in its last four games, 23 of those coming in its last two victories, as the Tide has won 4 out of its last 6 games.

Bama pounded out 18 hits in the game with ten different Alabama players had hits in the game, including three different players who hit home runs. One of those, sophomore walk-on catcher Brian Clark, recorded the first hit of his UA career with a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Patrick Kelly helped out the pitching staff by tossing six scoreless innings where he only allowed two hits and collected 8 strikeouts. Brian Griggs came on to finish off the Delta Devils giving up one run on one hit over the last three innings. The win allowed Jim Wells to save the rest of his pitching staff for this weekend's three game series at Florida.

Six Tide Players Sign NFL Free Agent Contracts

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The day after the National Football League draft concluded, six University of Alabama football players signed free agent contracts with NFL teams on Monday.

After three Crimson Tide players were selected in the draft on Sunday, Tim Castille, Jeremy Clark, Jefferey Dukes, Chris Harris, Juwan Simpson and Kyle Tatum all joined the ranks of former Alabama players in the NFL.

Castille, a fullback from Birmingham, signed a contract with the Arizona Cardinals. He played in all 13 games in 2006 and led the team with six rushing touchdowns. He finished the year with 129 yards on 46 carries to go along with 15 receptions for 91 yards. In his career he recorded 21 rushing touchdowns and 533 yards on 161 rushing attempts. He caught 60 career passes for 380 yards.

“It has always been a dream of mine to play at the next level,” said Castille. “I am going to try to make the most of it and do what I need to do to make the team.”

Clark, a defensive lineman from Daphne, signed a contract with the Philadelphia Eagles. He started 12 games for the Tide last season and finished with 24 tackles and a fumble recovery. He finished his career with 86 tackles, 4.5 sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

“I am thankful for the opportunity to work out with the Philadelphia Eagles,” said Clark. “I am going to make the most out of the opportunity and am not going to waste it because a lot of people never get this chance.”

Dukes, a safety from Oxford, Miss., signed a contract with the St. Louis Rams. He tied for the team lead with 86 tackles in a breakout 2006 season. He started all 13 games and recorded three interceptions with two pass breakups. He had 109 career tackles with four interceptions and two forced fumbles.

“It is something I have always dreamed about,” said Dukes. “Playing in the NFL is something I have always wanted to do and I am very excited to get started.”

Harris, a defensive lineman from Tuscaloosa, signed a contract with the Kansas City Chiefs. He played in 12 games last season for Alabama with 20 tackles and a forced fumble. He had 46 career tackles with three sacks, one interception and one forced fumble.

Simpson, an outside linebacker from Decatur, signed a contract with the Green Bay Packers. He tied for the team lead with 86 tackles last year to go along with one interception and two forced fumbles. For his career he tallied 243 tackles with 16.5 tackles for a loss, four sacks, three interceptions, three forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries.

Tatum, an offensive tackle from Prattville, joined fellow teammate Le'Ron McClain when he signed a contract with the Baltimore Ravens. McClain was drafted in the fourth round on Sunday by the Ravens. Tatum played a total of 256 snaps in 12 games last season. He had 16 knockdown blocks for the Crimson Tide.

The six signees on Monday up the total of Alabama players in the NFL to 32. Nine players from last year’s squad will try to make their respective NFL teams as three players were drafted and six have signed NFL contracts.

Gymnast Wins 2 Individual NCAA Titles

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – For Alabama gymnast Terin Humphrey, the time had come to reclaim what was hers, and for freshman Morgan Dennis it was the start of something special.

Humphrey, the 2004 U.S. Olympic Silver Medalist and 2005 NCAA Champion on the uneven bars reclaimed her NCAA title here Saturday night at the Huntsman Center with a near-perfect 9.95. Dennis scored a on the floor exercise 9.9625 with the most electrifying routine of the night to win her first NCAA crown.

“I'm speechless,” Humphrey said. “I'm just so excited. Especially with what happened this year, overcoming injuries and surgery and all that stuff, it's exciting. I was jumping up and down.”

“I have to say that I am so proud of Morgan,” Humphrey said. “To go against that many other routines as a freshman and pull it was amazing. She was amazing tonight.”

Humphrey bettered 2006 NCAA co-champions Kristina Baskett of Utah and Courtney Kupets of Georgia in the process. An Alabama gymnast has won at least one NCAA title every year since 2002 now. The two this year drives the Tide’s all-time total to 21.

A crowded floor kept Alabama head coach Sarah Patterson from watching the uneven bars from her usual vantage point, so she had to wait for the judges to know how good Humphrey, who had double elbow surgery in late October, was on this night.

“Usually I’m right on the side of the uneven bars and I can see handstands,” Patterson said. “Tonight I wasn’t able to see that and I had to wait for the judges’ scores. Once the score came up, I knew that it could hold up.”

Patterson’s view was clearer on the floor exercise.

“That was Morgan’s best routine this year,” Patterson said. “Without a doubt, it was a great, great routine.”

The sixth of eight competitors, Humphrey bettered the twin 9.9125s posted by UCLA’s Tasha Schwikert and Kupets who went first and second respectively and then waited to see what Basketts would do. The Utes’ score 9.9 wasn’t enough to catch Humphrey.

The ueneven bars field was certainly loaded. Kupets was Humphrey’s teammate on the U.S. team that took team silver at the Athens Olympiad. She also took the bronze medalist on the uneven bars at the Olympics. Schwikert was a member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic team and Georgia’s Katie Heehnan who tied for fifth place tonight, was the U.S. bars champion in 2004.

And while uneven bars competition was loaded, the floor exercise was crowded with 18 competitors. Dennis produced her best routine of the season, bringing the Hunstman crowd to its feet. With her score in the books, she had to wait for Kupets, up last on the floor, to see if she would win the title. Kupets came close, but her 9.95 was not enough to over take the Tide rookie.

Alabama finished a disspointing 9th in the team competition but with such a young squad this year, they figure to be one of the nation's best teams again next season.

# 2 Softball Wins 50th Game of Year, Potter Throws "No-No"

Another weekend another sweep for the # 2 Alabama softball team, but this time there was a little something different...a no hitter and a 50 win season.

Senior pitcher Blair Potter no hit the Kentucky Wildcats in Sunday's 8-0 Tide win that only lasted 5 innings. Potter got the first batter of the game to ground out and then went on to strike out the next nine Kentucky batters. She had a perfect game until the 5th when a pitch got away from her and hit UK's Molly Johnson. It was the 12th no hitter in Alabama softball history.

"I really wasn't thinking about the no-hitter. I was on the mound and kept hearing their coach say "break it up!", but I didn't know what she was talking about. It was nice to go out there throwing and knowing you have a good defense behind you. With the offense it makes it easy to go out there and throw because you know they are going to score runs for you." Potter said after the game. Potter was also named SEC Pitcher of the Week on Monday for her weekend performance.

Alabama, now 50-4 overall, and 21-4 in the SEC, beat Kentucky 12-3 and 6-0 on Saturday in front of a record crowd of 2,035 fans. The stadium seats quickly filled up forcing Crimson Tide fans to sit on the hill outside of the outfield wall. "The crowd was incredible. I wish I could thank each of them individually for their support this year", Tide coach Patrick Murphy said.

Alabama now turns to the biggest weekend of the year as they travel to Knoxville, TN to take on the # 1 Tennessee Volunteers with the SEC Championship and the # 1 national ranking on the line. Alabama, LSU, and Tennessee all enter the weekend tied for 1st place in the SEC with identical 21-4 records.

3 Tide Football Players Selected in 2007 NFL Draft

Better late than never I always say. Late was certainly the theme for the former Alabama football players who were looking to turn professional in this weekend's NFL Draft. Three former Tide stars were drafted this weekend: FB Le'Ron McClain, RB Ken Darby, and CB Ramzee Robinson.

McClain was the first Alabama player selected going in the 4th round to the Baltimore Ravens with the 137th pick, and became the 100th Alabama player drafted into the NFL since 1982. McClain now finds himself on a playoff team and will block for newly acquired RB Willis McGahee and lineup behind veteran QB Steve "Air" McNair.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Tide RB Ken Darby in the seventh round as the 246th overall pick. Darby joins former Auburn running back Carnell "Cadillac" Williams and All-Pro fullback Mike Alsott in the Bucs backfield. Darby was projected to be a 1st or 2nd round pick after his junior season but a disappointing senior year and poor combine results caused Darby to slide to the last round.

Ramzee Robinson became famous as "Mr. Irrelevant" in this years draft, meaning he was the last player selected. He will now be invited to a week long list of activities known as "Irrelevant Week". Robinson was selected by the Detroit Lions.

Tim Castille, Jeremy Clark, and Juwan Simpson went undrafted this weekend and will probably sign free agent contracts later in the week and try to make a NFL roster during the upcoming season.

Tide Rallies From 8 Runs Down; Takes Series from # 4 Gamecocks

TUSCALOOSA, AL| It looked very bleak for the Crimson Tide baseball team on Sunday afternoon. Jim Wells' crew trailed 7-0 after 1/2 an inning and 10-2 after 3 innings to the 4th ranked South Carolina Gamecocks in the rubber match of a three game set. That is the bad news.

The good news is that a baseball game last nine innings, and Alabama outscored South Carolina 9-0 in the later part of the game to shock the Gamecocks, 11-10 to win the series two games to one.

Sophomore 3B/DH Alex Avila hit two home runs and drove in a career high six runs to spark the Alabama comeback, but he was only one of the heroes on Sunday afternoon. After a dreadful start by Austin Hyatt, he lasted 2/3 of an inning giving up seven earned runs, Will Stroup entered the game and quieted the Carolina bats. Stroup, usually a 8th inning set up man for Alabama, pitched 7 2/3 innings limiting South Carolina to three runs, but more importantly working out of jams all afternoon to give the Tide a chance to comeback. Sidewinder Josh Copeland came on with runners on first and third with one out in the ninth to get out of the jam and collect the save for Alabama.

Alabama used a potent offense attack in Friday night's opening game and a huge eight run sixth inning to down the Gamecocks 10-5. New Friday starter and sophomore Tommy Hunter collected the win for the Tide. South Carolina won Saturday's game 4-1, scoring multiple runs late in the game to spoil starter Miers Quigley's quality start.

Alabama will host Mississippi Valley State on Tuesday at 6:30 in a makeup game from March 20. Tickets from the earlier contest may be used for admission.

Women's RoundUp

SOFTBALL

The 2nd ranked Alabama softball continues to steamroll their competition as they swept Ole Miss last weekend and defeated a quality team in the Troy Trojans 5-0 last night to improve their win streak to 18 straight games.

Although the Tide got the win, head coach Patrick Murphy did admit he was a little on edge last night. "When you are scoring eight to 12 runs a game, and look up and its 2-0 in the sixth, I get nervous. I have been spoiled by this team so far. There wasn't that sense of urgency with the hitters or the defense, but we got a win." Murphy said after the game.

Alabama improved to 47-4 with the win Tuesday night and is 18-4 in SEC play, Troy fell to 36-15. The Crimson Tide returns to the diamond this weekend as they host the Kentucky Wildcats in their final home stand of the season. Five Crimson Tide seniors will be honored.

GYMNASTICS

Another season, another appearance at the national championships for the Alabama gymnastics team in 2007. The 3rd ranked Crimson Tide travels to Salt Lake City, Utah tomorrow for the NCAA Championships. Twelve teams qualify for nationals and the SEC is well represented in the '07 field. The field is as follows: Alabama, Stanford, Georgia, Oregon State, Florida, Michigan, LSU, UCLA, Utah, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Denver.

For Alabama to win the national title they will need an all around good team performance and a great performance from two time Olympic silver medalist, Terin Humphrey. Humphrey is hurting however, as her surgically repaired elbows are causing her problems, and she will probably require another surgery after the season. While the last surgery has relieved some pain, it has not corrected the problem.

The Tide must also topple a few familiar SEC foes if they want to win the title, as Florida and Georgia are # 1 and # 2 in the country respectively. The Championships begin tomorrow and a full recap will be available on Inside the Tide following the event.

An A-Day For the Record Books

TUSCALOOSA, AL| Saying that Alabama fans are passionate about their football team is like saying Phillip Fulmer likes to super size his value meal...everybody knows it. That said, what happened at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday had never been done before anywhere in the world.

Over 92,138 Crimson fans piled into the stadium to watch the Crimson Tide's spring football game and it could have been a much larger crowd. Alabama officials began turning away fans at the gate in the 2nd quarter of the game as all the seats were full and the University did not have the staff to accommodate such a crowd. The attendance shattered any other spring football game attendance record ever recorded across the nation.

According to Alabama, the next closest was Tennessee in their 1986 spring game when 73,000 Vol fans were in attendance. The record crowd was treated to a welcome sight as well, an Alabama team that was well disciplined, played smart, played hard, and most importantly played well.

The differences were noticeable to the all in attendance from the moment the team began to warm up. They looked organized, focused, and ready to perform. Senior WR D.J. Hall was named the game's MVP as he finished with 5 receptions for 87 yards, and 1 touchdown. Starting QB John Parker Wilson had a productive day as well as he finished 18-36, with 242 yards and two touchdowns.

Backup QB Greg McElroy turned a few heads as well as he finished 14-33, for 139 yards and a touchdown. While the team played well, the crowd was the real story and it did not go unappreciated by the players and their new coach.

"It shows the passion that people have for the University of Alabama, and it certainly makes me feel good about being here as head coach. What we did today sends a message that there's a lot of support and enthusiasm for what's happening here right now. I certainly appreciate it. It makes me and my family feel good about being here. God knows we went through a little bit to get here, but we're happy to be here." Saban said after the game.

QB John Parker Wilson agreed. "It was awesome, we were standing around there like, Man, there's a lot of people here. We didn't expect that many people. To see that kind of support just makes us feel good." Wilson stated.

There is no doubt that Saturday was a historic and all around great day for the Alabama football program. The only thing Tide fans can hope for now is that the good times continue to roll into the 2007 season.

Tide Travels to Plains to Battle Auburn

The Alabama baseball team travels to Auburn, AL this weekend for a three game set against their in state rival, the Auburn Tigers. Both teams are in need of a series win as Auburn enters the series at 25-15 overall, but only 4-11 in the SEC, which puts them in the league cellar.

Alabama enters the series at 26-16 overall, and 7-8 in the SEC, which at the moment is good enough for 7th place overall in the league. The top 8 teams make it to the SEC Baseball Tournament in May.

A complete series preview is availabe at the following link: Bama-AU Series Preview

NATIONAL CHAMPS!!!!!!!

The University of Alabama racquetball team brought home another championship recently. The Crimson Tide competed in the national tournament on March 27 on the Arizona State campus and won its third national team title in four years. The Tide also won the team title in 2004 and 2005.

The Alabama racquetball team has only been in existence since 2003 and has already won two national titles. The team was formed by Natalie Crockett. Before the team formed, she was in charge of a racquetball camp the University hosted every year in June, which brought in some of the best junior players in the country.

“The kids would come here every year to the University [for the camp] and they just got a nice feel for the place and a lot of them wanted to come here [to college]," Crockett said. “It just seemed like the natural thing to do."

Soon, these elite junior players expressed interest in forming a team. So Crockett organized a team and they started to compete. The first national tournament the team attended was in Los Angeles in 2004. The Tide won the overall national title in their first year.

They Tide won again in 2005 and barely lost the title last year, losing by just one match. This year the Tide won the title by approximately 1000 points. The last three years the tournament has been held on Arizona State University Campus in March with 44 colleges and universities attending.

The team consists of six men and six women players. Each player is seeded one through six and there are also three doubles teams for women and men. In the Tide’s recent national tournament, all six members on the men’s side advanced to the championship matches. Team members include nationally ranked players, as well as players recruited from The University.

We are sorry this story was not brought to you sooner, but we had no idea there was a national title for collegiate racquetball.

Tide Host Jags in Mid Week Showdown

The Alabama baseball team hopes to build on its two game winning streak on Wednesday night as they host the South Alabama Jaguars in a mid-week game at 6:30 pm. South Alabama, a well respected, successful program over the years, has had an up and down season thus far and enters the game 18-16, after a 20-3 win over Nichols State on Tuesday night, snapping a three game losing streak.

Offense has not been the problem for the Jaguars this season as they entered Tuesday's game hitting .284 as a team, but the pitching staff entered the game with a team ERA of 5.19, with opponents hitting .301 against the Jags. South Alabama is led by 1B Jeff Cunningham, who is hitting .308 with 13 HRs, and 36 RBIs. David Doss, the third baseman, leads the team in hitting with a .366 average, with 4 HRs and 28 RBIs.

Alabama will send Casey Kebodeaux (3-2, 3.86) to the mound in the contest and needs a good outing from him to help protect the thin pitching staff. Coach Jim Wells on his pitching staff, "I hope Casey can go as long as possible. We'd like to rest our other pitchers, especially Tommy Hunter and Austin Hyatt as much as we can. But everyone will be available if necessary."

Alabama will travel to Auburn, AL for a three game series this weekend at Plainsman Park against their in state rival, the Auburn Tigers.

Women's Sports RoundUp

Softball


The # 2 ranked Alabama softball team dominated the Mercer Bears on Tuesday night in a home away from home, in front of 1,400 in a ballpark designed to hold 200 in Oxford, AL winning 9-0. Alabama coach Patrick Murphy was blown away by the crowd, "Is this the World Series in Oklahoma City or Oxford? This is amazing. What a great night for us. It was a lot like the World Series, with all the distractions. There were all the fans behind us and a big crowd in front of us." Alabama hit back to back home runs in the 2nd inning to go up 4-0 and added two more runs in the third, and three runs in the fourth to bring the mercy rule into play with Dani Woods 2-run single to make it 9-0. Starting pitcher Blair Potter (12-0) cruised through four innings only giving up one hit and striking out six batters. Tide ace Chrissy Owens threw 10 pitches to get the final three outs for the Crimson Tide. Alabama improved to 43-4 as they head to Oxford, MS this weekend to take on the Ole Miss Rebels.


Gymastics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama Gymnastics team, advancing to its 25th consecutive NCAA Championships, was informed today that it will compete in the afternoon session of the preliminary day of competition held next week in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Alabama, the NCAA Central Region Champions, will see plenty of familiar faces in the very tough afternoon session that will get underway at Thursday, April 26 at 1 p.m. MT. Southeastern Conference foes Florida and Georgia, ranked first and second at the end of the regular season, will join the Tide, ranked No. 3 nationally.

Oklahoma, which Alabama saw to open the season and at last Saturday’s Tuscaloosa-based regional will join the SEC trio. Nebraska, ranked sixth going into regionals, and Oregon State round out the afternoon session.

“I think when you get to the NCAA Championships, any draw that you get is going to be tough,” Alabama head coach Sarah Patterson said. “I told the ladies today that we don’t need to be looking over our shoulders because we’ve seen Georgia and Florida numerous times this year and we’ve seen Oklahoma twice.”

Host school Utah will be joined in the evening session, which gets underway at 7 p.m. MT on Thursday, by UCLA, Michigan, Stanford, LSU and Denver. The sessions were decided by a random draw, with three winners and three second place teams from the six regionals going into each session.

“I feel that we have seen the best teams in the country and we just have to go out the first day and focus on our own performance and not on anyone else,” Patterson said. “I think that will be key.”

The top three teams from both of Thursday’s sessions will advance to the NCAA Super Six Team Finals on Friday night.

Auburn junior Julie Dwyer will rotate with the Crimson Tide on Thursday after qualifying as an all-arounder.

Alabama also learned they will start on the floor exercise in the afternoon session and then advance to the vault before taking a bye. The Tide will finish up on the uneven bars and balance beam before sitting off the floor on a bye for the last rotation.

“Is there any other rotation for us at the national championships?” Patterson said with a laugh. “It seems like that’s all we every draw. We’ve done it a lot and we’ve done really well ending on beam. It’s just ironic that’s where we draw again.”

Alabama won its 22nd NCAA Regional Championship Saturday with a 196.700. The Tide’s 25 consecutive NCAA Championship appearances is matched only by Utah, which has been to all 26 NCAA Championships. The Crimson Tide has won four NCAA titles – 2002, 1996, 1991 and 1988. The Tide’s first title, in 1988, came in Salt Lake City, Utah.

A Little Hokie Love

As a native of the Commonwealth of Virginia and having numerous friends that attend Virginia Tech, I just wanted to send my condolences to those affected by the tragedy on Tech's campus Monday. The University of Alabama has you in our thoughts and prayers and wishes Virginia Tech only the best in the near future.

Also, a very classy move by the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night sporting VT lids in their game against the Atlanta Braves. While the Nats roster reminds us of the one in "Major League" (you have never heard of most of them), and they are almost certain to finish in last place, it was a very classy move on their part. Go Nats.

For those reading this article in Richmond, VA, Disco Sports will be selling T-shirts that read "Hokie Nation" for $10 later this week with all the proceeds going to a fund set up in the honor of the victims at Virginia Tech.

Tide Downs Dawgs 5-3, Wins Series 2-1

It was a series that Alabama needed to win to keep pace in the SEC standings and the Crimson Tide got it done as they defeated Georgia in the rubber game of a 3 game series Sunday, 5-3. After dropping the series opener 4-1 on Friday night, Alabama responded with a bottom of the 9th comeback win on Saturday,7-6, and did just enough to defeat Georgia on Sunday. Winning close games is a welcome sight for Jim Wells' club.

“Finding a way to win the close games is huge," said Crimson Tide reliever Tommy Hunter, who came on in the eighth inning in relief of starer Austin Hyatt. “We hadn’t been doing that all year and now in the last four games, we’ve won like three close games so maybe that will be a trend."

Alabama fell behind immediately as Georgia’s Ryan Paisel led off the game with a single and Bulldog shortstop Gordon Beckham followed with a home run off Hyatt that put Georgia up 2-0.
“Everything [Hyatt] was throwing early was up and [Beckham] got a ball up in the wind," Wells said. “But Austin settled down, just like he did last weekend and really pitched well." Hyatt worked into the seventh inning and didn’t allow Georgia another run, as Alabama came back gradually.

The Crimson Tide scored one run in the bottom of the first inning as Emeel Salem led off with a double, then scored on Brandon May’s single. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Alabama took the lead with two more runs against Georgia starter Dean Weaver. Brandon Belcher had a sacrifice fly for one of the RBIs in the inning, while Greg Paiml delivered a two-out RBI single to give Alabama a lead it would not subsequently relinquish.

Alabama appeared to have the opportunity to blow the game open in the seventh inning, when it loaded the bases with no outs. Alex Avila then singled in two runs, giving UA a 5-2 lead, but the rally stopped there.

It appeared that Alabama might regret not getting the insurance runs when Georgia loaded the bases with one out in the top of the eighth inning. But Alabama reliever Lane Shoup coaxed a ground ball to the mound out of Georgia’s Myles Starr, retiring the runner at the plate on a fielder’s choice. Hunter then came on and retired Paisel to end the inning.

In the ninth inning, Hunter struck out Beckham but then gave up a single, a walk and an RBI single by Matt Olson. An error by Tide third baseman Jake Smith resulted in a bases-loaded, one-out situation, but Hunter struck out Georgia’s Luke Stewart and Joey Lewis to end the game. Hyatt (4-1) was credited with the decision.

The win moved the Alabama to 7-8 in Southeastern Conference play, good for seventh place in the league standings midway through the conference race. UA is 22-15 overall. Georgia fell to 13-23 overall and 5-10 in SEC play.

Alabama will be back in action on Wednesday, hosting South Alabama.

Bama Takes Sunday Game, Drops Series to # 1 Vandy

NASHVILLE, TN| After dropping a pair of pitching duels to the nation's top ranked team, the Alabama baseball team rebounded to defeat Vanderbilt, 5-3, in 10 innings on Sunday by stealing home. With runners at first and third and two outs against Vandy closer Casey Weathers, Matt Bentley, the Tide's 6-3 220-pound first baseman, stole home on a straight steal in the top of the 10th inning to give the Tide a one-run lead, which proved to be enough for the win.

"It was a first and third force balk move" Bentley said. "We ran it the way you are suppose to against a left-handed pitcher, but not against the right-hander, but it worked out for us. That is the first time and probably the last time I will ever steal home again."

In Friday's opener, the teams entered the 8th inning in a 0-0 tie, but Commodore ace and possible # 1 overall pick in this year's MLB Draft, David Price, outlasted Miers Quigley and pitched a complete game in Vandy's 3-0 win.

On Saturday, Matt Meingasner had three hits and two RBI to lead No. 1 Vanderbilt past the University of Alabama, 4-2.

Alabama returns to action tomorrow night with a home game against Southeastern Louisiana at 6:30 pm and host SEC rival Georgia in a three game set this weekend starting at 6:30 pm on Friday night at "The Joe".

Robert Pitches Tide to Win, Series Tied 1-1

One night after giving up a ninth inning three run home run to blow a two run lead, Tommy Hunter returned to a similar situation on Saturday night. This time Hunter worked out of a jam and collected the save as Alabama defeated LSU 5-2 to even the three game series at a game a piece. He pitched out of a nobody out, men on 2nd and 3rd situation in the eighth inning and a perfect ninth to secure Alabama's win over LSU.

LSU(16-12-1, 2-5-1 SEC) took a 1-0 lead with an unearned run off Robert in the first inning. Alabama tied the game at 1 in the bottom of the third inning as Greg Paiml hit a one-out double and eventually scored on Alex Avila’s sacrifice fly.

The Crimson Tide took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, loading the bases with no outs but scoring only on a two-out infield single by Emeel Salem. LSU came back to tie the game on Blake Dean’s RBI single in the top of the fifth inning.

Alabama(18-11, 4-4 SEC) took a 4-2 lead in the sixth inning. Ryan Rhoden and Brandon Belcher led off with consecutive singles, then moved to second and third on Jeff Texada’s sacrifice. Greg Paiml struck out for the second out and the Tigers intentionally walked Salem to load the bases. Freshman Jake Smith then followed with a clutch two-out, two-run single off Jared Bradford -- his former high school teammate at Hueytown -- to give Alabama a two-run lead.

The series concludes Sunday afternoon at 2pm from Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

My Apologies

To our loyal readers I must apologize for the lack of articles on the website recently. I have let my thesis work, job search, and wedding planning get in the way of this website and I apologize for that. I feel like I just took one in the face (see the picture).

Hopefully, in the near future my life will calm down and I will get back to getting you the Alabama sports coverage you deserve. By the way you haven't missed much, spring practice started for football, baseball is ranked #25 4-4 in the SEC and softball is ranked #4 in the country and dominating. There will be more articles soon.

Robert Tosses Gem As Bama Downs Vols 9-1

Tide wins 1st SEC series of Year

Senior right-hander Bernard Robert gave the Crimson Tide its most impressive outing on the mound this season, tossing the University of Alabama’s first complete game of the 2007 season en route to a 9-1 win over the Tennessee Volunteers at Sewell-Thomas Stadium Saturday afternoon.

The Denham Springs, La., native took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and turned in his longest outing in an Alabama uniform. It was his 10th career complete game and second at Alabama. His other complete-game for the Tide came in a seven-inning win at No. 1 South Carolina in 2006. Robert went nine innings, giving up four hits, two walks, and seven strikeouts.

Alabama (15-7, 2-0) had more than enough offense to support Robert. Sophomores Kent Matthes and Jeff Texada and senior Greg Paiml had two hits each for the Crimson Tide. Freshman Jake Smith and junior first baseman Matt Bentley stroked two-run home runs in the Tide’s four-run eighth inning.

Coach Jim Wells was pleased with Saturday's performance. "Robert did what we needed him to do today, it was beautiful. That was the best game he has pitched since he has been here. His pitch count was down heading into the last two innings. We needed him to go deep into the game and he did it. This was a good team win, we had some key extra base hits, too. Everyone in the line-up had one or two hits, so we were putting pressure on them up and down the line-up and not with just one or two guys.”

Alabama looks for the series sweep today in the series finale which is scheduled for 2:06 CT from Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

Crimson Tide Rolls Over Vols In Game 1

Tide Takes 1-0 Series Lead


Those who decided to come out to "The Joe" and take a break from watching the NCAA Tournament, and having Billy Packer scream at them, saw the Alabama Crimson Tide baseball team take game one of the three game series against the hated Tennessee Volunteers, 9-7. Alabama improves to 14-7 overall, 1-0 in the SEC as the Vols fall to 12-8 overall, and 0-1 in the SEC.

Miers Quigley provided another strong performance for Alabama pitching six solid inning giving up five runs, on nine hits, and tying a career high with nine strikeouts. Tommy Hunter picked up his first save of the season, closing out the game with two scoreless innings.

The Crimson Tide opened Southeastern Conference play with 17 hits. Jake Smith and Alex Avilla hit back-to-back home runs to begin the game and gave the Tide a 3-0 advantage. Smith was 4-4 on the day with a home run, double and three RBI.

Game 2 of the three game set is scheduled tomorrow at 4pm with the series finale to be played Sunday at 2 pm.

UMass Hits Buzzer Beater to Down Tide In OT

Tide's Season Ends on Last Second Shot

















What a heartbreaking way to end a season. The Alabama basketball team made some mistakes on Tuesday night, mostly turnovers and on the defensive end, but played hard enough to win. Unfortunately, it just didn't happen in a 89-87 loss in Amherst, MA on Tuesday night.

Mikhail Riley’s 3-point shot forced an overtime as regulation expired, but Massachusetts’ Chris Lowe hit a leaning jump shot with one second remaining in overtime to lift the Minutemen the win.

Alabama had tied the game with nine seconds remaining in overtime on a Demetrius Jemison putback but Lowe was able to drive into the lane and score the game-winner.

The Tide was led by Riley's 24 points, sophomore Brandon Hollinger's career high 19 points, and sophomore Alonzo Gee added 14 for Alabama. UMass was led by Stephane Lasme who finished with 21 points and 9 blocks on the night.

While Alabama ends a disappointing season with the record of 20-12, the good news is that Jermareo Davidson is the lone senior on the squad. Hopefully, with the abundance of young talent, next season will be more memorable than this one.

Alabama Draws UMass in NIT

Even though Alabama's five year streak of playing in the NCAA Tournament came to an end this year, the Crimson Tide will play in the postseason, in the NIT. The Crimson Tide will travel to Amherst, MA on Tuesday night and take on the Massachusetts Minutemen in the NIT first round at 8:30 pm CT and the game can be seen nationally on ESPN.

UMass was 24-8 on the season and finished second in the Atlantic 10 with a 13-3 conference record. The Minutemen are led by Reshaun Freeman and his 15.2 points per game. Stephane Lasme (13.3), Gary Forbes (13.0), and James Life (11.2) all average in double figures for Travis Ford' s club. Lasme is also second in the nation in blocks, averaging five per game. Some of you SEC fans might recognize that name as Ford was a star for Kentucky in the early 1990s.

If Alabama were to win they would take on the winner of West Virgina and Delaware State. If West Virginia were to win, Alabama would travel to Morgantown, if Delaware State were to win, the game would be played in Tuscaloosa. Lets not look ahead though, that would require Alabama to win a road game...and I think they do.

Nicks Prediction: Alabama 79 UMass 72

The Complete NIT Bracket Can Be Seen By Clicking Here: NIT Bracket Link

The New #1 Team in America?

#3 Crimson Tide Sweeps Miss. St., Moves to 24-0
















The 3rd ranked Alabama softball team opened SEC play like it has so far this season...perfect. Alabama completed the sweep of Mississippi State on Sunday, winning 8-0, to improve to 24-0 on the season. Alabama is now the only undefeated team in America, as this week's number one team, Tennessee, split a double header with Florida on Saturday, while previously unbeaten Oklahoma and Arizona also lost games this week.

Alabama dominated Mississippi St. on Sunday behind pitcher Chrissy Owens throwing six scoreless innings and only allowing four hits, also striking out four. Owens improves to 12-0 on the season.

On Saturday the Crimson Tide, which went through its pre-conference schedule without ever trailing by more than one run, was down by two runs in both games, but stormed back to beat the Bulldogs 10-2 and 5-3 in front of a crowd of 1,576 at the Alabama Softball Complex. Spotting the Bulldogs early leads in both games the Alabama bats woke up in plenty of time to out score the Bulldogs 15-5 on the afternoon. Blair Potter got the win in game two pitching 5.1 innings giving up one earned run and striking out six. Potter improved to 5-0 on the year with the win.

Alabama returns to action on Wednesday as the travel to Gainesville, FL to take on the Florida Gators in a doubleheader.

Tide Drops Series to Huskers

Tide Drops Pair of One Run Games











After opening the series with a dominating 8-0 win on Friday night, the Alabama baseball team lost a pair of one run games to the Nebraska Cornhuskers, 4-3, 6-5 on Saturday and Sunday. Alabama falls to 13-6 on the season while Nebraska improves to 8-5 on the year. Nebraska jumped out to an early 5-0 lead on Sunday and while Alabama fought back to make the game 6-5 with one out and a runner on 2nd in the 9th, both Kent Matthes and Matt Bentley struck out to end the game.

Bernard Robert pitched 5.1 innings for Alabama giving up five runs, six hits, giving up 3 walks, and striking out four. Josh Copeland, Will Stroup, and Kasey Kebedaux each saw action for the Crimson Tide on Sunday.

On Saturday, Nebraska's Jeff Tezak single handily defeated the Crimson Tide. Tezak finished the game 5 for 5 including a sole home run to tie the game in the 7th and the go ahead RBI single in the 9th inning. Tommy Hunter pitched 8 strong innings for Alabama giving up three runs while striking out a career high nine batters. Hunter did not factor into the decision as Austin Hyatt who gave up a the winning run in the 9th took the loss for Alabama.

Alabama returns to action on Wednesday night as they travel to Birmingham, AL to take on the Samford Bulldogs at 6:30 pm.

# 13 Bama Baseball Blanks #18 Nebraska 8-0 in Game 1 of Series

Tide Takes 1-0 Series Lead Over Huskers

Coming off two straight losses, the 13th ranked Alabama baseball team responded with a great performance Friday night beating # 18 Nebraska 8-0 at "The Joe". It was the first time a Nebraska team has been shut out since 2003.

Miers Quigley pitched an absolute gem for the Crimson Tide lasting 7 innings and only surrendering 3 hits and striking out four. Josh Copeland continued the dominating performance for Alabama pitching 2 innings and only surrendering one hit and collected three strikeouts.

Alabama (13-4) pounded out 11 hits on the evening and was led offensively by Emeel Salem and Ryan Rhoden, who both went 2-4 and each hit home runs. Freshman Jake Smith also collected multiple hits, going 2-5 on the night.

Nebraska (6-5) ace Tony Watson struggled the entire night and lasted 5.1 innings giving up nine hits and five earned runs. Center fielder D.J. Belafonte collected two of the Huskers four hits. Nebraska used four different pitchers in the game.

The series continues tomorrow afternoon at 4pm CT as Kasey Kebedeaux will get the start for the Crimson Tide.

Baseball Preview: # 18 Nebraska Cornhuskers

VS.

# 13 Crimson Tide Host #18 Cornhuskers in Weekend Set

While most of the students at Alabama are heading to the beach for Spring Break this weekend, the 13th ranked Alabama baseball team will be playing what could be its most pivotal series of the season. Alabama (12-4) is coming off two straight losses and searching for a team identity, takes on nationally ranked Nebraska this weekend at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. This is the last non-conference series before SEC play beings next weekend and a chance for Alabama to see how it stacks up against one of the top teams in college baseball.

Nebraska is 6-4 on the season after going 1-2 at the Stetson Invitational over the weekend. The Huskers dropped their first two games on Sunday, but bounced back with a 6-2 win over Stetson to begin the week. According to the their official website, Nebraska was able to practice outside on Wednesday for the first time since fall drills ended on October 13. I am not sure if not being able to practice outside will be an advantage for Alabama this weekend but it certainly can not hurt. Nebraska has also played all of their games on the road this season.

The Huskers are led offensively by DH/1B Thad Weber, who is hitting .389 on the season with 6 RBIs. Second baseman Jake Opitz leads Nebraska in RBI's with 10 and home runs with 2. He his hitting .343 on the season. Nebraska does not have great power numbers through the first 10 games of the season as they only have seven home runs as a team.

The strength of the team though lies in its starting pitching and they are led by Big 12 preseason Pitcher of the Year Tony Watson. Watson, who will start on Friday night, is considered to be one of the best pitchers in America and is 1-0 on the year with a 2.25 ERA in 12 innings pitched and has recorded nine strikeouts. Sophomore Charlie Shirek (1-2) will start on Saturday and junior Johnny Dorn (1-2) will start on Sunday for the Huskers.

Alabama will counter with a starting rotation of Miers Quigley (2-0, 1.48 ERA) on Friday night, Kasey Kebedeaux (2-1, 1.42 ERA) on Saturday, and Bernard Robert (2-0, 1.80 ERA) on Sunday. With the Crimson Tide having to play five games this week, they must get good outings from their starting pitchers to win the series. Coach Wells had to use multiple guys in the two mid week games and needs the starters to go deep into the games to rest his bullpen as much as possible.

If Alabama can beat Watson on Friday night the odds of winning this series will be in the Crimson Tide's favor. He is by far Nebraska's best pitcher and gives Nebraska the best chance to win. That said, Alabama must play better than it has in its last two games to win this series, or even to avoid a sweep. I think Alabama responds and takes the series.


Nicks Prediction: Alabama wins series 2-1.

Bama Drops SEC Tournament Opener to Kentucky

NIT, Here We Come.

Alabama built an early 10 point lead in the first half, but could not hold on as Kentucky defeated Alabama, 79-67, on Wednesday in the opening round of the SEC Tournament. According to the experts, Alabama needed to win multiple games in the SEC Tournament to have a chance at a NCAA Tournament bid, and with the loss will now decide if it wants to accept a bid to the NIT Tournament.

Kentucky, who will play Mississippi State tomorrow in the second round, was led by juniors Randolph Morris' 18 points and Ramel Bradley's 17 points. Joe Crawford added 16 for the Wildcats. The key to the victory was Kentucky's defense which caused multiple minute long droughts in scoring for Alabama.

Alabama, was led by sophomore Richard Hendrix's 21 points and five rebounds. Sophomore Alonzo Gee added 15 for Alabama, with lone Tide senior Jermareo Davidson chipping in 12 points and 9 rebounds. Mykal Riley also had 12 points for the Tide. Turnovers once again plagued the Crimson Tide as they committed 13 on the afternoon, many that were just unforced, careless ball handling.

Stay tuned to Inside the Tide to see where the Tide ends up in the NIT Tournament.

Baseball Drops Game to Tennessee Tech

Jim Well's club is having a tough week. After losing to Southern Miss on Tuesday night, the 13th ranked Crimson Tide returned home to take on Tennessee Tech, and did not bring their "A-game". Whether it was taking their opponent lightly, playing poorly, or both, Alabama lost, 8-6 on Wednesday night at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

Obviously, Coach Jim Wells was not pleased with the result or with his team. "I don't know of anything that we're doing well right now. All phases of the game lack in something" Wells said after the game.

Alabama (12-4) was led by sophomore Kent Matthes who hit his 5th home run of the season and collected three RBIs. Patrick Kelly got the start for Alabama and gave up 5 runs in only one inning of work, as he took the loss.

Alabama remains at home this weekend to host #17 Nebraska in a three game series starting Friday.