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.