On Sunday, the Alabama Crimson Tide baseball team furthered their run to the College World Series.
Facing the No. 8 overall seed Georgia Tech in an elimination game, Alabama came out swinging, winning 8-1 behind the pitching of Adam Morgan, who managed to retire 10 batters in a row. Morgan retired 10 batters in a row.
On Monday, Alabama again faced Georgia Tech in a win or die game. After tossing 99 pitches on Friday versus Elon in the first round, Nathan Kilcrease pitched the Tide to a 10-8 victory and a spot in the Super Regionals against Clemson in Clemson, S.C.
This tournament win marks the first time Alabama has won an away regional since 1983.
Clemson has been the final team the Crimson Tide has faced the past 2 years, however, and each year Clemson has won.
Coach Mitch Gaspard, who is in his first year as head coach for the Tide, has no time to think about the past, he said.
“It is so difficult to get to where we are, playing in the Super Regional, that I am so busy putting the pieces together, I don’t have time to think back to my first 2 years in crimson and white and think about those games,” Gaspard said. “We are focused on right now. Not back then.”
Focusing on the present is what five Tide players needed to do on Sunday during the game because the MLB draft was going on at the same time.
Pitcher Jake Smith was taken by the Phillies.
“It has been an unbelievable ride,” Smith said. “I am so glad I came back for my senior season to be part of this. And hopefully after my work here, I can go on to my MLB career.”
Smith was at his brother’s house in Birmingham when he found out he was drafted.
“We were watching TV and looking back at the draft on the computer,” Smith said. “My brother goes, ‘Holy crap! You got drafted!’ I told him to ‘shut up,’ and all of a sudden, he was too excited to talk because my phone started ringing, and it was the Phillies.”
Juniors Ross Wilson and Josh Rutledge were also drafted. Wilson went to the Chicago White Sox, and Rutledge went to the Colorado Rockies.
Wilson is not sure if he will return for his senior season yet, saying he is too busy focusing on Clemson to focus on the draft.
Rutledge seems to have made his decision.
“This team, we are so close and they are like brothers to me,” he said. “But, brothers see brothers go to college or in my case go to the MLB. So yeah, it is most likely I will not be returning for my senior season.”
After the draft, the entire team got together again to start practicing for Clemson. The Tide will travel once again, making this their 13th, 14th and, if necessary, 15th consecutive game on the road.
“It doesn’t matter home or away,” Rutledge said. “This is the most confident team I have played on. Home or away, I think we can win. Our fan base has traveled well these past couple of series, so hopefully they will show up in South Carolina.”
Gaspard motivated his players in the regional by telling them they were there to win, not go 2-2.
This time he does not know what he will say to motivate them but, said he will tell them that getting the Gatorade dumped on him was one of the greatest feelings he has experienced, and he wants to feel it several more times.
With three games total and two guaranteed, to move on the College World Series the Tide must defeat Clemson twice in the double elimination playoff.
If the Tide does move on, they will travel to Omaha, Neb., home of famed Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium, which has been home to the College World Series since 1950.
This is Alabama’s eighth appearance in a Super Regional, with a win, will be its sixth appearance in the College World Series.
