By the time the Alabama baseball team is finished with their NCAA Regional this weekend, it will be very familiar with Tallahassee, Florida. The Crimson Tide will return to the home grounds of the Florida State Seminoles for the third consecutive post-season, a 2-seed grouped with the Seminoles (43-15), Kennesaw State (37-21) and Georgia Southern (39-21).
“I think it’s always exciting to see your name pop up and realize you’re one of the 64 teams that still get an opportunity to play,” Alabama coach Mitch Gaspard said. “On our side, there’s a lot of familiarity with Florida State. Obviously we’ve been there a couple of times now. I think with our guys, after a poor showing last year, I think it’s a great opportunity for us to go back and redeem some of the things we had last year. We’re excited about the opportunity to play.”
Alabama was eliminated after falling to Troy 5-2 and 9-8 in 2013’s edition of the Tallahassee Regional.
Gaspard said, while Alabama will be matched up with mid-major schools, they will still have their work cut out for them in the regional. The Crimson Tide will open against a tough Kennesaw State team in their first game.
“Kennesaw State is a team that’s won 23 of their last 24 games,” he said. “Red hot, playing extremely well. They have one of the top catchers in the country, solid pitching staff. They’re hitting right at .300 as a team.”
Alabama has been on a late season slide, far off the record that had the Crimson Tide ranked eighth nationally. Alabama infielder Mikey White said the team’s mental strength will be vital if Alabama wants to redeem itself.
“The whole season has been a grind,” he said. “I think it’s gonna be good for us to get back over there. We know the park and we know the area and how it’s gonna be down there, so I think this regional works out for us.”
White said mental focus will be a key part in correcting one of the most distressing parts of the Alabama offense: runners left on base.
“I think it’s mainly just a mental game,” White said. “When we get people out there, we just want to execute so much that we kinda get in our own heads and we don’t execute. We just need to have that same mindset as when there’s nobody out there.”
Alabama will also rely on quality pitching from Spencer Turnbull and Justin Kamplan to take the upset win in the Tallahassee regional. Alabama junior Ben Moore said their success is vital to the team’s larger goals.
“I mean, it’s huge,” Moore said. “We need those guys to go as deep in the game as possible. … Those guys giving us good starts and keeping the score low is huge for us. It especially gives the offense a chance to go out there and score runs. Those guys, we really need them to go deep in the game.”
The Crimson Tide will open play against Kennesaw State Friday at 11 a.m. Central Time in Tallahassee.
(See also “Alabama baseball struggle midweek“)
