Alabama baseball is on the brink of a disappointing end to what was a once promising season.
In the opening game on Friday of the Hattiesburg Regional, Alabama lost to Miami (FL) 5-3 to head to the loser's bracket, one game away from a season-ending defeat.
Rob Vaughn took an aggressive approach to the start of the Regional by handing the ball to the Tide's top pitcher, Riley Quick. Now, Alabama will go into the weekend needing to win four games in three days, and they'll have to do it without their ace.
Quick didn't have his best stuff against the Hurricanes. He gave up four runs over his first three innings of work, including a three-run homer in the first inning to dig a hole for the Crimson Tide's offense.
Quick battled and ultimately gave Vaughn six innings, allowing five runs, walking four, and striking out six. Alabama's offense couldn't deliver, however, managing just three runs on seven hits. If the offense can't produce more than that this weekend, it's going to be another quick exit for the Crimson Tide in the NCAA Tournament.
Alabama plated all three of its runs in the fourth inning. Brady Neal drove in a run on a groundout, and then Brennen Norton drove in two with a double. But that's all the Crimson Tide could muster.
Kade Snell just missed a walk-off three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning, but it landed in the centerfielder's glove just a few inches from the wall.
The Tide started the season 16-0 and came into the NCAA Tournament at 41-16 overall. Alabama just missed a hosting opportunity and was sent to what seemed like a favorable region. Vaughn's aggressive approach to send Alabama to the winner's bracket backfired.
There will be plenty of fans who question his decision to throw Quick out for game one. Some believe that saving your "ace" for the second game, regardless of what happens in the first game, makes the most sense. Losing puts Vaughn in a position where any decision he would have made today would have been questioned.
It's not likely to have mattered who pitched on Friday if Alabama couldn't muster more than three runs. The pitching simply hasn't been good enough this year to manage when the offense isn't producing more.
The bad news for Alabama got worse with Southern Miss's loss to Columbia
Not only will Alabama head to the loser's bracket, they'll now have to face 1-seeded host Southern Miss in a win-or-go-home matchup on Saturday. Southern Miss suffered a stunning loss to 4-seed Columbia on Friday night to put the two top seeds in the Regional a loss away from going home.
Alabama beat Southern Miss in the regular season, knocking off the Golden Eagles 10-6 in Tuscaloosa in a mid-week matchup. They will face a better quality arm on Saturday, and will need the offense to produce with questionable pitching.
Vaughn hasn't yet made an official decision on who will start for the Crimson Tide. Tyler Fay seems to be most likely, but the ball could also end up in the hands of Zane Adams, who was the Friday starter for the Tide at the beginning of the season before being replaced due to ineffectiveness.
With as talented as this team is, and with as well as the season began, bowing out quickly in the Regional would be a bitter end to the season.