It has been an up-and-down season for Alabama baseball, full of twists and turns, highs and lows.
The Crimson Tide opened SEC play by getting swept by Kentucky before dropping a mid-week game to South Alabama. Alabama headed into a series against Florida on a four-game losing streak before a Tyler Fay no-hitter on Friday sparked a stunning sweep of the Gators.
That led into another sweep the following weekend of Auburn, and a series in Norman over Oklahoma as the Tide reeled off 10 wins in 11 games. And then Alabama got swept by Arkansas at home and dropped two of three to Texas while also getting humiliated by UAB in a mid-week matchup.
Following a series loss to Tennessee, Alabama was just 10-11 in league play. But after a weekend sweep of South Carolina, the Crimson Tide has now won six consecutive SEC contests with back-to-back sweeps over Vanderbilt and then the Gamecocks. In typical Tide fashion - at least for this season - they dropped a midweek game to Troy in the midst of that six-game winning streak.
Alabama has itself in position for an SEC Tournament double bye
The SEC Tournament gets started next week in Hoover, and Alabama has itself in position to earn a double-bye. The Crimson Tide sits at 16-11 in the SEC and is currently tied for 4th place, the cutoff spot for the double-bye, with rival Auburn. Alabama has the tiebreaker over the Tigers on the strength of its series sweep during the regular season.
Alabama has a more favorable matchup this weekend than its in-state rivals, too.
The Crimson Tide will face a home series against Ole Miss, while the Tigers will also be at home, but will face SEC regular-season champion Georgia.
In any case, an Iron Bowl matchup in Hoover looks increasingly possible. If Alabama earns the double-bye and Auburn finishes 5th, the Tigers would be the Crimson Tide's most likely opponent in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals.
The health of star shortstop Justin Lebron, who left Friday's win over South Carolina with a head injury, could loom large over the final weekend of the regular season and next week in Hoover.
Alabama has put itself in a strong position to not only get a double bye in Hoover but to host a Regional in the NCAA Tournament, thanks to consecutive series sweeps. A series win over the Rebels in Tuscaloosa this weekend should be more than enough for both.
Add us as a preferred source on Google