NCAA Baseball Regional Play Begins Friday at the Joe
6/4/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Alabama hosts fourth regional under head coach Jim Wells
Wednesday, May 29, 2002 |
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The Southeastern Conference Western Division champion and SEC Tournament champion Alabama Crimson Tide (48-13) begins its quest for a berth in the College World Series as it opens play at the 2002 NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional this weekend here at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
The Crimson Tide earned the national No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will host Auburn, Florida Atlantic and Southeast Missouri State in the three-day, double elimination tournament.
Since the NCAA Tournament was expanded to 64 teams in 1999, this is Alabama's second national seed in the post season. Alabama was the national No. 5 seed in the 1999 tourney, advancing to Omaha for the third time in four years under Coach Jim Wells.
The No. 1 seed Crimson Tide will open the 2002 NCAA Tournament against the No. 4 SE Missouri State Indians on Friday, May 31 at 6:30 p.m. (CT). The other first-round game matches the No. 2 seed Auburn Tigers against the No. 3 seed Florida Atlantic Blue Wave at 1:30 p.m. (CT). The two winners meet Saturday, June 1 at 3 p.m., while the losers square off at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
Alabama is 18-2 (.900) all-time in post-season games here in Tuscaloosa and has never lost an NCAA Regional game. UA is 13-0 (1.000) all-time in NCAA games here at the Joe. Alabama's only two post-season home losses came against Vanderbilt in the 1973 and 1974 SEC Playoffs.
ALABAMA'S PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP:
Odr No., Name, Pos. 2002 Stats Notes
1 11 Travis Garner, RF .335, 6 HR, 31 RBI 2nd on team with 21 multi hit gms
2 1 Peter Stonard, 2B .409, 5 HR, 40 RBI Seven-game hitting streak (.424)
3 14 Jeremy Brown, C .323, 11 HR, 58 RBI Needs 3 RBI for UA career record
4 24 Scott McClanahan, CF .312, 13 HR, 60 RBI 120 consecutive starts in CF
5 6 Brent Boyd, 1B .288, 8 HR, 47 RBI SEC Tournament MVP (10-20, .500)
6 36 Chad White, LF .314, 0 HR, 14 RBI Batted .375 (8-18) at SEC Trny
7 12 Zac Welch, DH .233, 1 HR, 12 RBI Four hits, 3 RBI at SEC Trny
--OR--
5 Beau Hearod, DH .320, 10 HR, 49 RBI Four-game hitting streak (.364)
8 4 Adam Pavkovich, SS .286, 5 HR, 29 RBI Tied school record with 12 sac bunts
9 26 Allen Rice, 3B .247, 0 HR, 17 RBI Batted .333 (5-15) at SEC Trny
PROBABLE NCAA REGIONAL PITCHERS:
No, Pitcher 2002 Stats Notes
16 Shane Sanders, RH 15 GS, 8-3, 3.38 Lost two straight decisions vs. LSU and UF
18 Lance Cormier, RH 16 GS, 10-3, 3.24 Needs 2.1 IP for single-season record
40 Taylor Tankersley, LH 22 G, 8-4, 2.67 UA freshman record eight wins this year
Date Game Time Radio/TV
May 31 SE Missouri State vs. Alabama 6:30 PM (CT) CTSN (WRTR-FM, 105.5)
June 1 Auburn or FAU vs. Alabama 11 AM or 3 PM CTSN (WRTR-FM, 105.5)
INTERNET BROADCAST: All Alabama baseball games are available on the internet at www.rolltide.com for the 2002 post-season. Live stats can be found at www.rolltide.com and www.ncaachampionships.com
TICKETS: Tickets to the 2002 NCAA Baseball Regional are available through the Alabama Athletic Ticket Office. Ticket books are $65 (lower chairback), $55 (upper reserved) and $50 (reserved bleachers).
RANKINGS: UA is ranked 4th (NCBWA), 6th (Collegiate Baseball), 6th (Baseball America) and 6th (Baseball Weekly).
