Bama Baseball Team Set to Hold Fall Classic
10/18/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The University of Alabama baseball team will host the Alabama Fall Classic this weekend with a three-game, round-robin tournament against three of the top junior college programs in the country.
The three-game exhibition tournament was made possible when the Crimson Tide added the University of Hawai'i to its 2005 baseball schedule and allows the Crimson Tide to play 60 games this season.
Alabama will only play 57 regular season games in 2005, giving coach Jim Wells the opportunity to play three exhibition games this fall. The three games this weekend will not count towards the 2005 record, nor will the stats be added to the season totals.
Wells came up with the idea this summer and all the paperwork was processed through the UA Compliance Office for approval.
"First of all, we are able to have this tournament because we are going to Hawai'i and those games do not count towards your 56-game limit," Wells said. "So we had a choice of playing three extra games in the fall or spring. So we chose the fall because it would be something new, something exciting and give our guys a chance to play some outside competition and let us as coaches see how we perform against outside competition.
"Many times, by the end of the fall, guys are so use to the strengths and weaknesses of each other. I remember long ago when the NCAA allowed you to play games in the fall, our teams got so much out of those games. Plus, it exposes some really good junior college programs to your program and gives them the opportunity to see your campus."
The Crimson Tide will host three of the nation's elite junior college programs this weekend at the Joe. San Jacinto College, Seminole (Okla.) and Chipola Junior College will join the Crimson Tide in the six-game, round robin format beginning this Friday, Oct. 22. Admission to all six games of the the 2004 Alabama Fall Classic is free.
The tournament begins at 3 p.m. this Friday, Oct. 22 as Alabama plays host to Seminole (Okla.) followed by San Jacinto and Chipola at 7 p.m.
On Saturday, Oct. 23 Alabama will host San Jacinto at 1 p.m., followed by Chipola and Seminole (Okla.) at 5 p.m.
The tournament concludes on Sunday, Oct. 24 with San Jacinto taking on Seminole (Okla.) at 10 a.m. followed by Alabama and Chipola at 2 p.m.
