Alabama Will Open 2013 NCAA Baseball Tournament against Troy

The University of Alabama baseball team has earned the No. 2 seed at the 2013 NCAA Tallahassee Regional, the NCAA Division Baseball Committee revealed live on Monday, and will open the tournament against in-state opponent Troy on Friday afternoon from Mike Martin Field at Dick Howser Stadium.

“First of all, it’s an exciting time for our team,” Alabama head coach Mitch Gaspard said. “It’s a great compliment for their efforts to get to postseason play. From day one, this team has made a choice to be a team and do things the right way. They’re being rewarded now to get into postseason play and to move on. The opportunity to go to Florida State and play an in-state opponent like Troy is exciting for our team and something we look forward to this weekend.”

With this year’s NCAA Tournament at-large selection, the Crimson Tide will be making his 23^rd regional appearance and third in four years under head coach Mitch Gaspard. Joining Alabama (34-26) in the four-team field will be No. 1 seed Florida State (44-14), No. 3 seed Troy (40-18), and No. 4 seed Savannah State (33-21). The Seminoles are the No. 7 national seed in this year's tournament.

The double-elimination regional begins Friday, May 31 at 11 a.m. (CDT), when Alabama plays Troy at Mike Martin Field at Dick Howser Stadium. Florida State plays Savannah State on Friday at 4 p.m. (CDT).

The winner of the Tallahassee Regional will play the winner of the Bloomington Regional, which features Indiana, Austin Peay, Florida and Valparaiso, in the Super Regionals next week.

Alabama is making its fifth NCAA Regional appearance in the last six years and its 15th in the last 18 years. The Crimson Tide was the No. 3 seed in the Conway Regional in 2008, the No. 2 seed in the Clemson Regional in 2009, the No. 2 seed in the Atlanta Regional in 2010 and the No. 3 seed in the Tallahassee Regional in 2011.

Gaspard is making his fourth NCAA Regional appearance overall and third in four years as the head coach of the Crimson Tide. In Gaspard’s first season at the Capstone, he led the Tide to an Atlanta Regional Championship, defeating the No. 8 overall seed Georgia Tech. In year two with the Tide, Alabama was a three-seed in the Tallahassee, where they advanced to the regional championship game against the No. 5 national seed Florida State. Gaspard also took Northwestern (La.) State to the 2005 NCAA Baton Rouge Regional, where the Demons posted a 1-2 record with a win over Marist.

The first round matchup between Alabama and Troy will mark the second meeting of the season between the two schools. Alabama posted an 11-2 win over the Trojans when the teams met in Tuscaloosa back on May 8. It will mark the 28^th meeting all-time between the two schools, as the Tide holds a 19-8 overall record against Troy.

Alabama is 1-8 all-time versus Florida State, after losing twice to the Seminoles in the 2011 Tallahassee Regional. After defeating Central Florida (5-3), Alabama fell to FSU 9-5 in the winner’s bracket. The Tide defeated UCF once again, before losing to the Seminoles, 11-1, in the regional championship game.

The Crimson Tide has never played Savannah State. The Tigers made the field of 64 with an automatic bid by winning the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship.

Alabama is one of nine SEC teams to receive an NCAA Tournament bid. Vanderbilt, the SEC regular season champion, is the No. 2 seed overall, while SEC Tournament champions, LSU is the No. 4 national seed. Mississippi State and South Carolina will also host opening round regionals. Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas A&M and Florida round out the teams from the SEC in this year’s NCAA tournament.

Alabama posted a 9-18 record against teams in the 2013 NCAA Tournament. The list of opponents to make this year's tournament field includes Arkansas (1-2), Mississippi (1-3), Troy (1-0), Louisville (0-3), Mississippi State (0-3), Texas A&M (2-0), Vanderbilt (1-2), LSU (1-4), and Florida Atlantic (2-1).