jarin stevenson to bama. reclass to 2023.

I caught up with DeaconsIllustrated's Conor O'Neill to discuss what No. 16 Alabama baseball will be up against when it travels to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for its super-regional matchup against No. 1 Wake Forest this weekend.

This weekend when we face Wake Forest, we will be matching up with the Number one Team in College Baseball and there is a reason they are number one, outstanding pitching. Will we be a clear underdog? Yes. If there is a team in College Baseball that is capable of beating Wake, it is Alabama. Wake is Number One in Pitching and it is not even close. Alabama is number Seven in team pitching and we have been climbing in the rankings every week in the last five. At one point before LSU we were not in the top Twenty-five. In Hitting we are close to Wake. All in all there is not much disparity between Wake's season and our last Five weeks.

1. Wake Forest features three of the top pitchers in College Baseball in Rhett Lowder, ERA 1.77 and Josh Hartle ERA 2.59 and when they have to go to the game three pitcher they have Seth Keener, ERA 2.23. While Alabama has no one in/or near that class of pitcher, Sean Sullivan is a good fourth pitcher for Wake, but he has a meager ERA of 2.61, compared to the other Wake pitchers. Alabama's team ERA is seventh in the country at 3.96, compared to Wake's national best of an unheard of 2.78. Just to put things in perspective, UCheat is Second in the Country in ERA at 3.6. If Pitching is 90% of the game, our pitching staff should be able to hold their own against Wake. If we get to game three, Mac has been sensational the last month of the season, so the key may be to figure a way to win games one or two and then we are even.

2. When Wake is at the plate they average an impressive .308 hitting average, compared to Alabama's modest .295 average. Wake Forest has scored 556 runs this season compared to Alabama's 479 and the power number has Wake hitting 117 home runs compared to Alabama's 105.

The recipe for winning the series is to beat either Lowder or Hartle and make Sullivan use up the pitch count in the first two games, eating up pitches. If we can do that, I think we have a big advantage in Game three as Keener has not pitched a lot of innings this year. Once we get past the top four pitchers for Wake, they have no one else in the top 200 in the country. (Sorry, I have to find sunshine somewhere, even when the clouds are dark) Just remember that Wake is beatable and they did lose three games at home this year. This series will be decided by pitching and clutch hitting. Assuming we can get 30 runners on base, we cannot leave them stranded. Wake reminds me of some of the good Vandy baseball teams with that great pitching.

• Runs scored per game: Wake Forest, 9.3; Alabama, 7.7
• RPI Wake Forest 1.; Alabama 10
• Hits allowed: Wake Forest 6.57, Alabama 7.59
• ERA: Wake Forest, 2.78; Alabama, 3.96
• Home Runs; Wake Forest 117; Alabama 105
• Team Batting Average: Wake Forest .308; Alabama .295
• Fielding percentage: Wake Forest, .979; Alabama, .978
• Strength of schedule: Wake Forest, No. 35; Alabama, No. 13

Okay for the good news. Our statistics for the last 18 games under Coach Jackson are very comparable to Wake's statistics in all categories. The Atlanta Braves, with Glavine, Maddux and Schmoltz only won one World Series. Can we win? The answer is a clear yes; however we will have to play our best baseball, against the best team in College Baseball. Remember that we once played the best team in College Basketball in the early 2000's and we beat that Stanford team, followed by beating the Defending National Champion Syracuse team.

Once we get to game three, I think we will be the favorite to get to Omaha.

I joined up on On3 last year for the $1 just to see how it would go (mainly because of Bone) and kept my subscription here. I am not going to pay for 2 sites. I don't know if any of you have been on the new merged ON3/BoL site but after a few days of reading stuff on that board, I am not going to renew that subscription when it comes up. There are some vicious posters on that site guys. I know we can get into some heated discussions on here but for the most part we keep things civil. I think the folks here on Rivals are providing some excellent content. I've been here for several years and I really appreciate some of the long time posters like Vaughnbama and Ducky Lee. I too miss our friend Milso. I'm going to stick with this site as long as they'll have me.

I picked Ja'Corey Brooks, Trezmen Marshall and Seth McLaughlin. James went with Jase McClellan, Malachi Moore and McLaughlin.

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SEC win totals

Alabama 10
Over -125 Under +105

Arkansas 6.5
Over -135 Under +115

Auburn 7
Over +115 Under -135

Florida 5.5
Over -135 Under +115

Georgia 11.5
Over +110 Under -130

Kentucky 7
Over +130 Under -150

LSU 9.5
Over -120 Under EVEN

Ole Miss 7
Over -140 Under +120

Mississippi State 6
Over NA Under NA

Missouri 6
Over -115 Under -105

South Carolina 6
Over -120 Under EVEN

Tennessee 9
Over NA Under NA

Texas A&M 8.5
Over +115 Under -135

Vanderbilt 4
Over -115 Under -105

What do you all think?

My first reaction is
Bama over
Arkansas over
Auburn under
Florida over
Georgia under
Kentucky under
LSU under
Ole Miss over
State under
Mizzou push
SC push
Tenn under
TAMU under
Vandy under

I think Napier and Arnett both get fired after the season as well. Drink at Mizzou is on the clock as well because he is a turd of a human and the people there hate him. Seeing Florida at 5.5 is so damning about the state of that program and how far it has fallen off over the last decade.

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Rivals100 prospect Bryce West announced his top seven today including Ohio State, Texas A&M, Oregon, Michigan, USC, Georgia and Alabama.

According to people around West, Ohio State seems to be comfortable position at this point.

More to come with West.

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Owens has visited Alabama several times and returned today to camp in front of the staff. Owens who’s built a good relationship with TE Coach Joe Cox, left impressed again following an impressive camping.

“Had a really good day, thought I impressed.”

“Camping is a part of both mine and their process with recruiting, and I wanted to see what the coaching style would be like.”

“Loved the coaching, see it as somebody I could really play for. And to get me back up for a game I have a couple schools starting to stand or including Bama.”

“Overall I enjoy the environment at Bama, have built good relationships and could see myself returning.”

Alabama baseball players claim their camouflage hats are just a nice look, but the good-luck charm has stood out during the Crimson Tide’s recent run.

Huge visit coming up. I really like Alabama’s chances here as he would instantly step in and be arguably Alabama’s best player.

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As discussed about a weak ago Colin Simmons following his spring game which Tide Illustrated was on hand for.

Simmons visited last summer for the Distinctly His College Tour and left impressed.

This is a big visit for Alabama who seem to be rounding into form.

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According to sources Demarcus Riddick is set to take an OV with Bama and as reported previously is looking to make an announcement next month around the time of his mothers birthday

He’s working out the details of the OV but Alabama is making a serious push as expected for one of their top prospects

According to those close to him the feelings is that’s he’s going to flip to the Tide.

More to come.

Connected with Jaylen Mbakwe this week and he's still rock solid to Alabama despite the AU official visit over the weekend. He'll be back in Ttown for his official two weekends from now, with no other big contenders expected to soon host him.

As for AU, they're doing a good job with him but he won't be an easy flip.

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It was announced that Alabama-Wake Forest will play the first game on Saturday at 11:00. The game will be broadcast on the Mother Ship, ESPN. We made it off the Ocho.

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Greene was offered by Alabama earlier this week and although the offer may have come “late” the Tide will still be given a fair shot to sway Greene from other programs.

More here:

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IM hoping our goat is able to lobby congress for change and fairness to the changes needed to save college sports. Keeping corporations out of college recruiting is paramount to saving the institution of college sports. It’s not just about winning the players, but also the best coaches. Up until now you offered the best salary to the head coach and his assistants. Now coaches will go to school that also offer the most NIL money to win recruiting battles. All great coaches want to win and you can’t win without the best recruits. So, again let’s hope that our coach does well for lobbing for the future of college sports. I say this but I am conservative and I believe in free enterprise. I just don’t believe in free enterprise in college sports.