The Alabama Crimson Tide have reached the College World Series for the first time since 1999, but you can bet that they aren’t satisfied with a mere appearance. Advancing isn’t going to be easy, however, considering the gauntlet that lies ahead.
Alabama
The Supreme Court Hands a Surprising Death-Penalty Defeat to Alabama
Nitrogen-hypoxia executions are fairly simple in theory. Earth’s atmosphere is roughly 78 percent nitrogen and 20 percent oxygen, with trace elements rounding out the remaining two percent. Humans have evolved to breathe large amounts of nitrogen, and we can do so indefinitely as long as some oxygen is present. Alabama’s plan is to simply subtract the oxygen—or, more accurately, to place a mask over Lee’s face so that he only breathes pure nitrogen until he dies.
The state has already killed seven death-row prisoners by this method; Louisiana also executed a man via nitrogen hypoxia last year. Three other states have authorized the method. Proponents describe it as relatively simple and largely painless, even compared to lethal injection. Justice Sonia Sotomayor described it differently in a dissenting opinion last year:
Take out your phone, go to the clock app, and find the stopwatch. Click start. Now watch the seconds as they climb. Three seconds come and go in a blink. At the thirty-second mark, your mind starts to wander. One minute passes, and you begin to think that this is taking a long time. Two . . . three . . . . The clock ticks on. Then, finally, you make it to four minutes. Hit stop.
Now imagine for that entire time, you are suffocating. You want to breathe; you have to breathe. But you are strapped to a gurney with a mask on your face pumping your lungs with nitrogen gas. Your mind knows that the gas will kill you. But your body keeps telling you to breathe.
Sotomayor said that the death-row prisoner in that case would “immediately convulse,” “gasp for air,” and “thrash violently against the restraints holding him in place as he experiences this intense psychological torment until he finally loses consciousness” before finally dying about 15-20 minutes later. The justice’s description also assumes that everything goes as planned. Unsurprisingly, Lee asked the court to let him be executed by firing squad instead, which can be virtually instantaneous when done correctly.
After having execution via nitrogen hypoxia blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court, officials are now looking to execute death row inmate Jeffery Lee by lethal injection.
The Alabama Attorney General’s Office asked the Alabama Supreme Court to grant Lee’s death warrant by lethal injection. The state Attorney General Steve Marshall has previously commented about Lee’s stay of execution being a miscarriage of justice and that he’ll fight to see Lee executed.
A ruling has yet to come back on whether or not Lee will be given the lethal injection.
Of the eight teams in Omaha, five are from the SEC and Alabama is on the side of the bracket with only other conference members. The Tide opens play with Oklahoma, who finished 11th in the SEC to the Tide’s fourth place finish. The other two teams are Georgia, who won both the regular season and tournament championships, and the Texas Longhorns who finished second in the conference. The other team from the Southeastern Conference, Ole Miss, is on the other side with Troy, West Virginia, and North Carolina. The Rebels are considered to be on the easier side of things, avoiding meeting any of their conference foes until the final round.
Game one: A rematch with the Oklahoma Sooners
These two met in early April, with the Tide taking two of three in Norman. Both teams have changed a lot over the past two months, but obviously will be familiar with each other’s style of play and personnel. Alabama was hot down the stretch while the Sooners stumbled to the finish line in SEC play, but Oklahloma made it into Regionals and took down second overall seed Georgia Tech in an exciting series, then traveled to Kansas and took down the Jayhawks in Super play.
OU hit .289 as a team with 83 home runs, 100 doubles, 17 triples, and 124-146 stolen bases. Those marks are almost all ahead of the Tide’s .258, 80 home runs, 101 doubles, 10 triples, and 86 stolen bases in 94 attempts. Oklahoma pitches to a 5.15 ERA with a .236 batting average against with 264 walks, and 596 strikeouts. Alabama carries a 4.08 ERA with a .245 batting average against, 210 walks, and 532 strikeouts.
Oklahoma will likely start Cord Rager against the Tide in the World Series game, after not pitching against Bama in the earlier series. Alabama is most likely to go with Tyler Fay, who has opened every series for the Tide this season. Rager is 5-3 with a 5.20 ERA in 64 innings pitched with 81 strikeouts, 19 walks, and 50 hits allowed. Fay is 11-4 with 4.37 ERA over 103 innings pitched while allowing only 85 hits, 24 walks, with 121 strikeouts.
Individually for the Sooners, Dasan Harris leads the team with a .362 average and 18 steals in 19 attempts. Deiten Lechance is hitting .332 with 15 home runs, 62 RBI, and 12 doubles. Camden Johnson has a .309 average with nine home runs, 47 RBI and has swiped 28 bases in 31 tries. Brenden Brock is a .293 hitter with 12 home runs, 52 RBI and 27 bags in 30 attempts. Trey Gambill also hits .293 with 12 doubles and has stolen 16 bases. Oklahoma has some pop and a lot of speed for the Tide to deal with.
Game two: Either Georgia or Texas
The Bulldogs and Longhorns will battle, boasting two of the top offenses in the country. Each team has a clear number one pitcher as well. For Georgia, Joey Volchko is the likely starter against Texas and should face off against Dylan Volantis. Volchko has a 10-2 record with a 4.07 ERA over 17 starts and 86 innings. The big right hander has allowed 78 hits with 45 walks and 104 strikeouts. Volantis, last season’s National Freshman of the Year, is a big lefty that dominated this season. The sophomore starter has a 10-1 record with a 2.03 ERA in 88 innings, with 126 strikeouts, a .192 batting average against, and has allowed only two home runs all year.
Georgia mashed their way to a .326 team batting average with 123 doubles, a nation leading 174 home runs, with a .439 on base percentage and .629 slugging mark. The team struck out 497 times and walked 334 times with 124 hit by pitches. The list of offensive stars is long for the Dogs. Georgia pitching has a 4.92 ERA with 273 walks, 653 strikeouts, 82 home runs allowed and a .242 batting average against.
SEC Player of the Year, and the favorite for the Golden Spikes Award, catcher Daniel Jackson leads the way with a .396 average, 31 home runs, 13 doubles, 86 RBI, an absurd 1.339 OPS and 26 stolen bases in 28 tries. Centerfielder Rylan Luju hits .374 with 15 doubles, 13 home runs, 45 RBI, and 13 stolen base. Tre Phelps logs in with a .364 average, 10 doubles, 19 home runs, and 58 runs driven in. Part time player Michael O’Shaughnessy has 21 home runs and 50 RBI with a .296 batting average. Shortstop Kolby Branch has a .297 average with 19 home runs, 18 doubles, and 58 RBI. The list goes on and on.
Texas is almost as strong offensively as the Bulldogs, but has better pitching. The Longhorns hit .298 as a team with 103 home runs, 109 doubles, a .521 slugging percentage, and a .420 on base percentage. Texas pitchers have a team ERA of 4.08 with 192 walks, 658 strikeouts, and a .225 batting average against.
Freshman outfielder Anthony Pack leads the ‘Horns with a .359 average plus 11 home runs, 16 doubles, 52 RBI, and 23 stolen bases. Centerfielder Aiden Robbins comes in with .342 average, 24 home runs, 64 RBI, and 12 stolen bases. Catcher Carson Tinney checks in with a .333 average with 22 home runs, 12 doubles, 10 stolen bases and 58 runs driven in.
If the Tide plays the Longhorns, the matchup should be Adams for the Tide against Ruger Riojas or perhaps Luke Harrison. Bama faced both in Austin earlier in the season, and enjoyed more success against Harrison in their lone victory of the series. Both are tough matchups and I would think Riojas would get the nod. Adams pitched six shutout innings against the Horns, allowing only five hits with seven strikeouts in one of his best performances.
If the Tide faces Georgia, they will most likely send Zane Adams to face Caden Aoki. Aoki is 9-1 with a 4.04 ERA in 19 games with eight starts, while striking out 104 in 78 innings. Adams is 8-4 with a 3.96 ERA over 88 innings, allowing 90 hits with 27 walks and 98 strikeouts. If Alabama play Georgia they cannot get in a shootout with them, that’s a game the Tide can’t play.
The first priority is obviously to win game one. Alabama knows that whichever team they face, they will be in for a battle. Having not played Georgia and knowing what the Longhorns bring, Texas is probably the preferred matchup.
The Crimson Tide faces Oklahoma on Saturday, June 13 at 2:00 PM CT, airing on ESPN.
Bama Baseball Fever, Catch It!
For the Hairston family, the third edition of the revived East-West Classic at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Ala., on Juneteenth isn’t just an exhibition game. It’s a true family reunion, in a city where they have roots.
Jerry Hairston Sr. is back to manage the East squad and his son
Jerry Hairston Sr. is back to manage the East squad and his son
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