Alabama
University of Alabama student James Gracey reported missing after night out in Spain during spring break trip
A University of Alabama student has been reported missing following a night out with friends during a spring break trip to Spain, his family said.
James Paul Gracey, 20, was hanging out at Barcelona’s world-famous club, Shoko, on Tuesday, while visiting friends who are studying abroad in the Spanish city, before he vanished, his mother wrote on Facebook.
Therese Gracey said her son, who goes by Jimmy, was last seen by a friend inside the club at around 3 a.m. The friend had left the hotspot for the night, but Gracey had decided to stay.
Gracey failed to return to the residence he was staying, his mother said.
“The police have his phone but he didn’t make it back to the air bnb. Has anyone see him?” Therese Gracey pleaded to the “Students in Barcelona 2026” Facebook group.
Gracey, from Elmhurst, Illinois, is an honors accounting junior at the University of Alabama, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The school confirmed Gracey is a student at the Tuscaloosa school, but was on a personal trip at the time of his disappearance, according to ABC 33/40.
He was last seen wearing a white shirt, dark pants and a gold chain with a rhinestone cross.
Gracey announced in October that he was elected to serve as the chaplain of the Alpha Phi Chapter of the Theta Chi Fraternity.
Fellow college students had reported seeing Gracey and were urging his family to reach out to local politicians and embassy officials to increase the manpower in the search for him.
Shoko was named the seventh best club in the world and best nightclub in Barcelona for 2025, according to Nightlife International.
The club offers award-winning cuisine being served on the Barcelona seafront, with the establishment “redefining nightlife with exclusive experiences” in the city.
Louisville, Kentucky, EDM artist Daniel Allan was headlining live music at the club Monday night.
Alabama
Alabama Baseball Selected As NCAA Regional Host
The Alabama baseball program has been selected by the NCAA as one of the 16 host sites for next weekend’s NCAA baseball regional. The Crimson Tide were chosen after finishing fourth in the SEC and amassing a 37-19 record with four sweeps in conference play.
The seeding is set to be announced on Monday at 11 a.m. CT, where Alabama will find out if it is chosen as a top-eight seed and will find out what opponents are coming to Tuscaloosa next weekend. A top-eight seed puts the Crimson Tide program in position to host the Super Regional round the following weekend.
“This team’s won six SEC weekends,” Alabama head coach Rob Vaugh said. “We’ve swept four of them I believe. We’ve won 18 games. And this team’s just battle-tested. Like, last year’s group, we didn’t get swept last year, which was great. It’s cool. But at the end of the day, we also didn’t do some of the special things that we’ve done this year.
“I think this group is just, they’re confident and I think they believe in each other. And I think obviously the three dudes on the front have been good. Obviously, you miss a guy like Riley Quick from last year, that guy was pretty special. But all those guys have gotten better. Tyler Fay’s a better version of himself right now than he was last year.
“Zane Adams is a better version of himself. Myles Upchurch is a young phenom that’s emerged as a young superstar for us. I think when you can run three starters out like that, that gives you a chance against anybody. And they give you a shot.”
Alabama is 0-4 in the last two seasons in the regional round, losing games as a two-seed in the Hattiesburg Regional and the Tallahassee Regional. The Crimson Tide last hosted an NCAA Regional in 2023, winning three games in a row to advance to the Winston-Salem Super Regional. The program looks to return to the College World Series in Omaha for the first time since 1999.
NCAA Baseball Regional Sites (Alphabetically by Location)
|
Host |
Location |
Conference |
Record |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Georgia |
Athens, Ga. |
SEC |
45-12 |
|
Georgia Tech |
Atlanta |
ACC |
48-9 |
|
Auburn |
Auburn, Ala. |
SEC |
38-19 |
|
Texas |
Austin, Texas |
SEC |
40-13 |
|
North Carolina |
Chapel Hill, N.C. |
ACC |
45-11-1 |
|
Texas A&M |
College Station, Texas |
SEC |
39-14 |
|
Oregon |
Eugene, Ore. |
BIG 10 |
40-16 |
|
Florida |
Gainesville, Fla. |
SEC |
39-19 |
|
Southern Miss |
Hattiesburg, Miss. |
Sun Belt |
43-15 |
|
Kansas |
Lawrence, Kan. |
BIG 12 |
42-16 |
|
Nebraska |
Lincoln, Neb. |
BIG 10 |
42-14 |
|
UCLA |
Los Angeles |
BIG 10 |
51-6 |
|
West Virginia |
Morgantown, Wva. |
BIG 12 |
39-14 |
|
Mississippi State |
Starkville, Miss. |
SEC |
40-17 |
|
Florida State |
Tallahassee, Fla. |
ACC |
38-17 |
|
Alabama |
Tuscaloosa, Ala. |
SEC |
37-19 |
This story will be updated with game dates and times once the NCAA bracket is fully revealed on Monday morning.
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Alabama
Alabama coal ash lawsuit can continue, appeals court rules
Alabama
No. 1 Alabama Punches Ticket to WCWS for 16th Time with Sweep over No. 16 LSU
TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— A little rain couldn’t dampen Alabama’s party.
Patrick Murphy and the Crimson Tide held a Sweet 16 party inside Rhoads Stadium on Saturday. For the 16th time in Murphy’s 28 seasons as head coach, the Crimson Tide is heading to Oklahoma City for the Women’s College World Series.
Top-ranked Alabama continued its perfect path through the NCAA Tournament, outlasting No. 16 LSU 4-1 after two lengthy rain delays to complete the sweep through the Tuscaloosa Super Regional.
A Sweet 16 celebration is suiting for a Tide team coming of age at the most crucial time of the year. In its five tournament games, the Alabama has backed up its No. 1 billing, maintaining an unblemished record while out scoring its opponents by a combined 31-1.
“This team has just been unbelievably selfless,” Murphy said after the win. “They’ve been full of gratitude. They’ve been competitive. They’ve been hard working, gritty. I mean, all the words you love as a coach–– this has been this team. You don’t want to jinx it or whatever because anybody can beat anybody, you guys all know that, and so I’m thrilled as can be that this group gets to go to the Women’s College World Series.
Alabama was able to recalibrate and shut down LSU after two separate rain delays that totaled around four hours. The Tide spent time during the delay eating softball, watching other softball super regionals around the country and playing intense card games.
But when it came time to head back to the field, it was all business.
For the second game in a row, Alexis Pupillo provided the spark plug for the Crimson Tide offense before the first delay. LSU starter Jayden Heavener held Alabama hitless through the first three innings (despite allowing a run on a walk and three wild pitches in the third), but Pupillo broke up the no-hitter with a solo home run to right field to reclaim the lead for Alabama at 2-1 to open the fourth inning.
The Tide put together a two-out rally later in the frame with three straight hits from Audrey Vandagriff, Ambrey Taylor and Salen Hawkins. Taylor busted out of her hitless streak in the NCAA tournament with a hard double, and Hawkins drove both runners in with a 2-RBI single.
Hawkins came into the NCAA tournament on a eight-game hitless streak but has three big hits for the Crimson Tid ein each of its last three postseason wins.
“I’m been working my butt off,” Hawkins said. “After practice, I go hit with my dad some more. I just wanted to come through for my team. I just wanted to help contribute in some way and just get some runs on the scoreboard.”
Saturday’s game showed that Alabama’s pitchers aren’t just robots as the Tide gave up its first run of the NCAA tournament on an RBI single from LSU’s Tori Edwards in the bottom of the third. Vic Moten dealt with some traffic on the base paths but stepped up in one of the biggest starts of her young career, only allowing the one run over four innings pitched.
“My intangible for the team is bringing energy,” Moten said. “Whenever I pitch, I want to put us in the best position possible.”
After the second rain delay, Alabama junior ace Jocelyn Briski came in to close it out over the final three innings. She did not allow a run, striking out five batters.
LSU didn’t go down without a fight, but behind a raucous Rhoads crowd, the Crimson Tide prevailed. Alabama was picked in the preseason to finish ninth in the SEC and is now headed to Oklahoma City as the top overall seed and one of the favorites to win a national title.
Alabama will face the winner of the Los Angeles Super Regional between No. 8 UCLA and UCF in its opening game at the Women’s College World Series.
This story will be updated.
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