Alabama baseball: No. 21 Bama hosts Vanderbilt in weekend series

Tiptoeing through the late-winter sporting clutter, the Alabama baseball team is making its noise in hushed tones. Its quiet rise won’t stay a secret long.

While replacing some of its big guns from last season under a new head coach, the Crimson Tide are 14-1― its best start since winning its first 15 in 1997. With that hot start comes a No. 21 ranking heading into a weekend series with No. 18 Vanderbilt (15-2) in Tuscaloosa to open Southeastern Conference play.

The three-game set begins at 6:35 p.m. Friday at Sewell-Thomas Stadium followed by a 3:05 p.m. Saturday meeting and the 2:05 p.m. Sunday finale. The Saturday game will be televised on FSN and Sunday’s will air live on CSS.

Tide football coach and former college baseball player Nick Saban will throw out the first pitch at Friday’s game. Saban was a two-year letterman on the Kent State baseball team.

To this point, Alabama wins have come in all fashions for first-year Tide coach Mitch Gaspard. Four required comebacks including the last two in a midweek visit from Minnesota. After trailing 3-0 after four innings Wednesday against the Golden Gofers, Alabama scored five in the seventh to earn its sixth straight win, 9-4.

They haven’t all been tight.

Illinois-Chicago took a 25-1 beating in Tuscaloosa on Feb. 27 and Georgia was on the losing end of a 13-2 non-conference game played in Hoover March 3.

Balance is keeping the Tide from slipping in the early season. It ranks second in the conference with a .979 fielding percentage and third at the plate by batting .328. Four regular starters are hitting above .300 led by Taylor Dugas (.463) and Cullman product Josh Rutledge (.403).

The Tide’s Friday starter, sophomore Adam Morgan, is playing up to his potential thus far. Slowed by injuries last season, he’s 2-0 with a 3.27 ERA in 22 innings. He’ll see the SEC’s best hitting team Friday as the Commodores carry a .352 batting average that will test Alabama’s 16-game home winning streak that dates back to last season.

Vanderbilt has 11 wins in its past 12 games with the lone setback, a 17-2 loss to Western Kentucky, coming Tuesday in Nashville. It returned the favor with a 17-6 win over the Hilltoppers on Wednesday.