One game for trip to CWS

Wow. That was ugly.

Clemson just finished beating up on Alabama, 19-5 in the second game of the super regional to force the winner-take-all final tomorrow.

It will be a high noon affair with Nathan Kilcrease heading to the mound for the Crimson Tide as it looks to add another note to their unlikely run through the postseason.

For the sake of baseball fans everywhere, let’s hope Monday’s game is a little prettier than tonight’s.

Alabama one win from College World Series

The Tide just wrapped up a 5-4 win over Clemson in the first game of the super regional. A win Sunday sends them to Omaha.

Jimmy Nelson was the winning pitcher and Jake Smith finished it off. Smith also hit a solo homer in the second and contributed to the four-run third that put Alabama up 5-0 before Clemson made it a game.

Read the paper Sunday for more details.

Alabama at Clemson in super regional

The NCAA announced the assignments for next weekend’s super regionals and the Crimson Tide is heading back on the road.

Clemson will host Alabama in the best-of-three series starting Saturday.

Here is the schedule. (times are central)

Saturday: 5 p.m. (ESPNU)
Sunday: 6 p.m. (ESPN2)
Monday: Noon or 6 p.m.. (ESPN2)

A few notes for your Friday evening

I hope you’re enjoying this pleasant Friday evening. Before going out to enjoy a little relaxation, consider the following nuggets.

• In the “not necessarily good news for Alabama” category is the commitment of Georgia linebacker Vic Beasley. The son of former Auburn free safety Victor Beasley chose Clemson over Alabama in a Friday news conference. To see video of the announcement, click here. (The interruption of the school announcement is the best part)
• As posted earlier in the day, tickets are still available for the FIU and UT-Chattanooga games. I checked the Web site a little bit ago and tickets appeared to still be available.
• The Sports Illustrated college football edition landed in my mailbox the other day and I have to say I’m a little disappointed. That used to be the one and only publication I referenced when gauging preseason expectations, but that can’t be said anymore. Unlike the other magazines that dedicate entire editions to the look-a-head, SI only used a portion of this week’s version to talk football.
• Oh yeah, they ranked Alabama 8th — behind No. 6 Ole Miss which landed on the regional cover sent to the southern states. They picked Florida (No. 1 overall) to beat the Rebels in the SEC Championship Game and the Tide to play in the Capital One Bowl vs. Iowa.
• Auburn was ranked 65th and picked to play UTEP in the Liberty Bowl.
• Click here and here for links to SI coverage.

Enjoy your weekend and stick with the Bama Blog and the print edition of the paper for coverage from Saturday’s scrimmage.