TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The NCAA tournament game between the University of Alabama baseball team and Florida State in the Tallahassee Regional was suspended because of severe weather Sunday night, with the Seminoles leading 8-1 in the top of the sixth inning.
The game will resume at 11 a.m. today.
Alabama”s Brock Bennett will be at the plate with a 1-2 count when play begins.
Bennett and the Crimson Tide will have plenty of work to do if they want to keep their season alive. Alabama (35-27), which defeated the University of Central Florida 12-5 earlier Sunday, will have to rally to win the suspended game and then beat FSU (44-17) again later today to earn a trip to the Super Regionals.
An if-needed game will be played 50 minutes after the conclusion of the suspended game, not at 5 p.m. as originally scheduled.
If Florida State wins, it will advance to the super regionals.
Alabama showed Saturday it can hang with FSU in a 9-5 loss. Twelve hours after that frustrating loss, the Crimson Tide had 15 hits against five UCF pitchers en route to an easy victory.
“A lot of teams would have come out flat,” said Alabama”s Taylor Dugas, who went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs. “We swung the bats. Everybody responded. We didn”t get a lot of sleep, but we”ll sleep when we”re dead. We have a regional to win.”
Bennett, Jared Reaves, and Austen Smith each had three hits for Alabama.
Jonathan Smart (5-3), who usually works as the team”s closer, delivered a strong outing on the mound to help keep the Crimson Tide”s season alive. The senior left-hander, who had 10 saves in the regular season, gave up 11 hits but allowed just two earned runs in eight innings.
“It started with Jonathan Smart on the mound, who was tremendous again,” Alabama coach Mitch Gaspard said. “They scored some runs early but he was able to keep it at singles and settled in.”
Erik Hempe went 3-for-4 with an RBI, and D.J. Hicks hit his 15th home run of the season for UCF (39-23).
UCF starter Ben Lively was chased from the game without recording an out as Alabama scored four runs in the first.
Reliever Nick Cicio (4-3) kept UCF in the game but took the loss after allowing an unearned run in fifth when Alabama”s Brett Booth scored on a passed ball to put the Crimson Tide ahead 5-4.
Alabama added six runs in the seventh to pull away.
The Knights, who were playing in a regional for the first time since 2004, committed three errors and couldn”t capitalize on a 12-hit outing.
“Today wasn”t our day,” UCF coach Terry Rooney said. “We didn”t play very good fundamental baseball. It is uncharacteristic of us.
“Our goal first and foremost was to get UCF baseball back to the postseason. The next step is to get back here and put ourselves in position to win this regional.”
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