Alabama set to venture north to meet NU at home
MICHAEL BRUNTZ
March 10, 2006
If a tournament falls through, they will come.
Thanks to early-season scheduling conflicts a year ago, Alabama will be the first Southeastern Conference team to ever play a series in Lincoln when the Crimson Tide come to town for a three-game series starting today at 2:05.
Teams from the SEC generally prefer to stay at home during winter, but this weekend's matchup became possible after both Alabama and Nebraska were scheduled to be in San Diego this weekend for a tournament but were left without a game when the scheduling fell through.
Nebraska Coach Mike Anderson called Alabama Coach Jim Wells about other matters but floated the idea of Alabama coming to Lincoln this spring. Wells accepted, and the teams agreed, provided Nebraska (8-2) would play in Tuscaloosa, Ala., in 2007.
While getting a SEC team to come up north was a big step for Nebraska, Anderson doesn't expect schools to come beating down his door in the future if that means having to play in Lincoln in March.
``Somebody said, `Will you expect this in the future?' No. Not many people will come to Nebraska in March,'' Anderson said. ``It's different, but it takes a little bit of risk, not because of our team, but just coming to Nebraska,''
Anderson said teams in the SEC have called often during his time at Nebraska, but most who inquired weren't interested in setting up a home-and-home series.
``I give Jim Wells a tremendous amount of credit for saying, `Yeah, we'll come to Nebraska,' '' Anderson said.
Wells said he remembered traveling to play Wichita State in March during his time at Louisiana State. He said Nebraska's rise during the past seven years made it easier to think about coming to Lincoln.
He also said he was looking for a tough opponent to prepare his team for SEC play, which begins March 17.
``They've gone to the College World Series several times,'' Wells said. ``Nebraska is as good as anybody in the nation.''
Alabama (13-3) brings a young and developing team into Haymarket Park this weekend.
The Crimson Tide returned just three everyday players from a season ago, though they return a talented pitching staff led by junior Wade LeBlanc, who earned freshman All-American honors before missing part of his sophomore season with a bruised collarbone.
LeBlanc (3-0, 1.93) will match up today with Nebraska All-American Joba Chamberlain (2-1, 1.29 ERA).
The Cornhuskers will be Alabama's first big test of the season. The Crimson Tide have played just one road game heading into this afternoon's game and have two losses to Winthrop and a loss to Memphis so far this season.
Wells said his team is experiencing the growing pains that come with a young team.
``We're gradually evolving and getting better, thank goodness,'' he said. ``We weren't that good in the fall, but we're coming together and finding ways to win. We're learning to play the game harder and for nine innings.''
LeBlanc said he wasn't concerned about the cooler temperatures in Lincoln, noting Alabama played its opening weekend in 18-degree wind chills.
``It wasn't very much fun,'' LeBlanc said.
While some might look to the game as an opportunity for more teams from the south to make early-season trips north, Anderson was cautious about reading too much into the opening series.
While the scheduling conflict made the matchup more workable, other signs seem to point to better baseball above the Mason-Dixon line.
The start of the college baseball season and College World Series have been pushed back, meaning games being played farther north may become more commonplace.
Wells said he sees the game beginning to spread.
``Miami can start playing January 3, while teams up there are shoveling snow,'' Wells said. ``I think it's good for baseball. You don't want the game to be a regional-type game like hockey.''
