Alabama baseball is sending its ace to the mound to begin this weekend’s Hattiesburg Regional. During a Zoom call with reports on Thursday, head coach Rob Vaughn announced that redshirt sophomore Riley Quick will get the start for the Crimson Tide (41-16) for its regional opener against Miami (31-24) at 2 p.m. CT on Friday.
“The starting pitcher just carries so much of the emotion of the game with him,” Vaughn said. “He sets the tone. He sets everything for the game. I think that’s why we love kicking off the regional with Riley Quick. He’s tough as nails. It’s stuff, it’s all of that stuff. But that dude loves Alabama more than anybody, and we know what we’re going to get out of him.”
Quick (8-2) recorded a 3.54 earned run average with 64 strikeouts over 56 innings pitched this season. The 6-foot-6, 245-pound right-hander did not pitch in last week’s SEC Tournament and hasn’t taken the mound since earning the win in Alabama’s win at Florida on May 16.
“I laughed with him the other day,” Vaughn said. “I said ‘Riley, we didn’t pitch you in Hoover, man. So I’ll see you for 120 [pitches] tomorrow. I don’t know if we’ll let him go 120, but we are going to pull the reins off a little bit and let that kid run. He’s ready for it.”
Quick pitched just three innings last year before suffering an elbow injury that led to Tommy John surgery. His season-high pitch count came in a 5-2 win at No. 1 national seed Vanderbilt, where he gave up two runs on four hits while striking out nine batters. Quick has thrown 80 or more pitches in each of his last seven outings.
“I feel great,” Quick said. “I’m really excited to get the ball in Game 1. I know everybody behind me is going to be ready, and they’re going to be doing their thing. And if I do get to go 120 pitches, that will be really fun, too — throwback to the high school days. But I’m excited. I feel really good. The rest was definitely needed, and I’m ready to go.”
Southern Miss earned the No. 16 national seed and will host this weekend’s double-elimination regional. The Golden Eagles will begin play against Ivy League champion Columbia on Friday night. The winners of both Friday games will meet Saturday in the winners’ bracket, while Friday’s losers will face off in an elimination game on Saturday.
This story will be updated.
#Alabama #ace #Riley #Quick #start #Game #Hattiesburg #Regional #Miami
