SPORTS BRIEFS: Bama ready for Final Four showdown with UConn; Biscuits fall in opener
Alabama put in one more workout on Friday prior to the date with UConn on Saturday. (Courtesy Unv. Alabama Athletics)
COMBINED REPORTS
Alabama continues preparation for Final Four matchup with UConn
PHOENIX – The Alabama men’s basketball team continues making preparations for the 2024 NCAA Final Four contest on Saturday against UConn, as the Crimson Tide participated in an open practice for fans Friday afternoon in State Farm Stadium.
The highlight of the open practice came when senior Max Scharnowski was awarded the NCAA Elite 90 Award, given to the student-athlete with the highest GPA in this year’s Final Four. Scharnowski, who also earned the SEC Community Service Award this year, has a 4.0 GPA as a pre-med major.
A couple of well-known athletes made their way to the Alabama team hotel in downtown Phoenix to share some inspirational words, including NBA all-star Devin Booker and Olympic Gold Medalist Michael Phelps.
The No. 4 seed Crimson Tide will take on the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed UConn Saturday night in the second semifinal which is slated to tipoff Saturday night at approximately 5:49 p.m. PT (7:49 p.m. CT) and will be televised on TBS. The game can also be heard on WTLS FM 106.9, FM 94.7 and 1300AM and on the WTLS website.
Biscuits fall in season opener
BILOXI, Miss. - The Montgomery Biscuits (0-1) jumped out to a 7-2 lead after seven innings before the Biloxi Shuckers (1-0) stormed back to win it 8-7 with a walk-off single in front of 4,902 fans at Shuckers Ballpark on Friday in the season opener for both teams.
The Biscuits took a 2-0 lead in the first after an RBI groundout by Bob Seymour and a wild pitch. Seymour finished with a pair of RBI.
Montgomery added on another three runs in the fifth, including a two-run double from Carson Williams. The 20-year-old finished 2-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, and two RBI.
Logan Workman delivered five shutout innings in the first Opening Day start of his career. He allowed three hits and struck out four.
After Heriberto Hernandez led off the seventh with a double, Dru Baker and Kenny Piper each notched RBI singles to extend the lead back out to 7-2. The Biscuits scored seven runs on seven hits, drawing six walks and a hit by pitch.
Things fell apart in the eighth inning. Despite just one hit, Biloxi tied the game at 7-7 with five runs. The inning consisted of two hit batters, two balks, and a pair of two-out errors.
In the ninth, Ernesto Martinez Jr. walked it off with a single to right-center field to win it 8-7.
The second game of the series is Saturday at Shuckers Ballpark. Ian Seymour will make the start for Montgomery while Bradley Blalock will start for Biloxi. The first pitch is at 6:05 p.m. Central.
Montgomery’s home opener is slated for Tuesday at Riverwalk Stadium. First pitch is 6:35 p.m. Tickets are available at biscuitsbaseball.com.
Alabama Gymnastics prepare for Regional finals
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The No. 8 Alabama gymnastics team will compete in the 2024 NCAA Regional Championships Final on Saturday at 4 p.m. CT in the Crisler Center on the campus of the University of Michigan.
Alabama is the No. 2 seed in the regional final, and will face No. 1 Oklahoma, Ohio State and Penn State. The four teams will all compete in a quad meet format with the Tide starting on the uneven bars before transitioning to the balance beam and the floor exercise. Alabama will close out the regional final on vault.
The Crimson Tide and the Nittany Lions advanced out of Thursday’s afternoon semifinal session by scoring 197.450 and 196.925, respectively, while the Sooners and the Buckeyes scored 198.050 and 196.975, respectively, in the evening semifinal session.
The top-two teams from Saturday’s Regional Final will advance to the NCAA Championships. All sessions of the NCAA Regional Championships can be streamed live on ESPN+.