Tide Baseball Ranks In Nation's Top 40

The Alabama baseball team has been named to the 2009 Collegiate Baseball News “Fabulous 40”, the newspaper announced in its annual preseason poll Tuesday.

The Alabama Crimson Tide is ranked 40th in the preseason rankings and is one of six Southeastern Conference teams ranked in CBN’s Fab 40. In addition, all 12 SEC schools received votes in the preseason poll, the only conference in college baseball to make that claim.

Alabama returns 19 lettermen and seven position starters off last year’s club that posted a 35-28 overall record and played in the school’s 19th NCAA Regional Tournament. Alabama returns eight players with 40 or more starts in 2008 and 12 players that started at least 15 games last season. The Crimson Tide also returns nine pitchers off last year’s squad, including two weekend starters.

Alabama will open the 2009 season with a three-game series against Southeast Missouri State beginning Friday, Feb. 20 at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The team will hold its first practice on Feb. 1.