Alabama baseball to host first NCAA regional since 2006 under Tally's Jason Jackson
Since being named Alabama baseball’s interim coach four weeks ago, Jason Jackson has kept the Crimson Tide focused on the task at hand.
That includes making history, too.
Alabama, the nation’s No. 16 overall seed, is hosting an NCAA Tournament regional this weekend for the first time since 2006.
“I think it's very rewarding,” Jackson told the media Monday after the NCAA released the 64-team field for the NCAA Baseball Tournament on ESPN2.
“I think our guys earned it and deserved it and I'm really, really proud of them, I'm really, really excited for them. To get a regional back here to Tuscaloosa and to know that our facility is built for it, our fanbase is built for it, and it'll be an exciting week here.
"We're really fired up about it.”
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Jason Jackson was a pitcher at Florida High, Tallahassee Community College
Jackson – a former Florida High and Tallahassee Community College pitcher - has led the Crimson Tide to a 10-4 record since Alabama fired coach Brad Bohannon amid an investigation into suspicious bets involving a Crimson Tide game at LSU in late April.
Under Jackson, in his sixth season as the Tide’s pitching coach, the Crimson Tide (40-19) finished the regular season with a No. 11 ranking in the RPI.
It went 2-2 in the SEC Tournament and was eliminated by eventual tourney champion Vanderbilt.
Alabama’s regional also features Boston College, Troy and Nicholls.
The double-elimination tournament starts Friday and ends Monday, with the winner advancing into NCAA Super Regional play. Alabama's regional is paired with the winner from the Wake Forest regional. Wake Forest enters as tourney's No. 1 national seed.
Jackson has stressed to players to “keep it business as usual” amidst a gambling scandal.
He spoke to the media for the first time following Alabama’s series-opening 11-2 at Vanderbilt on Thursday, May 4.
“I just kind of told them ‘business as usual’, man. You guys have done a great job all year (of) taking care of business. You go out, you play your game,” Jackson told the media following the game.
“Nothing changes. Everything we want to accomplish is right here in front of us. You guys have been playing your tails off. That was the basic message. (We) didn’t really say a whole lot.”
Jackson, who was raised in Havana, just outside of Tallahassee, has 21 years of coaching experience.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Alabama baseball to host 1st regional in 17 years under Florida High alum
