SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE BASEBALL TOURNAMENT

May 28, 2022

Brad Bohannon

Drew Williamson

Hoover Metropolitan Stadium

Alabama Crimson Tide

Postgame Press Conference

Florida 11, Alabama 6

BRAD BOHANNON: Really hard-fought loss for us today. Hats off to Florida's offense. Really tough lineup, especially the top five or six hitters, really challenging. Really proud of the fight our guys showed. We gave up the 4 spot in the first and came right back in and scored.

That's been the one thing that's been consistent about our team this year is they really leave it all on the field and give us everything they have. We just couldn't quite do enough out of the bullpen today. It's our seventh game in ten days against a top-25 opponent, and that's a challenge for anybody.

But I thought Jake Leger did a great job of settling the game, giving us a chance to be in it, and Dylan Ray had some great pitch executions, and credit, again, to Florida for getting a couple of big home runs, and that was kind of the difference in the game.

Q. What would be your pitch to the tournament committee in terms of whether or not you guys deserve to make it? You guys played really hard this week.

DREW WILLIAMSON: Yeah, I mean, we showed what fight we've got. We showed what character the team has. I feel like we've got some big wins that show that we belong in a regional. That's about it.

Q. Coach, if you had to pitch to the selection committee, what would be your pitch about your team for a regional spot?

BRAD BOHANNON: I guess I'm supposed to tug on the front of my jersey right now and rattle off all the good things about our resume and conveniently leave out the not-so-good things.

But obviously we're on the bubble, and we've done some really good things this year. We won a series from Texas A&M, we beat Arkansas three out of four, split four games with Georgia. Did a lot of good things.

Look, you ask anybody in this league, I'd tell you there's 12 teams in this league, we deserve to be in. Ole Miss has one of the best five offenses in the country, Kentucky is playing great right now, the way their last three or four weeks. We all deserve to be in.

The committee has a tough job because you're trying to compare teams that haven't played, and anybody that's been through this league would probably tell you we should have 11 or 12 in every year. We'll hope for the best.

I think we have a really good team. I don't know, 12 losses by one run, I don't know if that means anything, but we're in a ton of games. If you just win one or two more of those, your RPI is in the 30s.

I think we'll be very dangerous in a regional if we're able to get in. I really believe in this team. We're way better than last year, and we deserved to be in last year, but we have a better pitching staff, we're better offensively, we're better defensively. We'll hope for the best.

Q. Given the quality of this league, should the committee place a little more weight on how you performed here in Hoover given the quality of the opponents you're playing day in and day out?

BRAD BOHANNON: I absolutely feel that way. I think we're showing that we're trending up. You look at our last several games, we're playing really, really well. I think that's important going into next weekend.

I hope that our league isn't punished -- we're not as good at the top third of the league this year as we have been usually. The SEC usually has three or four of the top five teams in the country, but I think the middle and the bottom are the strongest that they've ever been.

Again, I think Alabama, Ole Miss and Kentucky should all be in. We'll all be very dangerous next weekend if we get the opportunity to extend our seasons.

Q. Have you had a chance to reflect on playing here on a Saturday in Hoover and just what it means for the program coming from where it was a couple years ago not being here at all?

BRAD BOHANNON: I haven't had much time to reflect. I do understand the significance of getting to the weekend. Last night was a pretty awesome experience for our kids. The place was packed. The Hoover community just really embraces this tournament. The SEC office does a tremendous job of putting on just a really high-class product. It's a really neat experience for the players, the coaches and the fans.

Alabama needs to be a program that is here every year and playing deep into the week. It's really hard to do that. Some of the -- I won't single anybody out, but some of the older coaches in the league will tell you that it's harder to get to Sunday in this tournament than it is to win a regional because you've got to be really good for five or six days and you've got to beat five or six really good teams, or four or five.

Yeah, I'm proud that we got to Saturday, and wish we could have stuck around a little bit longer.

Q. As far as the next 48 hours, how do you spend that time? And what was the message to the team after this game?

BRAD BOHANNON: Well, I would tell you that I'm going to go fishing tomorrow and not check my phone every two minutes and hit refresh for every score, but that's exactly what I'm going to be doing. You'll get online and try to figure out who you've got to cheer for, what team that you don't know any of the players or coaches that's halfway across the country that you're cheering for.

It's not a very good feeling to be hoping or have things not be in your control. Yeah, after the game I just told the kids, hey, we're obviously on the bubble and really don't know what to tell you. We'll get back to Tuscaloosa, we'll take tomorrow off, and when we find something out we find something out. At this point in time we need to expect to play.

Q. You fall behind early 4-0, early game, and then you come back and make it a game. Can you speak to the resiliency of your lineup specifically?

BRAD BOHANNON: I've really bragged on the intangibles of this group from day one, even going into the season. We have the best kids in the world. We have awesome kids from great families, and they love to play baseball. They love each other. That's probably the one thing I will remember about this group whenever we're done is they truly give us everything they have, and that's all you can ask for as a coach.

We've been inconsistent at times with different parts of the game, but the one thing that has been consistent is man, these guys compete, and you guys that follow our team, you know that. You can see that. They really fight and compete, and I'm really proud of that.

Q. Wyatt Langford got you guys twice today; how much more dangerous is their lineup since he's moved into the lead-off spot with that kind of power, leading the league in homers?

BRAD BOHANNON: Yeah, amazing player. I was just talking to one of my buddies with Kentucky. There's about seven or eight hitters in this league this year that shouldn't be in college. Just really talented. It's not a very comfortable feeling when you're behind in the count and you've got Langford up there and then you've got Sterlin Thompson hitting behind him. He's a great player. Really, really talented player.