Alabama Baseball's Starting Pitcher Against Miami Officially Unveiled

Redshirt sophomore right-hander Riley Quick will start for Alabama baseball (41-16) in Friday afternoon's regional opener against No. 3 seed Miami in Hattiesburg, Crimson Tide head coach Rob Vaughn revealed on Thursday afternoon. Alabama is the No. 2 seed.

"I feel great," Quick, who has been pitching in the weekend rotation's No. 2 spot this season, said Thursday. "This is probably one of the best spots I've been in in a while, body wise and arm wise, since building up from TJ [Tommy John surgery] and everything."

Vaughn opted not to throw Quick, whose 3.54 earned run average is tops on the team among starters, during the SEC Tournament last week. The righty has not pitched in a live game since May 16 at Florida and has 56 innings under his belt in 2025.

"The starting pitcher just carries so much of the emotion of the game with him," Vaughn said Thursday. "That's why we love kicking off the regional with Riley Quick. I mean, he's tough as nails. It's stuff. It's all that stuff. But that dude loves Alabama more than anybody."

The Hurricanes (31-24) are sending out a true freshman for the first NCAA Tournament game since head coach J.D. Arteaga took the helm. AJ Ciscar (5-1, 3.77 ERA) will make his ninth start, and 20th overall appearance, of the campaign. He made the ACC All-Freshman Team as a starter.

Quick (8-2) received Second Team All-SEC honors for his efforts during his comeback season. The aforementioned Tommy John procedure, which he had in February 2024, wiped out all but three innings of his sophomore year.

"[Excitement] is definitely kind of through the roof, for sure," Quick said. "My freshman year, I didn't really get to play in the regional or the super regional much. [I was] kinda just like a fan, like a cheerleader for my boys... But this year I'll have a big role in it and it's definitely exciting."

A freshman Quick was a relief pitcher on the 2023 team that came up two wins short of a College World Series appearance. Vaughn wasn't with the program then, but the second-year Alabama coach knows what the future MLB Draft selection brings to this staff and this moment.

"I don't know that I'm gonna let him go 120 [pitches]," Vaughn said, "but we are going to pull the reins off a little bit and let that kid run. He's ready for it."