TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Alabama baseball navigated through the non-conference portion of its schedule with an almost-perfect record and the eighth-longest winning streak in program history.

The Crimson Tide (16-2) traveled to Oxford, Miss., this weekend riding a 12-game winning streak, which is the longest such streak since 1999. Alabama swept Northern Kentucky last weekend, outscoring the Norse by a 34-6 margin, before a 2-0 shutout of Middle Tennessee on Tuesday.

“Really pleased with where our team is right now,” head coach Brad Bohannon said. “Glad to be 15-2. I really like our team. I’m just really pleased with the way we’ve pitched, especially out of the bullpen. We were last in the SEC in fielding percentage last year and currently second, so we’ve really made some strides in those two areas. Last season, even before it ended, I knew that we had to get better, deeper on the mound and we had to defend the field better.

“Really pleased, three-and-a-half weeks into the season, that we’ve improved in those areas.”

But despite its impressive run in the non-conference slate, Alabama is on the outside looking in at the top-25 rankings, which feature 11 other SEC teams. The Crimson Tide is No. 26, though, per BaseballNews.com, as it gears up for always-challenging conference play this evening.

After a strong showing to start the season, the competition intensifies, and immediately out of the gate, UA will face a top-10 Ole Miss team, according to D1Baseball.com and the Coaches Poll.

“If you want to finish in the middle of the league you have to be a top-20 caliber team,” Bohannon said. “I think the other six teams in the West were all ranked and deservedly so from what I know, from who is back last year and the new kids and all that. It’s extremely challenging. That being said, I believe in our group. I think we have a good team. I know we have a good team, and I can’t wait to see what happens when we play an equal opponent.”

The Rebels return 23 letterwinners, including seven positional starters and 11 pitchers, from the 2018 team that finished 48-17 overall and 18-12 in SEC action to finish tied for first in the West on the way to hosting an NCAA Regional in Oxford. Ole Miss was selected to finish second in the SEC West and fifth overall in the SEC. Alabama was picked to finish dead last in the league.

The Tide, however, enters opening weekend of league play with a better record than the Rebels (12-5) and is beaming with confidence as it prepares to send Sam Finnerty out on the mound on Friday night, followed by Brock Love and Wil Freeman on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

Alabama senior RHP Sam Finnerty

“SEC play is tough,” Finnerty said. “Week in and week out you’re playing the best teams in the country. They always have power arms and big-time bats. But we do think we have a good team this year, and I think we have the talent that can match it. It’s going to be the little things like making big plays, minimizing errors, throwing strikes, getting the big outs when you need them, that will keep you in games and win games.”

The SEC is clearly the best conference in college baseball, and how Alabama performs during the next 10 weekend series will determine the overall success of the 2019 season. The Tide will look to improve its 8-22 league record from a season ago -- Bohannon’s first at the helm.

With what it has been able to accomplish so far, though, is the head coach surprised?

“I’m not surprised,” he said. “I knew that we had talent. We have a lot of good players, both returners and new guys. But I am going to coach speak here a little bit -- I still don’t know how good we are. We have a good team. I don’t know how good, because there’s nothing I can do in a practice setting to simulate losing back-to-back series. There’s nothing I can do to simulate trying to close out a one-run game in the ninth inning at Ole Miss, or at Florida or wherever.

“We’re going to have some adversity at some point. We’ve lost two games, but we’ll have a bad weekend or two, and those things can happen and we can still be in a regional or go to the College World Series or whatever. … Kolby Robinson, Morgan McCullough, Brett Auerbach, Tyler Gentry, those guys are very good players. How are they going to respond when they go 1-13 with five punchouts in a weekend? Because they can be second-team all-league players and have a weekend like that, and they get up to bat that 15th, 16th, 17th at bat, do they truly expect to get a hit? Those are things we have to work through and figure out.”

But Bohannon and company are looking forward to the challenge the SEC presents.

“I think that’s why we’re all here,” Bohannon said. “Every coach, every player, if you’re genuinely competitive, you want to compete with and against the best and it starts with one of the best with Ole Miss, who is in the top 10 in all the polls. Just really excited to see how our team responds to being in a tough environment against a great opponent, and I expect to really compete well. We have a good team, and I’m excited to find out how good this weekend.”

The two teams are set for a 6:30 p.m. CT first pitch in Friday’s opener at Oxford-University Stadium before a 1:30 p.m. start on both Saturday and Sunday. All three games will air on SEC Network+.

Contact Charlie Potter by 247Sports' personal messaging or on Twitter (@Charlie_Potter).

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