05/26 at 09:34 PM

HOOVER — The shoulder-to-shoulder crowd that filled the seats at Regions Park for Auburn’s showdown with Alabama marked one of the largest turnouts for an opening game in SEC Tournament history.

It could have been even bigger if not for miles of gridlocked traffic that prevented thousands of fans from arriving on time and persuaded others to U-turn away from the in-state matchup.

“It just wasn’t a good situation,” said Gene Hallman, CEO of the Alabama Sports Foundation, which organizes the tournament for the city of
Hoover, on The Paul Finebaum radio show Wednesday afternoon.

Frustrated fans flooded local radio shows and message boards to air their grievances about the logjam, which led some spectators to arrive as late as the seventh inning of what ironically turned out to be one of the fastest-played games (2 hours, 12 minutes) of Auburn’s season.

Hallman attributed the traffic snarl to a perfect storm of contributing factors.

Three schools, including Hoover High, are located on the same, two-lane road — Ben Chapman Drive — as Regions Park.

Unlike previous years, the three schools are in session through today, making a precarious situation even worse as school-goers and baseball fans both swarmed the road at the same time.

To top it off, Hoover High’s students had a half-day for final exams, which created heavy traffic not only before the first pitch, but after the game as well, when many fans hoped to dart back to the office during the lunch hour.

The Hoover High parking lot was also off limits, forcing some fans to park more than a half-mile from the stadium.

Because there are less carpools on weekdays, Hallman said more cars were parked Wednesday than there were for the 1999 championship game between Arkansas and Alabama, which brought an SEC tournament-record 16,165 fans to Regions Park.

The SEC does not track single-game attendance at the tournament, instead counting session attendance for the day’s games. The announced Session I attendance was 12,514, the fifth-largest in tournament history.

Hallman said he hopes to meet with members of the Hoover High school board and request that they “succinct their schedules” with the SEC to “avoid what happened (Wednesday).”

Fans with tickets who opted not to attend Wednesday’s Auburn-Alabama game can use their tickets for any other SEC Tournament session, Hallman said.

The Birmingham News reported Monday that the SEC will soon send tournament bid packages to Hoover, Memphis and Duluth, Ga., a move that could potentially take the tournament out of Hoover after its contract runs out next year. Hoover has served as the tournament’s host site since 1998.

Hallman said the SEC should view Wednesday’s traffic nightmare as a positive, not a negative.

“In any circumstances, in Atlanta and Memphis, could they generate the crowd we did today,” Hallman said.

On the clock
The SEC took exception to the slow pace that led last year’s opening day to wrap up shortly before 2 a.m.

Included among a number of new, time-saving measures is a controversial 20-second time limit for pitchers to deliver a pitch when no runners are on base. If the pitcher fails to do so, a ball is called.

SEC coaches and pitchers were largely supportive of the experimental countdown, which, if effective, will be used for all games as soon as next season.

“I don’t think it was even a factor,” Pawlowski said. “You play the game. I don’t think it had any bearing on the outcome or anything that transpired today.”

Combined with superior pitching performances, it certainly had an effect on game times during Session I. Auburn’s 7-1 loss to Alabama clocked in at 2 hours, 12 minutes and Ole Miss’ 3-0 victory over South Carolina lasted 2 hours, 39 minutes. Last season’s SEC Tournament averaged 3 hours, 20 minutes per game.

On top of the makeshift shot clock, which is positioned in right-center field, breaks between half-innings have been shortened to 1 minute, 48 seconds and pregame infield practice has been eliminated, which cuts the time between games to 30 minutes.

Walk him
Auburn’s pitching brings out the best from Alabama centerfielder Taylor Dugas.

After his 2-for-4 effort Wednesday, Dugas, a 2010 SEC first-teamer, is now 12-for-17 against the Tigers this season, reaching base in 20 of his 25 at-bats.

“I think we’ll just put him on base because every time we can’t get him out,” Pawlowski said. “He’s been outstanding. We’ve tried different defenses and tried to do different things. He’s done a great job for them.”

Going ‘Loco’ for the NCAA Tournament
Auburn’s coaches and players will gather Monday at Loco’s Deli, 1120 S. College St., in Auburn to watch the NCAA Tournament selection show. Fans are invited to join the festivities, which kick off at 11 a.m.

Loco’s will close off a section of the restaurant for the team and fans and will offer a wing buffet for $9.99 per person.

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