| BSB/SB 🥎 Softball Run-Rules UT Arlington, Falls in Pitcher’s Duel to Seventh-Ranked Arizona

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[UA Press Release]

Alabama Softball Continues Home Stand with Easton Crimson Classic - University of Alabama Athletics

Eighth-ranked Alabama (9-5) continues its home stand with five games this weekend at the Easton Crimson Classic against No. 7 Arizona, UT Arlington and McNeese

rolltide.com

The Crimson Tide hosts No. 7 Arizona, UT Arlington and McNeese

Tuscaloosa, Ala. – Rhoads Stadium
Friday, Feb. 28

• vs. UT Arlington – 4 p.m. CT
• vs. #7/7 Arizona – 6 p.m. CT

Saturday, Feb. 29

• vs. UT Arlington – 1:30 p.m. CT
• vs. #7/7 Arizona – 4 p.m. CT

Sunday, March 1

• vs. McNeese – 1:30 p.m. CT

SCOUTING ALABAMA

• Alabama heads into week four with a 9-5 record after winning all five games at last weekend's Easton Bama Bash in Tuscaloosa
• The Crimson Tide outscored its opponents 51-8 last weekend, including four run-rule victories and three shutouts
• Wednesday's previously scheduled game at UAB was postponed due to inclement weather and will now be played Tuesday, April 21 in Birmingham
• This weekend continues a stretch of 19 -straight home games
• Alabama is ranked No. 8 in this week's NFCA poll, No. 10 in this week's D1Softball poll and No. 12 in the USA Softball and Softball America rankings
• This year's roster consists of 13 returnees from last year's SEC Championship squad along with seven newcomers, including six freshmen and graduate transfer Alexis Mack from Oregon
• Head Coach Patrick Murphy, last year's SEC Coach of the Year, returns for his 22nd season at the helm of the Crimson Tide

ALL-TIME VS. THE OPPONENTS
Overall vs. UT Arlington: 0-1

• In Tuscaloosa: 0-1 | In Arlington: 0-0 | At Neutral Sites: 0-0
• Current Streak: UT Arlington +1
• Last Meeting: Feb. 28, 2003 - Tuscaloosa, Ala. - L, 1-4

Overall vs. Arizona: 6-12

• In Tuscaloosa: 2-1 | In Tucson: 1-5 | At Neutral Sites: 3-6
• Current Streak: Alabama +4
• Last Meeting: June 1, 2019 - Oklahoma City, Okla. - W, 2-0
• Last Meeting in Tuscaloosa: Feb. 27, 2016 - W, 9-1 (6)

Overall vs. McNeese: 4-1

• In Tuscaloosa: 2-1 | In Lake Charles: 0-0 | At Neutral Sites: 2-0
• Current Streak: Alabama +2
• Last Meeting: Feb. 17, 2018 - Hattiesburg, Miss. - W, 11-1 (5)
• Last Meeting in Tuscaloosa: Feb. 13, 2008 - W, 21-1 (5)

LAST TIME OUT: ALABAMA GOES 5-0 AT EASTON BAMA BASH

• Alabama went undefeated last weekend at the Easton Bama Bash, defeating its five opponents by a combined score of 51-8
• Four of the Tide's five wins were in run-rule fashion and three were shutouts
• Alabama scored 10 or more runs three times, defeating Wichita State 13-2, Penn State 14-6 and Louisville 10-0
• The Tide is now 615-112 all-time at home, 560-92 at Rhoads Stadium and 89-11 at the Easton Bama Bash

BAMA BASH STANDOUTS

• Sophomore Skylar Wallace was named the tournament MVP, leading the team with nine runs scored and 12 RBIs. Four of her six hits went for extra bases, including three doubles and a home run. In addition to her six hits, her eight walks pushed her to a team-leading .750 on base percentage over the weekend.
• Junior KB Sides led the team with a .667 average, batting 6-for-9 with six runs scored and eight RBIs. Five of those eight RBIs came in the Feb. 22 win over Louisville, which was the highest total for an Alabama player to that point in the season until junior Maddie Morgan tallied six the next game against Penn State and Wallace drove in five in the weekend finale against Louisville.
• Morgan's six-RBI performance against the Nittany Lions highlighted a great week at the plate, driving in at least one run in four of the five games
• In the circle, sophomore Montana Fouts posted a pair of complete-game shutouts, holding Penn State and Louisville scoreless over 12.0 innings pitched wtih a combined seven runs allowed and two walks with 18 strikeouts

HEMPHILL CLOSING IN ON UA CAREER HOME RUN AND WALKS RECORDS, 200 RBIS

• Senior Bailey Hemphill's 49 career home runs ranks fourth all-time and sits 12 behind Kelly Kretschman's (1998-2001) career record of 60
• Hemphill hit nine home runs her freshman season, improved to 13 as a sophomore and tied the UA single season record last season with 26
• Her power potential also leads to a lot of teams pitching carefully to the slugger, as she has drawn 173 career walks, which ranks third all-time and is 16 away from Haylie McCleney's (2013-16) record total of 199
• Hemphill also owns 180 career RBIs, putting her within striking distance of becoming the third Alabama player with 200 RBIs
• Charlotte Morgan (2007-10) owns the UA record with 264 career RBIs and Kaila Hunt (2011-14) is the only other player to surpass 200, finishing with 215

HOME SWEET HOME

• This weekend continues a stretch of 19-straight home games, with the Crimson Tide's next road contest coming March 20 at Tennessee
• Alabama sports a 615-112 (.846) all-time record at home, including a 579-96 (.858) mark under head coach Patrick Murphy and a 560-92 (.859) record at Rhoads Stadium, the Tide's home field since 2000
• Since Rhoads Stadium opened in 2000, Alabama has won at least 25 home games in 17 of its 20 years there

UP NEXT

• Wednesday, March 4 vs. Alcorn State - 6 p.m. CT
• Friday, March 6 vs. #22/21 Arkansas - 6 p.m. CT
• Saturday, March 7 vs. #22/21 Arkansas - 2 p.m. CT
• Sunday, March 8 vs. #22/21 Arkansas - 1:30 p.m. CT

 

[UA Press Release]

Softball Run-Rules UT Arlington, Falls in Pitcher's Duel to Seventh-Ranked Arizona - University of Alabama Athletics

Eighth-ranked Alabama softball split its two games Friday at the Easton Crimson Classic, posting an 11-3 run rule victory over UT Arlington before dropping a narrow 2-1 decision to No. 7 Arizona.

rolltide.com

Team	1	2	3	4	5	R	H	E
UT Arlington	0	0	3	0	0	3	7	2
Alabama	3	5	0	3	X	11	12	1

W: Montana Fouts (3-2) L: Valencia, JoJo (2-5)

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Eighth-ranked Alabama softball split its two games Friday at the Easton Crimson Classic, posting an 11-3 run rule victory over UT Arlington before dropping a narrow 2-1 decision to No. 7 Arizona.

Alabama (10-6) scored in three of the four innings it came to bat against UT Arlington (7-10), posting 11 runs on 12 hits. Against Arizona (14-3), the Wildcats struck first with a run in the top of the first before the Crimson Tide answered right back with one in the bottom half. The score remained tied until a two-out RBI single in the top of the seventh put the Wildcats in front 2-1, which proved final.

Sophomore Skylar Wallace, the MVP of last weekend's Easton Bama Bash, led the team at the plate again Friday going 5-for-7 with two doubles, a triple and four runs scored. Junior KB Sides was 4-for-6 on the day with three runs scored and a team-leading four RBIs. In the circle, sophomore Montana Fouts (3-2) got the win over the Mavericks with her third-consecutive shutout while freshman Lexi Kilfoyl (4-3) pitched a gem against a potent Arizona offense, allowing just two runs on four hits with seven strikeouts, which ties her season high.

FROM HEAD COACH PATRICK MURPHY
"Not getting a key hit was the big thing against Arizona. We had four runners at second base with one out and didn't get anything after that. She either stayed there or we got a fly out. We just have to get a hit one of those times. We out-him them. I thought Lexi did a really good job and I think their kid did too. It was just a really good PAC-12 SEC matchup, but they got the key two-out hit in the last inning."

HIGHLIGHTS

• The run-rule victory over UT Arlington was Alabama's seventh of the season, capping a streak of four straight
• With a combined four hits between Friday's games, Sides extended her current hitting streak to a career-best eight games
• Senior Alexis Mack had four hits on the day, pushing her current hitting streak to seven games
• Senior Bailey Hemphill pushed her reached base streak to 14 games
• Freshman Savannah Woodard hit her first career home run in the win vs. the Mavericks, making her the seventh Tide player to go yard this season
• Wallace had a pair of multi-hit performances Friday, including a career high three hits vs. UT Arlington
• All of Kilfoyl's outs against the Wildcats were either groundouts or strikeouts

SCORING SUMMARY

• vs. UT Arlington
  • B1st | With two in scoring position, Sides sent the first pitch of her at-bat back up the middle, driving in both runners (Alabama 2, UT Arlington 0)
  • B1st | A deep fly ball to left from junior Maddie Morgan allowed Sides to tag up and score from third on the sacrifice fly (Alabama 3, UT Arlington 0)
  • B2nd | Woodard blasted a two-run home run to right center (Alabama 5, UT Arlington 0)
  • B2nd | With runners at the corners, a sailed throw trying to catch the runner stealing at second allowed Mack to come home from third (Alabama 6, UT Arlington 0)
  • B2nd | Another single from Sides drove in a run to make it a seven-run game (Alabama 7, UT Arlington 0)
  • B2nd | Morgan pulled a single through the left side to score a run from third (Alabama 8, UT Arlington 0)
  • T3rd | After a fielding error, an RBI single allowed the Mavericks to break up the shutout (Alabama 8, UT Arlington 1)
  • T3rd | UT Arlington scored another on an RBI groundout (Alabama 8, UT Arlington 2)
  • T3rd | A two-out RBI single kept the inning going for the Mavericks (Alabama 8, UT Arlington 3)
  • B4th | Junior Kaylee Tow pulled a single through the right side to increase the lead to six (Alabama 9, UT Arlington 3)
  • B4th | An RBI single from Morgan followed by an error scored two runs as the Tide built an eight-run advantage (Alabama 11, UT Arlington 3)
• vs. Arizona
  • T1st | Arizona scored the first run of the day on a double steal (Alabama 0, Arizona 1)
  • B1st | After a triple by Wallace into the right field corner, Sides brought her home with an RBI double to tie the game (Alabama 1, Arizona 1)
  • T7th | With a runner at third and two out, Alyssa Palomino dropped an RBI single into left field to break the tie (Alabama 1, Arizona 2)

UP NEXT
Alabama matches up against UT Arlington and No. 7 Arizona again on Saturday, Feb. 29 at 1:30 p.m. CT and 4 p.m. CT, respectively.

 

[bamanc50]

Unfortunately, this looks like a team that can win games against lesser competition but will really struggle against top 15 teams. They have several freshman playing and will probably get better as the season goes on.

 

[EasyTider]

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Your take seems to be spot on. Unfortunately, competition doesn’t get easier when we start conference play. Team a BIG disappointment to date. I know it’s early; hopefully we figure some things out (like how to hit).

 

[TerryP]

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The schedule gets easier with conference play this season. Tough, but they're not facing a schedule with almost half of the teams ranked.