Alabama Softball Opens Season Out West
1/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
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The No. 22 ranked (USA Today/NFCA) Alabama softball team will open its season this weekend as the Crimson Tide travels to Los Angeles, California to participate in the Stacy Winsberg Memorial tournament.
Bama's trip to the City of Angels marks the first time the Tide has traveled to Los Angeles since the program made its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 1999. Even though none of the current players were on the '99 team it will still be a special trip for some of the traveling party.
"I think the return will mean more to (assistant coach) Alyson (Habetz) and me because it's where our tradition started," said Alabama Head Coach Patrick Murphy.
The tournament also marks the second straight year that Alabama has opened the season on the road at the home of the top ranked team in the country. Last season, Alabama traveled to Tucson, Arizona to take on the then No. 1 Arizona Wildcats. The Crimson Tide will square off with current No. 1 UCLA in Bama's fourth game of the tournament.
"We always want to go some place that's going to have good weather so we can get the games in and we want good competition," said Murphy. "We also always ask our seniors where they would like to try and go for a good tournament and this year Lacy (Prejean) and Jen (Reach) chose Los Angeles. UCLA was kind enough to invite us to the tournament."
Alabama is a combined 1-4 against the field, having defeated Northridge in the two teams' only meeting. The Tide is 0-4 against UCLA and has never faced Fullerton or Loyola.
Bama will open the tournament with a doubleheader on Friday against No. 10 ranked CS-Fullerton starting at 9:00 a.m. The Tide will then wake up early Saturday for an 8:00 a.m. game against Northridge followed by a match-up against host school and top-ranked UCLA at 1:00 p.m. Alabama will close out the tournament on Sunday with a 9:00 a.m. game against Loyola. All times are Pacific Coast Time and fans will be able to follow the action through live stats on www.rolltide.com.
