Softball Travels to Tennessee for First SEC Road Series
3/14/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
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The No. 18/19 (ESPN.com/USA Today) ranked Crimson Tide softball will take to the road in Southeastern Conference play for the first time this season as they travel to Knoxville, Tennessee for a three-game series with the UT Lady Vols (21-8, 1-2 SEC) this weekend.
The Tide's trip to Knoxville marks the first time Alabama has been to "Rocky Top" since the Lady Vols ended the Tide's program record 27-game winning streak during the 2001 season.
The Crimson Tide (18-9, 3-0) comes into the three-game set having taken nearly a week off since the team's three-game sweep of Arkansas over the past weekend. Tennessee, on the other hand, is on a four-game winning streak, having swept mid-week doubleheaders over David Lipscomb and East Tennessee St. after dropping two of three games in Baton Rouge to the LSU Tigers last weekend.
Offensively, Tennessee has put up quite the impressive numbers on the season. The Lady Vols are currently hitting at a .314 clip, being led by Kristi Durant, who is hitting .410. Stacey Jennings is the team leader with eight home runs and 28 RBI.
Jennings also leads the Lady Vol pitching staff with a team low 1.46 ERA and a 12-5 record. However, Stephanie Humphrey is the staff leader in strikeouts with 60.
Junior All-American Jackie McClain leads the Tide offense hitting a team leading .341 with 20 RBI. Stephanie VanBrakle and Lacy Prejean are the team leaders with three home runs each.
VanBrakle also leads the Tide pitching staff with 1.31 ERA, while junior Erin Wright is the staff leader with a 10-3 record and 79 strikeouts.
Another interesting twist to the Bama-Tennessee match-up this year is that of a sibling rivalry. Alabama sophomore pitcher Jennifer Wright will be going up against her sister Amy, a catcher on the Lady Vol team for the first time.
Alabama has all-time 11-4 record against the Lady Vols including a 5-2 record in Knoxville.
The Tide will be going for a bit of history in Knoxville as they come in only three wins shy of the 300th win in Alabama softball history.
Game 1 of Saturday's doubleheader is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET. The final game of the series will be played at 1:00 p.m. ET on Sunday.
