Bama Softball Heads to South Carolina for Crucial Series
4/15/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
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As the end of the 2005 season draws to a near, each series becomes more and more crucial for the ninth ranked Tide as they remain in the hunt for their first ever SEC regular season championship.
Alabama (45-9, 16-5) enters the weekend four games behind SEC leader Georgia (20-1 in the SEC) who will be hosting the 20th ranked Auburn Tigers in a three-game set. The Tide is also only 1.5 games ahead of Tennessee for the second seed in the SEC Tournament. The sixth ranked Lady Vols travel to 15th ranked Florida for a three-game set this weekend as well. Alabama currently holds a 2.0 game lead over the Auburn Tigers for first spot in the SEC West Division.
While South Carolina holds an all-time series advantage over the Tide of 14-10, Alabama has certainly been on the winning side of the rivalry the past few years claiming the series victory over the Gamecocks each of the last three seasons, but having never swept them.
USC is one of only two teams in the SEC to own a winning record against Alabama with its 10-14 mark. LSU is the other team to have a series advantage over the Tide. While neither team has ever dominated the series, Alabama collected its first series victory over the Gamecocks in 2002 and hasn't looked back winning each and every series since then. The largest differential in the series was in 2002 when USC had a seven-game advantage (11-4), but since that time Alabama has closed the gap winning six of the last nine meetings. Another pattern fans might notice is the closeness of the games. 16 of the 24 games have been determined by two runs or less and four times, the two teams had to go extra frames to determine a winner.
Alabama enters the weekend being led offensively by senior Ashley Courtney. Courtney is the team leader in average (.396), runs (38), triples (5), total bases (96) and stolen bases (19). Courtney has helped push Bama to a 29th national ranking in scoring at just over five runs a game (5.15).
Junior Stephanie VanBrakle leads the pitching staff with a 22-4 record, her 22 wins ranking fourth in the country while senior Jennifer Wright (15-3) checks in at 30th in the country in wins. Freshman Chrissy Owens is currently the national leader in saves with nine.
The two teams are scheduled for a 12:00 p.m. (CT) doubleheader. Fan can follow all the action at www.rolltide.com where live stats and audio are available. In the Tuscaloosa area, all the action can be heard on 90.7 FM WVUA where Chad Anderson will call all the balls and strikes.
