Softball Travels to Samford on Wednesday
2/27/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ?? The No. 3 University of Alabama softball team will hit the road for a contest against Samford in Birmingham, Ala. at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The Crimson Tide are coming off a tournament championship in the Hampton Inn Crimson Classic with six wins while Samford lost two games to Kennesaw State last Wednesday.
Scouting Samford
Samford - The Bulldogs enter this midweek contest with a 7-4 record but are coming off two losses a week ago to Kennesaw State. The losses snapped a five game winning streak as Samford won the Georgia Southern Tournament in Statesboro, Ga. The other two losses came against #25 Florida State during the opening weekend of the season. Three players are batting over .370 on the year. Liz Pearse leads the way with a .371 avg. with four doubles and two triples. Stephanie Royall is the Bulldog's top pitcher at 5-2 on the year with a 1.41 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 49.2 innings pitched.
Series History
The University of Alabama and Samford have a long history with the two teams so close to each other. The Crimson Tide hold a commanding 12-2 lead in the series. They have won each matchup the past three years and 12 straight overall. The Bulldogs won the first two meetings between the two schools during Alabama's inaugural season in 1997 but the Tide bounced back to take a double header later that season to start the winning trend.
Last Year's Meeting
In 2006 Samford came to Tuscaloosa and the Crimson Tide won handily, 9-1, in five innings. Two straight errors to start the second inning helped Alabama put three on the board. Brittany Rogers and Jordan Praytor each had RBI singles in the inning. Samford scored in the top of the third but Alabama fired back with six runs of their own to make it 9-1. Mandy Burford had a two-run single in the inning to help the Tide put the game away. Rogers ended 2-for-3 with two runs and one RBI while Burford and Kelley Montalvo also each scored two runs in the contest. Blair Potter pitched five innings to pick up the win. She allowed one run on four hits with six strikeouts in the game.
Tournament Champions
The University of Alabama softball team has started the season 16-0 and has won three tournament championships already this season. They won six games last weekend to win their third straight Crimson Classic title. They downed #22 N.C. State in the championship game, 6-0. They also went undefeated at 5-0 to claim their seventh straight BAMA BASH! Championship and started the season at the Century-Tel Softball Classic in San Marcos, Texas with won five victories to take the title.
SEC Player of the Week
Lauren Parker (Port Neches, Texas) became the second straight Alabama player to garner SEC Player of the Week honors on Monday. She followed Brittany Rogers to make it back-to-back awards for the Crimson Tide. Parker set four Crimson Classic Tournament records on her way to being named Tournament MVP. She set or matched records for avg. (.643), hits (9), runs scored (6) and doubles (3). She also added a home run, six RBI and two stolen bases. A walk and two hit by pitch gave her a .667 on-base percentage while she also posted a 1.071 slugging pct. She tallied four multi-hit games and scored a run in each of the six contests.
Offensive Firepower
Alabama has hit the ball very well so far this season with a .343 team batting average. Six players are hiting over .300 with three of those posting an above .400 average. Lauren Parker leads the team with a .514 batting avg. (18-of-35) while Brittany Rogers is also batting at a clip of .500 (24-of-48) to lead the team in hits. Jordan Praytor increased her average over the weekend to .419 (18-of-43). Alabama has outscored its opponents 123-11 on the season, averaging 7.69 runs per game.
On the Basepaths
The Crimson Tide have blazed their way to 51 stolen bases in 16 games this season, an average of over three stolen bases a game. They have only been caught stealing four times on the year for a success rate of 92.7-percent. Mandy Burford and Brittany Rogers have led the way so far with 13 stolen bases apiece. Jordan Praytor is a perfect 8-for-8 on the year and Lauren Parker has stolen five bases in six attempts. The Tide have stolen 41 more bases than their opponents.
Power Hour
In the first 16 games of the 2007 season, the Alabama offense has hit 17 home runs. Mandy Burford is already one shy of a career high with four home runs. She hit three in Texas with two in the Century-Tel Softball Classic championship game and added another in the BAMA BASH! Lauren Parker hit her third home run of the season last weekend. Brittany Rogers hit two inside-the-park home runs in the BAMA BASH!, with one coming from the right side and the other from the left. Six players have hit their first collegiate home run this season including Parker, Rogers, Charlotte Morgan, Michelle Menningmann, Katie Johnson and most recently Kellie Eubanks on Saturday.
Who's on First
Alabama has received production throughout the lineup with each player in the 1-9 slots contributing game-in and game-out. Seven different players have recorded at least a .400 on base percentage for the season. Three of those players have reached base at least 50-percent of the time. Lauren Parker leads the team with a .581 OBP, recording 18 hits, four walks and three hit-by-pitch. Brittany Rogers has found her way on with 24 hits and four walks for a .538 OBP while Jordan Praytor leads the team with seven walks to go along with 18 hits and two hit-by-pitch.
Big Innings
One of the big reasons that Alabama has started 16-0 this season has been their ability to put together a big inning in almost every game. They have had an inning with at least three runs in nine of the 16 contests. They recorded their biggest inning last weekend against Winthrop in the semifinal game with a 10-run second inning. It tied for the second highest run total in a single inning in school history. Alabama also scored nine runs in the third inning against Toledo on Feb. 17. They have scored six runs three times, five runs twice, four runs foir times and three runs five times. The second and third innings have been the most successful for the Tide this season. They have outscored their opponents 27-0 in the second inning and 31-4 in the third. They have only allowed one run in the first, fourth and fifth innings.
Home Sweet Home
Through two weekends of play, the Crimson Tide are 11-0 at the friendly confines of the Alabama Softball Complex. Now in the 11th year of the program, the Tide owns a career record of 201-37, a winning percentage of .845. This season fans can catch the Tide in action 34 times in Tuscaloosa. Season ticket sales are at an all-time high with over 1,000 sold for the first time in program history. Last season Alabama went an incredible 30-4 at home.
Everything is Bigger in Texas
The saying is true when it comes to sophomore transfer Lauren Parker's numbers. The native of Port Neches, Texas has been very productive for the Tide after transferring from Baylor. She leads the team with a .514 batting average, .971 slugging pct. and .581 on-base pct. She also leads the team with three doubles and two triples. She is currently on a six-game hitting streak to lead the team.
Sophomore Sensation
Brittany Rogers is coming off one of the top freshman seasons in school history and is off to another good start in 2007. She is leading the team in several categories through the first 16 games and has been in the leadoff hole in the lineup in every game. She leads the team in hits (24), runs scored (19) and stolen bases (13). She is batting .500 with two home runs and 11 RBI while posting a .538 on-base pct.
Career Highs
Despite all the success she has had in her first two years at the Capstone, Jordan Praytor set new career highs with four hits and four RBI in a 14-1 victory over Winthrop on Saturday. She also went 3-for-4 the previous game against Western Kentucky. On the weekend she hit .500 (9-of-18) to increase her season avg. to .419. She moved in to a tie for third all-time at Alabama when she recorded her eighth career triple last weekend.
Three is the Number for Burford
The number three has been a kind number for senior outfielder Mandy Burford this season. Burford, No. 3 on the roster, has batted in the three hole in the lineup in all 16 games. Two of her four home runs have been three-run home runs and she drove in three runs with a bases loaded double against Michigan State. She also had three hits against Oklahoma State. For the season she is leading the team with four home runs, 20 RBI and 13 stolen bases. She is also hitting .390 with 16 hits and 17 runs scored.
Miami Heat
Chrissy Owens (Miami, Fla.) is the ace of the Crimson Tide pitching staff. After finishing her sophomore season ranked second in the nation with a 0.68 ERA, she has got off to another great start as a junior in 2007. She has only allowed two runs in 47 innings. She has posted an 8-0 record in her eight starts with four shutouts. She also has 46 strikeouts compared to just 13 walks and 34 hits. She had a career-high 13 strikeouts last weekend against Indiana State.
Don't Try This At Home
Ashley Holcombe has made a big difference for the Crimson Tide behind the plate this season. She has picked off four runners at either first or second base and thrown out two out of 12 runners attempting to steal second. She has also been on the receiving end of three runners thrown out at home plate.
Tide in the Rankings
Alabama moved up to No. 3 this week in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top-25. It matches the Tide's highest ranking in school history. They were ranked third one week last season and in 2001 when they started 27-0. Bama has now been ranked in the top-10 for 20 consecutive weeks and in the top-25 for 64 straight polls.
Fast Starts
The Crimson Tide has started 16-0 in 2007, the second best start in school history. It is the third straight year and fourth overall that they won at least 10 games to start the season. The best start in school history was in 2001 when they busted out to a 27-0 record and climbed to No. 3 in the national rankings. The first loss that season was on the road against Tennessee. Last year Alabama won its first 10 games before losing at Southern Miss, 3-2. In 2005 UA began the year 13-0 before losing to Missouri in the Crimson Classic.
Milestone Watch
Several Alabama players are close to setting personal milestones or moving up in the Crimson Tide record book. Jordan Praytor continues to etch her place in the record books. She needs two runs to move in to 7th all-time, two stolen bases for 4th all-time and five RBI for 14th all-time. Brittany Rogers is two stolen bases from climbing in to 3rd all-time. Dani Woods needs seven RBI to give her 100 for her career and to move in to 12th all-time. She is also two doubles away from 11th all-time. Chrissy Owens needs 18 strikeouts for 400 in her career.
ASA Top 50 Watch List
Brittany Rogers (Dacula, Ga.) was named to the American Softball Association Top-50 watch list for the prestigious 6th Annual USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year Award.
ESPN.com Preseason All-American
Jordan Praytor (Vancouver, Wash.) was named to the ESPN.com Preseason All-American first team. She was one of 12 players named to the first team and 24 named preseason All-Americans. She was one of three SEC players on the first team.
SEC Player of the Week
Brittany Rogers (Dacula, Ga.) was the first Alabama player this season to earn conference Player of the Week honors. She was named BAMA BASH! MVP after hitting .647 (11-of-17) with six runs scored, one double, two inside-the-park home runs, seven RBI and five stolen bases. She became the first player in UA history to hit inside-the-park home runs from both the left and right side of the plate. She tallied a hit in all five games with two games with three hits and two games with two hits. She went 2-for-3 with three RBI against Toledo on Saturday and 2-for-4 with two RBI against Radford in the first game of the tournament.
SEC Freshman of the Week
Charlotte Morgan (Moreno Valley, Calif.) was the first SEC Freshman of the Week in the 2007 season. She got off to a fast start in her college career going 4-for-8 with one run scored, one RBI and three walks for a .636 on base percentage. She also pitched in two games with a win in her first collegiate start on the mound. She tossed seven innings against Texas-San Antonio with four hits, three runs, two earned runs, two walks and three strikeouts. She also closed out the shutout win in the opener against Oklahoma State sending the Cowboys down 1-2-3 with one strikeout.
Crimson Tide on WVUA
WVUA will be carrying the Crimson Tide on 90.7 FM for home and away games throughout the 2007 season. This will be the 7th season WVUA has covered Alabama Softball. Award-winning sportscaster Nic Hoch will call the action along with others from the WVUA sports team. All games can also be heard on the internet at http://broadcastmonsters.com/Alabama/alabama.asx.
