Crimson Tide Softball Takes on Florida Wednesday
3/13/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ??Alabama will play its first SEC road contest when they travel to Gainesville, Fla. for a doubleheader against Florida on Wednesday. The Tide improved to 24-0 on the season when they swept its SEC opening season against Mississippi State last weekend. The Gators handed Tennessee its first loss of the season last weekend but lost two of the three games to fall to 19-10.
Scouting Florida
The Gators come in to this mid-week two-game series after losing two of three in its SEC opening set against No. 1 Tennessee. Florida handed the Vols their first loss of 2007. Kim Waleszonia leads the Gators at the plate batting .333 with one home run and six RBI. The Florida pitching staff has a combined 1.47 ERA with Stacey Nelson leading the team. She has a 0.99 ERA and is 11-5 on the season with 104 strikeouts.
Series History
Alabama leads the all-time series with Florida 22-9 and took a series sweep over the Gators last season. Florida won the first three games in the series back in 1997. The Tide won eight straight games in the series from 2000-03 starting with a SEC Tournament victory in 2000. Last Year's Series The Crimson Tide swept the 2006 series with Florida in the first week of March to open up the SEC season. They won the first game 5-0 and then pulled out a pair of close victories 3-1 and 1-0. Jordan Praytor went 4-for-7 in the series for a .571 avg. and Brittany Rogers was 5-of-9 for a .556 avg. Ashley Holcombe and Staci Ramsey each hit home runs as well. Chrissy Owens went 1-0 after recording eight strikeouts in seven innings with one unearned run on three hits.
Alabama Players vs. Florida
Several Crimson Tide players have had success in their careers against Florida. Jordan Praytor is 6-of-15 (.400) with a run scored in six games. Brittany Rogers is 5-of-9 (.556) with a run scored and two RBI while Ashley Holcombe is 4-for-8 (.500) with two runs scored, a double, a home run and two RBI in three games. Chrissy Owens is 1-1 with two earned runs allowed on four hits in 10 innings. She has 13 strikeouts in two games.
Last Time Out
Alabama swept a three-game series against Mississippi State to start the conference season 3-0 and improve to 24-0 overall. Chrissy Owens was 2-0 on the weekend with two runs on 12 hits in 11 innings and nine strikeouts. The two true freshmen came up big at the plate. Charlotte Morgan led the way with a three-run home run in the series finale and an overall 3-of-6 performance with four runs scored and two walks. Alex Blewitt tallied her first collegiate hit, a two-run single with the bases loaded.
SEC Freshman of the Week
Charlotte Morgan (Moreno Valley, Calif.) was named SEC Freshman of the Week for the second time this season after leading the Tide to a three-game sweep over Mississippi State to open the SEC season. She hit 3-for-6 with four runs scored, one home run, three RBI and two walks in the three games. She also pitched 1 2/3 innings with one strikeout to record her first collegiate save.
Offensive Firepower
Alabama continues to hit the ball well as a team with a .345 team batting average. Five players are hitting .300 or better with three of those posting an above .400 average. Lauren Parker leads the team with a .481 batting avg. (25-of-52) while Brittany Rogers is batting at a clip of .474 (37-of-78) to lead the team in hits. Jordan Praytor is hitting .446 (29-of-65) over the weekend. Alabama has outscored its opponents 187-21 on the season, averaging 7.79 runs per game.
On the Basepaths
The Crimson Tide have blazed their way to 78 stolen bases in 24 games this season, an average of 3.25 stolen bases per game. They have only been caught stealing nine times on the year for a success rate of 89.7-percent. They have eight more stolen bases than any other SEC school. Brittany Rogers leads the team with 20 stolen bases and has not been caught stealing. Mandy Burford has 16 stolen bases while Jordan Praytor sits at 14 on the year. Lauren Parker is 9-of-10 and Kelley Montalvo has six stolen bases. The Tide has stolen 64 more bases than their opponents.
Big Innings
One of the big reasons that Alabama has started 24-0 this season has been their ability to put together innings of three or more runs. They have had an inning with at least three runs in 16 of the 24 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 has also recorded nine and seven-run innings this season. They have scored six runs four times, five runs three times, four runs six times and three runs 10 times. They have outscored their opponents 45-5 in the third inning and 37-1 in the fourth.
Fast Out of the Gate
The Tide has scored in the first inning in 11 of their last 16 games. They have outscored their opponents 29-3 in the opening frame this season. Only two opponents have scored against Alabama in the first inning, Texas-San Antonio and Mississippi State. The Tide have not allowed a run in the first inning in 20 of the last 21 games,
Power Hour
In the first 24 games of the 2007 season, Alabama has hit 28 home runs with 12 of the Tide's 16 batters recording a home run on the year. Mandy Burford leads the team with seven home runs after hitting three in the Easton Spring Fling. Lauren Parker also added two home runs in the tournament to give her five on the season while Kellie Eubanks hit her third of the year. 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. Seven players have hit their first collegiate home run this season including Eubanks, Parker, Rogers, Charlotte Morgan, Michelle Menningmann, Katie Johnson and most recently Jessica Smith against Seton Hall.
Deadly 1-2 Punch
The combination of Brittany Rogers and Jordan Praytor as the first two hitters in the Tide lineup this season has been deadly for opponents. Rogers has reached base in her first at bat in 13 of the 24 games with 10 singles. You can almost count it like a double because after reaching base her first time up she has stolen a base nine times. Praytor has reached base in the first inning in 11 of her 22 starts. She has six singles, one double and one triple. She also has three first inning RBI and three of the 11 times she has gotten out, she advanced Rogers to third with only one out.
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. Five 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 way with a .540 OBP, posting 25 hits, five walks and four hit-by-pitch. Jordan Praytor is close behind with a .538 OBP, recording 10 walks to go along with 29 hits and three hit-by-pitch. Brittany Rogers has found her way on with 37 hits and four walks for a .500 OBP.
Leadoff Success
When you look at the numbers for Alabama hitters leading off an inning, there is no wonder why the team has started 24-0 this season. As a team, Alabama is batting .455 (61-of-134) when leading off an inning. Brittany Rogers has the most at bats with 32 and has recorded 18 hits for a .563 avg. Kellie Eubanks is 7-of-14 (.500) with two home runs to start a frame. Freshman Charlotte Morgan is 7-for-13 (.538) as well for the Tide while Mandy Burford is 6-of-11 (.545).
Score, Score, Score
Sophomore center fielder Brittany Rogers terrorizes opponents when she reaches base, which is early and often. She leads the team with 37 hits and 20 stolen bases but also has scored 30 runs to lead the SEC. She has scored a run in 10 of the last 11 games. On the season she has scored in 19 of the Tide's 24 games, has nine games with two runs scored and matched a career high with three runs scored against Mississippi State last Saturday in the SEC opener.
Immediate Impact
Sophomore Transfer Lauren Parker (Port Neches, Texas) has been a pleasant surprise for the Tide this season. After playing in 30 games at Baylor last season she has already put up bigger numbers this season for Alabama, leading the team in several categories and ranking among the SEC leaders. She leads the team with a .481 batting avg. to go with 25 hits, 22 runs, three doubles, two triples, five home runs and 24 RBI. She has recorded a .904 slugging pct. in 21 starts and a .540 on-base percentage. Her 47 total bases are second most on the squad. She has also been effective on the basepaths and in the field with nine stolen bases and a fielding percentage of .983.
That Time of Year for Praytor
Junior Jordan Praytor (Vancouver, Wash.) loves this time of year as it is the time when she really heats up at the plate. Last season on March 16 she started her 25-game hitting streak. On March 3 last season she was batting .300 and by the end of her hitting streak on April 29, she was hitting at a clip of .433. This year she was hitting .344 on Feb. 24 and has since gone 18-of-33 (.545) in her last 11 games and at one point reached base in nine straight plate appearances and was 12-of-16 over a six-game span.
Moving Down and Coming Through
Freshman Charlotte Morgan moved down to seventh in the batting order and one of her best weekends of the season top open conference play against Mississippi State. She batted .500 (3-of-6) with two walks, four runs scored, a home run and three RBI.
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 four runs in 66 innings. She has posted a 12-0 record in her 11 starts with six shutouts and a 0.42 ERA. She also has 66 strikeouts compared to just 17 walks and 53 hits. She had a career-high 13 strikeouts earlier this season against Indiana State.
Undefeated
Senior starting pitcher Blair Potter has a distinction not many collegiate players have. She is undefeated in her Division I career with a 10-0 record at Alabama. Since transferring from Wallace-Dothan Community College, Potter has gone through the ranks without a loss. She has a career 1.74 ERA after posting a 0.91 ERA this season. In 2007 she has recorded one shutout in her six starts and has won five games. She has allowed only four earned runs in 30 2/3 innings with 19 hits allowed, eight walks and 27 strikeouts. Right-handed batters are hitting just .163 against the Tide's first ever left-handed hurler.
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 16 runners attempting to steal second. She has also been involved with five runners thrown out at home plate.
Fast Starts
The Crimson Tide has started 24-0 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.
Multi-Hit Games
The Crimson Tide players have tallied 44 multiple-hit games this season. So far 12 different players have posted a game with two or more hits. Brittany Rogers leads the way with 12 multi-hit games, including nine contests with two hits and three with three hits. Lauren Parker has eight multi-hit games and Jordan Praytor seven. Praytor is the only player this season with four hits in a game.
Multi-RBI Games
Part of the reason why the Crimson Tide are averaging almost eight runs per game is the number of times they have had a player with two or more RBI in a game. Lauren Parker leads the way with eight multi-RBI games while Mandy Burford and Jordan Praytor each have six contests with two or more RBI.
Career Highs
Freshman Charlotte Morgan posted a new career high with three RBI on a home run against Mississippi State last weekend. Brittany Rogers matched a career best with three runs scored in the series opener and Alex Blewitt recorded her first collegiate hit with a bases loaded two-run single in the series finale.
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 four runs to move in to 5th all-time. Dani Woods needs five RBI to give her 100 for her career and move in to 12th all-time. Mandy Burford is one stolen base away from 7th all-time and one home run shy of 13th on the career list.
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.
