Tide Softball Concludes Home Schedule Against Kentucky
4/26/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ??The second ranked Alabama softball team will play its final three regular season home games this weekend when they host Kentucky in the second to last SEC series of the year. The Crimson Tide has won 14 straight games overall and eight consecutive SEC contests to improve to 47-4 on the year and 18-4 in league play. The Wildcats split with Indiana on Wednesday to end an eight-game losing streak.
Scouting Kentucky
The Wildcats enter the game with a 20-25 record for the year and are currently 4-18 in SEC play. They are on an eight-game skid but still remain an offensive threat. They have one of the top power hitters in the country in shortstop Brooke Marnitz. She is batting .416 with a SEC-leading 21 home runs and 58 RBI. Four other players are hitting over .300, including Katie Campbell with a .341 avg. and 12 home runs. As a team Kentucky has hit 55 home runs to rank second in the SEC behind Alabama. Pitching has hurt the Wildcats this season. The staff has a combined 4.55 ERA with no starters recording more than seven victories. They have allowed 38 home runs and 253 total runs in 291.0 innings.
Series History
Alabama has dominated the all-time series with Kentucky winning 25 of the 26 meetings. The Tide has won the last seven contests and also took the first 18 games from 1997-2004. Alabama has scored 10 or more runs eight times against the Wildcats and won by the eight-run rule six times. The Tide has scored 76 runs in the nine games over the last three years.
Last Year's Series
The Tide swept the 2006 series with Kentucky, winning by a combined 27-0 in the three games. Alabama hit five home runs in the three games last year and batted .407 for the series. The pitching staff held UK to a .093 avg. with only five total hits and no runs scored. Dani Woods had a series to remember batting .625 (5-of-8) with two doubles, two home runs and 10 RBI. Brittany Rogers set the table going 9-for-11 (.818) with six runs scored.
Alabama Players vs. Kentucky
Several Crimson Tide players have had success in their careers against Kentucky. Dani Woods is 8-for-15 (.533) with five runs, two doubles, two home runs and 11 RBI. Brittany Rogers was 9-for-11 (.818) with six runs, a double and three RBI. Jordan Praytor went 6-for-10 last year with a home run, three RBI and four runs scored while Mandy Burford is 5-of-9 (.555) with one home run, three RBI and six runs scored. Chrissy Owens has one start and six innings with four hits allowed and seven strikeouts. Blair Potter pitched in two games last year with one hit in three innings and one strikeout.
Last Time Out
Alabama won its 14th straight game on Tuesday when they downed Troy 5-0 in a nonconference game at home. Blair Potter (Columbus, Ga.) threw 6 1/3 innings allowing only five hits while matching a career high with eight strikeouts. Lauren Parker hit her ninth home run to start the scoring and finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a walk. Jordan Praytor was 2-for-3 with a run scored in the game. Dani Woods added a RBI double and Alex Blewitt had a pinch hit double with the bases loaded to knock in three runs and make the final 5-0.
Tide on TV
The Satuday doubleheader between Alabama and Kentucky will be televised live locally by WVUA TV beginning at 1:05 p.m. The Crimson Tide has been on WVUA 10 previous times this year, including Tuesday's 5-0 win over Troy. Alabama was also on TV twice at LSU with the first game on Cox Sports and the second the SEC Series of the Week on Fox Sports. Next weekend the Tide will be displayed on TV nationally at Tennessee with the first game on ESPN2 and the final regular season game on ESPN.
Crimson Tide in the Rankings
Alabama is ranked No. 2 in the country in both the USA Today/NFCA Top-25 and ESPN.com/USA Softball Top-25. Since the first regular season poll came out the Crimson Tide has been ranked in the top five every week with this week marking the 11th straight for Bama. The Tide has been ranked in the top 10 for 28 straight weeks and have been ranked in 72 consecutive polls.
RPI Has Bama No. 3
Alabama was listed No. 3 in the latest NFCA Simulated Ratings Percentage Index on April 25. For the third straight week the Crimson Tide was listed among the top five RPI in the nation. Arizona has held the top spot for three straight weeks with the top strength of schedule. The Tide has the second best winning percentage of any team in the nation. Tennessee has the top win percentage but with a strength of schedule of 52nd. The Crimson Tide's strength of schedule was 10th for the first RPI and is currently 35th.
Looking for 50
The Crimson Tide is looking to become the second team with 50 wins this season and record the fifth 50-win season in school history. The first came in 2000 when the team set a school record with 66 victories (66-14). They followed with a 50-11 mark in 2001. Bama has also won over 50 games the last two years going 63-15 in 2005 and 54-11 last year.
Winning Streak
Alabama is currently on a 14-game winning streak and have an undefeated 12-0 record in April. During that span they have outscored their opponents 118-29. They scored eight or more runs in 10 of the 14 games and were in double digits six times. They have hit home runs in the last 10 outings. The team is batting .365 (128-of-351) with 21 home runs, 22 doubles, three triples, 63 walks and 52 stolen bases. Opposing pitchers have an ERA of 9.55 against Alabama in the last 14 games. Earlier this season Bama won 25 straight games to start the season and went undefeated at 17-0 in February.
Alabama Players Streaking
The Crimson Tide players have been red hot during the current 14-game hitting streak. Lauren Parker leads the way and is batting .526 (20-of-38) during that span with 15 runs, six doubles, one home run and 11 RBI. She also has a .581 on-base pct. Dani Woods has been clutch with 20 RBI to go along with a .455 avg., six runs, three doubles and four home runs. She has a .909 slugging pct. Brittany Rogers is batting .400 with 16 runs, two doubles, one triple, two home runs, 13 RBI and 12 stolen bases. Charlotte Morgan is hitting .357 with 11 runs, one double, three home runs and 13 RBI. Mandy Burford is batting .346 and has a .600 OBP with 10 runs, nine hits, six RBI, 12 walks, six HBP and 11 stolen bases.
One of Top Programs Since 2000
Since 2000 the Alabama softball team has won the second most games of any team in college softball with 420 victories. They are only three wins shy of the winningest program in the country, Arizona, at 423 wins. LSU is close behind with 413 overall victories.
National Player of the Year Finalists
Lauren Parker and Chrissy Owens were named two of 25 finalists for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year. Parker is hitting .484 with nine home runs and 43 RBI. She ranks in the top-10 in the SEC in 10 different categories. She is batting .493 in SEC play and leads the league in two categories in conference only games. Owens is 22-2 with a 0.97 ERA and 123 strikeouts. She has 11 shutouts in 23 starts. The Crimson Tide is one of six teams with multiple selections to the list. The list will be narrowed to 10 finalists on May 9.
Strengths in Numbers
Alabama is the only team in the country that puts nine starters in the batting order every day who have hit four or more home runs. They are actually the only team with more than eight players who have hit for or more as 10 different players have hit four this season for Coach Murphy's squad. The Tide is one of only three teams in the country with 13 players who have hit home runs (Alabama, CSU and Hawai'i).
Four With Nine Home Runs
Sophomore third baseman Kelley Montalvo, freshman first baseman Charlotte Morgan, senior outfielder Mandy Burford and sophomore second baseman Lauren Parker all have nine home runs to lead the Tide this season. Montalvo and Morgan each hit No. 9 at Ole Miss last weekend while Lauren Parker tallied her ninth against Troy. The two corner infielders have been clutch for the Tide since the start of SEC play with seven and eight home runs, respectively. Burford has been stuck on nine for a month with her last home run coming against Arkansas on March 21 while Parker hit her first in a month with a solo shot vs. Troy.
Bombs Away
All nine regular starters on the Alabama softball team have hit four or more home runs with seven of those tallying five or more. The regular starting lineup has combined for 61 home runs this season. Four of those nine players have hit nine long balls. Four players are tied for the lead with nine home runs, including Mandy Burford, Charlotte Morgan, Kelley Montalvo and Lauren Parker. Kellie Eubanks and Dani Woods each have six home runs. Since SEC play has started Morgan has eight home runs in the last 30 games and Montalvo has hit seven.
Nearing Home Run Record
The 2007 Alabama softball team is already approaching the school record for home runs hit in a season. Lauren Parker's home run on Tuesday moved them closer to the record of 73 set by the 1998 squad. With seven games left to play in the regular season they are only five home runs shy of the record. This season in 51 games they are averaging 1.33 per contest and are on pace to set the record by the end of the regular season.
Stealing Records
This season nearly every season and game school record for stolen bases has fallen or is close to being passed. On April 3 against Northwestern State, Alabama set a record with nine stolen bases in one game. It broke the previous mark of eight. In the first game at Ole Miss, the Tide swiped seven bases to set a new single season record with 139 and now have 155 for the year. Burford had four SB in the game to match the record held by Kelly Kretschman against Arkansas in 1999. Brittany Rogers is close to setting the single season individual record as she is only four SB behind Kretschman who stole 43 bases in 2000.
150 Stolen Bases and Counting
The Crimson Tide has blazed their way to a SEC-leading 155 stolen bases in 51 games this season, an average of 3.03 stolen bases per game. Brittany Rogers leads the team with 39 stolen bases. Jordan Praytor and Mandy Burford each have 27 stolen bases. Mallory Benak is 17-of-21 and Lauren Parker is 14-of-19. The Tide has stolen 134 more bases than their opponents and has three or more stolen bases in 28 games.
Speed Demons
Alabama is far and away leading the nation in stolen bases per game at 3.03 per outing. They have posted 155 SB in 51 games. The next best team is Tennessee who is averaging 2.62 per contest and has 136 SB in 52 outings. Only nine teams have over 100 SB for the season.
Burford Always on Base
Senior outfielder Mandy Burford (Anniston, Ala.) makes the most of her at bats and has constantly been on base for the Tide over the past few weeks. She has a .490 on-base pct. for the season and a .600 OBP over the last 14 games. She is batting .339 with 40 hits but leads the team in walks (27) and hit-by-pitch (10). When she reaches base she is a dangerous runner with 27 stolen bases on the year.
Who's on First
Alabama has received production throughout the lineup with six of the nine everyday starters posting at least a .400 on-base pct.. Lauren Parker leads the SEC with a .534 OBP and has 62 hits, nine walks and seven HBP. Mandy Burford has 40 hits, 27 walks and 10 HBP for a .490 OBP. Charlotte Morgan has found her way on with 47 hits, 21 walks and two HBP for a .467 OBP and Jordan Praytor has posted 52 hits to go along with 21 walks and three hit-by-pitch for a .455 OBP.
Crossing Home
The Crimson Tide players have stepped on home plate 376 times this season to lead the nation. They are averaging 7.37 runs per game to lead the country. So far 11 different players have scored 20 runs. Five of those have tallied over 30 with one over 40 and one over 50. Brittany Rogers leads the SEC with 52 runs, scoring in 34 of the 51 contests. Lauren Parker has scored 45 times with runs in 34 of her 46 games. Mandy Burford is next with 39 runs scored and has scored in 29 outings.
Scoring in Bunches
One of the big reasons that Alabama is 47-4 this season is the fact that they have scored three or more runs in an inning 51 times. They have had an inning with at least three runs in 34 of the 51 contests. They have two games this season with a 10-run inning with both coming in the second frame. They accomplished the feat against Winthrop and most recently Georgia. The 10 runs tied for the second highest run total in a single inning in school history. Alabama has also recorded nine, eight and seven-run innings this season. They have scored six runs six times, five runs nine times, four runs 12 times and three runs 19 times. They have outscored their opponents 81-10 in the second inning and 78-13 in the third.
Hitting on All Cylinders
Alabama has been outstanding at the plate all season and currently lead the nation with a .339 team batting average. The Tide has 432 hits in 51 games, an average of 8.5 hits per game. Two players have over 60 hits with Brittany Rogers leading the way with 66 and Lauren Parker close behind with 62. If the season ended today, Parker would hold the school record with a .484 batting avg., 16 points higher than the record held by Kelly Kretschman.
Leading the Nation
Alabama ranked first in the country in four different categories when the NCAA came out with its team and individual rankings on Tuesday. They are first in batting (.341 avg.), scoring (7.42 runs per game), slugging pct. (.568) and stolen bases per game (3.02). The Tide also rank in the top-10 in four other categories. They are second in win percentage (.920), fifth in ERA (1.34) and sixth in both home runs per game (1.34) and fielding pct. (.976).
SEC and NCAA Leaders
Alabama leads the SEC in nine team categories. Lauren Parker is first in both batting (.484) and on-base pct. (.534) while Brittany Rogers is first with 52 runs scored. There are 11 different players who rank among the top 10 in overall categories. In SEC games only, Alabama leads the conference in 12 different team categories. Lauren Parker leads the conference in slugging pct. (.710), runs (20) and total bases (49). Charlotte Morgan leads the conference in both home runs (7) and RBI (24). Mandy Burford and Kellie Eubanks are tied for the league lead with 14 walks in SEC games.
Eyeing SEC Records
Alabama is right on target to finish the season close to several single season SEC records. With the numbers the team has currently they would break records for slugging pct. (UA .566 - SEC .527) and on-base pct. (UA .431 - SEC .409). They are also on pace to push the records for runs scored (UA 376 - SEC 437), RBI (UA 321 - SEC 374) and home runs (UA 68 - SEC 73). Lauren Parker is also close to the SEC record for batting avg. in a single season with her .484 avg. Sarah Fekete of Tennessee hit .500 in 2006.
Owens Moves Up on Shutout Lists
Junior righty Chrissy Owens has blossomed into a No. 1 pitcher this year with a 22-2 record and 0.97 ERA. She has started 23 games with 11 shutouts and five combined shutouts for 16 total. She has only allowed 20 earned runs in 144 innings with 123 strikeouts. She tallied two shutouts at Ole Miss to move into second on the single season record list and third all-time.
Victory Milestones
Chrissy Owens (Miami, Fla.) earned her 50th career win against Tennessee Chattanooga, becoming just the fifth Tide player to win 50 games. The win also was her 20th of the season and she is now 22-2. It was the 12th 20-win season in the program's 11-year history. Owens has accomplished the feat in back-to-back seasons after recording 21 victories last season as a sophomore. The last two seasons Alabama has had a pair of players who won 20 games. They are trying to accomplish the feat for the third straight year as Blair Potter is a perfect 14-0.
No Extra Base Hits
Chrissy Owens has only allowed 13 extra base hits this season. She has only allowed two home runs in 144 innings, the fewest by any pitcher in the SEC who has pitched an average of one inning per the team's total games. Owens has only given up six home runs in 413 career innings. She has allowed nine 2B and two 3B this season as well for only 13 extra base hits out of 116 total hits. As a team Alabama has only allowed 12 home runs, second to Florida in the SEC.
Undefeated
Senior starting pitcher Blair Potter has a distinction not many collegiate players have. She is undefeated in her Division I career with a 19-0 record at Alabama. Since transferring from Wallace-Dothan Community College, Potter has gone through the ranks without a loss. She has a career 1.61 ERA after posting a 1.28 ERA this season. In 2007 she has recorded one shutout in her 18 starts and is 14-0. She has allowed only 18 earned runs in 98 2/3 innings with 70 hits allowed, 17 walks and 90 strikeouts. Right-handed batters are hitting just .175 against the Tide's first ever left-handed hurler.
No Free Passes
Blair Potter has not hurt herself when she is on the mound this season, walking only 17 batters in 98 2/3 innings. Out of her 18 starts she has not walked a batter in eight outings. She has only walked one batter five times. She has a strikeout to walk ratio of 5.29 to 1. She had a streak of 20 2/3 innings without a walk earlier this season. In SEC games she has only walked seven batters in 49 2/3 innings compared to 46 strikeouts.
Cannon for an Arm
Ashley Holcombe (Fayetteville, Ga.) has one of the best arms in the SEC. She leads the conference in pickoffs and has thrown out seven of the 21 runners who have tried to steal a base. It says something about her arm when only 21 have tried to steal against her. In comparison Alabama has 184 steal attempts. Holcombe has a .993 fielding pct. on the season.
Senior Weekend
This weekend when Alabama faces Kentucky five Crimson Tide seniors will be playing in their final regular season game at the Alabama Softball Complex. The group has compiled a career record of 209-50 in four seasons with three trips to the NCAA Tournament and two Women's College World Series appearances. Last season they led Bama to its first SEC Championship.
Mallory Benak
The first pinchrunner off the bench, Benak has 25 runs scored and 17 stolen bases in 2007. She is 7-of-12 (.583) with three doubles and a .688 OBP this season. She has scored 53 runs in two years and stole 28 bases.
Mandy Burford
Burford, a starting outfielder, has a career avg. of .289 with 106 runs, 96 hits, 10 doubles, three triples, 16 home runs and 70 RBI. She has a career OBP of .411 and has 57 stolen bases to rank fifth all-time.
Kellie Deska
Deska has played in 77 games in four years with 12 hits, including two doubles. She has drawn 14 walks and has a fielding pct. of .992.
Michelle Menningmann
Menningmann is having the best season of her career with a .341 avg., 21 runs scored, two doubles, one triple, four home runs and 12 RBI. She has played in 156 career games and has 12 career stolen bases.
Blair Potter
In two years with the Crimson Tide, Potter has compiled a career record of 19-0 with a 1.61 ERA and 132 strikeouts. She is 14-0 this season with a 1.28 ERA.
Multi-Hit Games
The Crimson Tide players have tallied 109 multiple-hit games this season. So far 13 different players have posted a game with two or more hits. Brittany Rogers leads the way with 22 multi-hit games while Lauren Parker is right behind her with 21. Rogers has 17 contests with two hits and five with three hits. Parker has 14 games with two hits, three with three hits and one with four hits. Charlotte Morgan has 13 on the year, Jordan Praytor 12 and Kelley Montalvo 10.
Multi-RBI Games
Part of the reason why the Crimson Tide are averaging over seven 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 14 multi-RBI games while Dani Woods has 11 games with two or more RBI. Jordan Praytor and Charlotte Morgan each have tallied 10 multi-RBI contests.
New Infield Has Bright Future
At the start of the 2007 season the Tide had new starters at all four infield positions. So far they have all been pleasant surprises with 33 combined home runs and only 23 errors in 51 games. Another bright side is all four are either freshman or sophomores. Kelley Montalvo is the only returning starter moving from second to third base. She has nine home runs and six errors in 162 chances. Sophomore shortstop Kellie Eubanks has six home runs and 10 errors in 157 chances. Sophomore transfer Lauren Parker has nine home runs and five errors in 150 chances. Freshman Charlotte Morgan has nine home runs and two errors in 290 chances.
Parker Finds Holes
Lauren Parker continues to impress by finding holes all over the field for base hits. In three games at Ole Miss she went 7-for-10 and Tuesday vs. Troy she went 2-for-3 with a home run. She leads the team and the SEC with a .484 batting avg. to go with 62 hits, 45 runs, 11 doubles, two triples, nine home runs and 43 RBI. She has recorded an .813 slugging pct. in 46 games and a .534 on-base percentage. She leads the team with 14 multi-RBI contests and has 21 multi-hit games. She has a hit in 36 of her 46 games, scored a run in 34 outings and driven in a run in 24 games. She has also been effective on the basepaths with 14 stolen bases.
Home Sweet Home
Alabama has won 10 straight at the Alabama Softball Complex. The Tide is now 32-1 at home this season to give them one of the nation's top home-field advantages. Now in the 11th year of the program, the Tide owns a career record of 222-38 at home, a winning percentage of .854.
Power Hour
In the first 51 games of the 2007 season, Alabama has hit 68 home runs to give them 17 more than they had in 65 games last season. So far 13 of the Tide's 16 batters have recorded a home run and 10 players have hit three or more. Mandy Burford, Charlotte Morgan, Kelley Montalvo and Lauren Parker have all hit nine. Two other Bama players have hit six on the season with all nine starters hitting four or more. Parker did not hit a home run as a freshman at Baylor in 2006 while Morgan has hit a home run in seven of the eight SEC series. Brittany Rogers has hit inside and outside the park home runs from both the right and left side of the plate. Eight different players have hit their first career home run including, Alex Blewitt, Kellie Eubanks, Lauren Parker, Brittany Rogers, Charlotte Morgan, Michelle Menningmann, Katie Johnson and Jessica Smith.
RBI Machine
Junior Dani Woods has been on fire during the Tide's 14-game winning streak. She has been producing runs left and right with 20 RBI during the span. She is batting .455 (15-of-33) over the last 14 games. She has raised her average 55 points during the span. She climbed over the .300 mark for the season and is now batting .324 (36-of-111). She has hit four home runs during the span while scoring six times. She has moved into the top-10 all-time in both doubles and RBI. For the season she has 23 runs scored, seven doubles, one triple, six home runs and 38 RBI.
Hitting .300 or Better
Seven of the nine everyday starters are batting over .300 for Alabama. As a team they are hitting .339 which is 128 points better than their opponents' average of .211. In all nine of the 16 players who have batted this season are hitting over .300. Lauren Parker leads the way with a .484 avg. while Mallory Benak is 7-of-12 (.583). Brittany Rogers is just under .400 with a .398 avg. and Charlotte Morgan is batting .376. The other players batting over .300 are Jordan Praytor (.364), Michelle Menningmann (.341) Dani Woods (.324), Kelley Montalvo (.328) and Mandy Burford (.339).
Patience is a Virtue
The Crimson Tide team has drawn 63 walks during their 14-game win streak to give them 176 walks on the season. They also lead the conference with 69 walks in league play. Players have drawn three walks in a game eight times this season. As a team they have walked five or more times in nine of the last 15 contests and 17 times this season. Mandy Burford leads the team with 27 walks while Kellie Eubanks has 24. Charlotte Morgan and Jordan Praytor each have 21 walks while Kelley Montalvo and Ashley Holcombe have each earned 16 free passes this season.
Two-Out RBI
With two outs you can't count the Tide batters out. They have produced 111 runs this season with two outs. They drove in four of the five runs with two outs in their last game against Troy. Lauren Parker leads the team with 18 two-out RBI while Jordan Praytor has driven in 15 runs. Parker is batting .429 (18-of-42) with two outs while Praytor is hitting .424 (14-of-33). Brittany Rogers is hitting .405 (15-of-37) with two outs and has eight RBI. Dani Woods hit a RBI double against Troy to give her 13 two-out RBI. Mandy Burford is next on the list with 10 RBI coming with two outs. Two other players have nine RBI with two outs.
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.
