Softball Set to Open SEC Play in Athens Saturday
3/11/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 11, 2010
| Games 21-23 | No. 7/10 Alabama (15-5) at No. 4/6 Georgia (18-1) | |
| Date | Saturday, March 13 1:00 p.m. EDT|Sunday, March 14 2:00 p.m. EDT |
| Location | Athens, Ga. | UGA Softball Stadium (1,400) |
| Tickets | Free Admission |
| Television | None |
| Radio | WVUA-FM (90.7) (Lake Koelling and Chad Haynie) | |
| Internet | | | |
| Game Notes | Alabama Notes  | Georgia Notes |
| All-Time Series | Alabama leads, 26-11 |
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama softball team will travel to Athens, Ga., this weekend to open Southeastern Conference play against the Georgia Bulldogs. First pitch of Saturday's doubleheader is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. EDT.
LAST TIME OUT
Alabama defeated the Liberty Lady Flames, 10-7 Tuesday on a wet evening at the Alabama Softball Complex. The game included a 46-minute delay due to lightning in the area. Game two of the scheduled doubleheader was cancelled due to heavy rain tat hit just before the start of the bottom of the second inning. After falling behind 7-1 heading into the second inning the Crimson Tide mounted a huge comeback and answered with nine runs to earn the victory. Charlotte Morgan paced the Tide at the plate with a 2-for-3 effort, driving in four runs and scoring two. Kayla Braud once again collected two hits and tallied two runs and two RBI.
WHO TO WATCH
Alabama freshman Kayla Braud continues to ignite the Tide from the leadoff spot. Braud batted .357 (5-for-14) over the weekend with three runs and two stolen bases. The sophomore from Eugene, Ore., collected a hit in three of the four games in the Easton Challenge. In Sunday's game against DePaul Braud went 3-for-4 with a stolen base and scored two runs.
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
The Bulldogs enter conference play with the best record of any team in the SEC at 18-1. Georgia was originally scheduled to open conference play with a midweek doubleheader against Florida, however those games were cancelled by the same set of storms that shortened the nonconference doubleheader between Alabama and Liberty on Tuesday. The Dogs are led by sophomore Kristyn Sandberg, who is batting .474 and junior Brianna Hesson, who leads the team in hits (23) and RBI (21). Sophomore Erin Arevalo leads Georgia in the circle with a record of 11-1 and a 0.53 ERA. Junior Sarah McCloud is 4-0 for the Bulldogs on the season with a 0.90 ERA.
SERIES HISTORY VS. GEORGIA
While Alabama and Georgia were both semifinalists at the 2009 Women's College World Series, the two teams did not meet in Oklahoma City last year. The last meeting between the conference foes came in last year's three game weekend series in Tuscaloosa. The Tide won all three matchups by a combined score of 14-3 (9-1, 3-2, 2-0). Kelsi Dunne earned each win for Alabama pitching two complete games and winning in a relief appearance as well. Dunne only allowed one run on seven hits over the entire weekend. Whitney Larsen and Cassie Reilly-Boccia provided the game-winning hits in games two and three, respectively. Larsen with a walk off RBI single in the bottom of the eighth and Reilly-Boccia with a two-run double, batting in the only runs of the game in game three. Alabama holds a 26-11 advantage all-time over Georgia.
MORGAN NAMED PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN
Alabama senior Charlotte Morgan (Moreno Valley, Calif.) was named to the ESPN.com NCAA Early Season All-American team the website announced. Morgan was named to the first-team and joins 23 other players on the two squads. Morgan enters her senior season as one of the most decorated players in Alabama history. Earlier this season the utility player broke the Alabama career RBI record when she tallied her 192nd RBI against South Alabama on Feb. 16.
MURPHY NEARING WIN NO. 600 AT ALABAMA
Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy is nearing his 600th career win as head coach of the Crimson Tide softball team. Murphy earned the 600th victory of his career in a 2-1 win over Kentucky on May 8, 2009, in the SEC Tournament semifinals last season. However that mark included the 28 victories Murphy earned as interim head coach of the Northwest Missouri State Bobcats in 1995. Murphy will be the first softball coach in the SEC to reach 600 wins at an SEC school since the conference began participation in the sport in 1997. The Alabama skipper is winningest active coach in the SEC. Including this season no current coach in the SEC has more wins over the last 10 seasons than Murphy.
MORGAN REWRITING THE RECORD BOOKS
Charlotte Morgan is already one of the most impressive players in Crimson Tide softball history from a statistical standpoint and looks to add on to her legacy in 2010. Morgan is in the top three of six major offensive and pitching records. The senior from Moreno Valley, Calif., with a strong season at the plate, could also look to break the Alabama career records in batting average, slugging percentage, home runs and could move into second for all-time total bases. Morgan currently holds two Alabama career records, one at the plate with the most career RBI in Alabama history and the other comes on the other side of the field. Morgan has given up the fewest walks per seven innings of any Crimson Tide player.
DUNNE MAKING HER OWN MARK WITH PITCHING RECORDS
Tide ace Kelsi Dunne continues to move her way up in the record books. Dunne already holds the career record for lowest opponent batting average and could possibly take the top spots at most strikeouts per seven innings and most shutouts by the end of the season. With two more strong seasons Dunne will have a strong opportunity to break Shelley Laird's record for most career wins at Alabama.
TIDE SET TO PLAY THE BEST WITH ANOTHER TOUGH SCHEDULE
Coach Murphy did not shy away from once again putting together one of the toughest schedules in the nation for the 2010 campaign. The Crimson Tide will play 38 games against 17 different teams that played in the 2009 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament. Of those games, 19 will be played against eight different teams that were given one of the 16 national seeds in last year's NCAA tournament. Alabama will play a total of 25 games against teams that are ranked in the top 25 in the preseason poll.
COACHES PICK TIDE TO WIN 2010 SEC TITLE
Alabama was selected as the favorite to walk away with the SEC softball title this season in the annual preseason coaches' poll. The conference office announced Tuesday that Alabama received six of 11 votes to win the conference outright in 2010. Florida received three votes, while Georgia and LSU received one each. The Gators were picked to win the Eastern Division with Georgia close behind, while the Tide were selected as favorites to win the West.
TIDE STAYING AGGRESSIVE ON THE BASES
Coach Murphy's aggressive coaching philosophy on the bases has kept Alabama among the nation's best in stolen bases. Over the past four years the Crimson Tide has placed either first or second in the NCAA in stolen bases per game. Alabama finished first in the nation in 2009 with 2.78 steals per game, as well as in 2007 when the Tide had 2.91 stolen bases per game. Tide outfielder Jennifer Fenton will try to continue the aggressive tradition this season. Fenton stole 30 bases last season in limited action and holds the Alabama record for career stolen base percentage at .698.
TIDE ON TV
The Crimson Tide softball program will further their exposure this year with the help of the new Southeastern Conference landmark television contracts with ESPN. Alabama will have seven regular-season games televised, six of the games will be live broadcast and four will be nationally televised on the ESPN family of networks. The SEC television schedule is highlighted by the renewal of the Alabama-Florida softball rivalry. Two games from the series on March 27 and 28 will appear on ESPN2 and ESPNU.
2010 Alabama Softball TV Schedule
| 3/21 | Sun | 1:00 p.m. | FSN | South Carolina @ Alabama |
| 3/27 | Sat | 1:00 p.m. | ESPN2 | Florida @ Alabama |
| 3/28 | Sun | 1:30 p.m. | ESPNU | Florida @ Alabama |
| 4/3 | Sat | 1:00 p.m. | CSS | Alabama @ Auburn (Game 1) |
| 4/4 | Sun | 3:00 p.m. | CSS | Alabama @ Auburn (Tape Delay of Game 2 on 4/3) |
| 5/1 | Sat | 6:30 p.m. | ESPN | Tennessee @ Alabama |
| 5/2 | Sun | 3:00 p.m. | ESPNU | Tennessee @ Alabama |
MORGAN AND DUNNE NAMED PRESEASON ALL-SEC
Alabama had two players named to the preseason All-SEC squad in senior Charlotte Morgan and junior Kelsi Dunne the conference office announced Wednesday. Alabama's Morgan and Georgia's Alisa Goler were unanimous selections. Morgan, and Mississippi State's Chelsea Bramlett are making their third consecutive appearance on the Preseason Team, while Florida's Aja Paculba and Francesca Enea, Mississippi's Lauren Grill and Alabama's Dunne are making their second consecutive appearances on the team.
MORGAN SELECTED AS CANDADITE FOR LOWE'S SENIOR CLASS AWARD
Alabama senior All-American Charlotte Morgan has been named one of 30 NCAA® softball student-athletes who excel both on and off the field and were tabbed as candidates Wednesday for the 2010 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in SchoolTM, the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. Morgan enters her senior season as one of the most decorated players in Alabama history. She was named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year in 2009, becoming the first member of the Crimson Tide to do so. She was named an ESPN the Magazine CoSIDA Academic All-American last season and holds a 3.80 GPA as a criminal justice major.
MORGAN NO.1 OVERALL DRAFT PICK BY USSSA PRIDE IN PRO DRAFT
Crimson Tide senior Charlotte Morgan was selected as the No. 1 pick in the first round of the National Pro Fastpitch College Draft by the USSSA Florida Pride Wednesday evening. Morgan will join the likes of former Crimson Tide great Kelly Kretschman, former rival Florida pitcher Stacey Nelson, along with 2008 Olympians, Monica Abbott and Caitlin Lowe.
ALABAMA NEARING 300 WIN MARK AT SOFTBALL COMPLEX
The Crimson Tide are nearing win number 300 at the Alabama Softball Complex, currently standing at 295 wins. Alabama went an impressive 31-1 in 2009 inside the friendly confines of the Alabama Softball Complex. The lone loss last season came to eventual national champion Washington.
SEASON TICKETS SELL OUT ONCE AGAIN
2010 marks the third consecutive season that Alabama has sold out its reserved seating allotment. Over 1,900 season tickets have been sold including 1,608 reserved seats. The Crimson Tide is the first team in NCAA history to sell out of season tickets in back-to-back-to-back seasons in softball. The feat was made even more impressive this season with the addition of 300 more season tickets being sold in the new "Brickyard" section in right field. With an official capacity of 3,395 the Alabama Softball Complex is the largest on-campus softball stadium in the nation.
MORGAN AND DUNNE NAMED TO USA SOFTBALL TOP 50 WATCH LIST
ASA has selected its initial "Watch List" for the 9th Annual USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year award. Alabama senior Charlotte Morgan and junior Kelsi Dunne have been named to the list of 50. It is the second year in a row that the duo has been named to the watch list. The award, which is considered the most prestigious honor in Division I women's collegiate softball, is designed to recognize outstanding athletic achievement by female collegiate softball players across the country. The 2010 Preseason Watch List is comprised of 50 players representing 35 schools and 14 different NCAA Division I Conferences. The list includes 27 seniors, 17 juniors and six sophomores. ASA will announce the 25 finalists on April 7. Morgan was one of 10 finalists for the award last season and Dunne was named one of the 25 finalists. Both are coming off of stellar 2009 campaigns where they went on to earn NFCA First-Team All-American honors.
MORGAN NAMED SEC PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Alabama senior Charlotte Morgan was named the 2009 SEC Player of the Year. Morgan, who was named to the first team for the second consecutive season becomes the first member of the Crimson Tide softball program to be named the SEC Player of the Year. The Moreno Valley, Calif., native led the league in hitting (.447) and RBI (34), and helped guide Alabama to a 21-6 SEC record and the Western Division title last season. Morgan was also a threat in the circle. The pitcher/utility player made eight starts and recorded a 6-4 record in 62 innings pitched with 63 strikeouts while only walking 10. At the plate, the USA Player of the Year candidate recorded 34 RBI on 34 hits in 76 at bats during league play.
LOCKE NAMED SEC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Alabama freshman Amanda Locke was named the 2009 SEC Freshman of the Year. This marks a SEC-best sixth Freshman of the Year honor for the Crimson Tide and second straight. Locke, a utility/pitcher, who was also named to the all-freshman team, hit .321, with 14 RBI and a team-leading five home runs in conference play last season. The Mesquite, Texas, native also made four SEC pitching appearances and in 4.2 innings did not allow a run.
BAMA WALKS
Alabama had no problems getting on base last season and in addition to all the hits, it was the walks that propelled the Tide to be one of the best on-base teams in the nation last year. Alabama walked 241 times and sported a .433 on base percentage last season. Two returning Tide players had more walks than strikeouts last season. Cassandra Reilly-Boccia walked 40 times and struck out 25, while Charlotte Morgan has been issued a free pass 28 times and struck out 14 times to sport a .505 on base percentage.
ATTENDANCE RECORD
Alabama broke the all-time NCAA attendance record of 55,746 set in 1999 by Fresno State. The Crimson Tide sports a 2009 total attendance to date of 62,435 in 27 home games played for an average to date of 2,312. In 2008 the Tide led the country with 51,024 in 27 home games played for an average of 1,890. The single-game record was also shattered this season when the Tide welcomed 3,122 fans to the game against Auburn on April 25.
THREE 2009 NFCA ALL-REGION TEAM SELECTIONS RETURNING
Three Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I All-Region honorees are returning for the 2010 season at Alabama. Pitcher Kelsi Dunne, utility player Charlotte Morgan and utility/non-pitcher Cassandra Reilly-Boccia made the All-Region team last season which is named by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. A total of 264 players from 121 different institutions comprise the regional teams. Alabama had a school-record six players named to the South Region team last year.
NEXT TIME OUT
The Crimson Tide will continue Southeastern Conference play on the road traveling to Lexington, Ky., to take on the Kentucky Wildcats. Alabama was 3-0 last season against Kentucky, including a 2-1 extra innings win in the SEC Tournament. The midweek doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. EDT.
