Softball Set to Open SEC Tournament Against Arkansas
5/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 12, 2010
| SEC Tournament | No. 1 Alabama (45-9, 23-4 SEC) vs. No. 8 Arkansas (28-28, 10-18 SEC) | |
| Date | Thursday, May 13 6:30 p.m. CDT |
| Location | Fayetteville, Ark. | Bogle Park (1,200) |
| Tickets | SEC Tournament Ticket Information |
| Television | ESPNU (Beth Mowins and Jessica Mendoza) |
| Radio | None |
| Internet | Live Game Blog | |
| Game Notes | Alabama Notes  | Arkansas Notes |
| All-Time Series | Alabama leads, 41-7 |
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The No. 3-ranked Alabama softball team (45-9, 23-4 SEC), fresh off winning the Southeastern Conference regular season championship, will head to Fayetteville, Ark., to take part in the SEC Softball Tournament this week. The Crimson Tide, who are the No. 1 seed in the tournament will face off against eighth seeded Arkansas in the first round, Thursday at 6:30 p.m. CDT. The game will be broadcast nationally by ESPNU with Beth Mowins and Jessica Mendoza calling the action from Bogle Park.
LAST TIME OUT
The Alabama softball team clinched its second Southeastern Conference regular season title by downing Mississippi State, 6-1, Sunday afternoon in Starkville. The Crimson Tide belted three home runs while Kelsi Dunne shut down the Bulldog bats to earn the sweep and the championship. After the win Alabama improves to 45-9 overall and finished 23-4 in SEC play and has tallied 21 straight victories. Charlotte Morgan, Whitney Larsen and Amanda Locke each went deep as the home runs accounted for five of the six runs. The Tide hit two-run homers in the first and in the third and added a solo shot in the sixth. Dunne (24-4) went the distance, allowing five hits and an unearned run while fanning 11 to down the Bulldogs.
WHO TO WATCH
The Tide seems to be rising at the right time as seven regular starters are batting over .300 over the past two weeks. Among those seven, freshman Kayla Braud leads the pack with a .529 clip in Alabama's last six games. Braud has nine hits and nine runs scored in that span, with a .636 on-base percentage and four stolen bases. Kelsi Dunne has heated up down the stretch in the circle with a 4-0 record in four complete games. In her 26 innings pitched over the past two weeks, Dunne has only walked five batters while striking out 45. Opposing batters are only hitting .216 against the right-hander over the last two weeks.
SCOUTING THE RAZORBACKS
Arkansas enters the Southeastern Conference Tournament with a 28-28 record and finished with a 10-18 mark in league play. The Razorbacks return to Fayetteville to host this year's tournament after falling victim to a three-game sweep at the hands of the Auburn Tigers in Auburn over the weekend. All three games against the Tigers were low scoring, one-run losses, including the middle game of the series, which Auburn won 3-2 in eight innings. The Razorbacks are led by center fielder and leadoff hitter Jessica Bachkora, who sports a .371 batting average and is slugging .743. The senior from Overland Park, Kan., leads the team in runs (62), hits (65), doubles (18), home runs (15), total bases (130) and on-base percentage (.498). Arkansas is led in the circle by freshman Hope McLemore. The right-handed hurler from Ringling, Okla., has a 2.87 ERA on the season, with 135 strikeouts in 149 innings pitched, while giving up 144 hits in that span.
SERIES HISTORY VS. ARKANSAS
The two programs have met on the diamond 48 times, with Alabama holding a 41-7 all-time advantage. Three of those 41 victories came last month as the Tide swept Arkansas in Fayetteville by scores of 6-1, 16-8 and 8-6. Charlotte Morgan, Amanda Locke and Lauren Sewell each picked up wins in the circle that weekend in Arkansas. Junior Whitney Larsen was a Razorback killer that weekend going 6-for-9 in the three game series with five runs scored, three home runs and eight RBI. Larsen slugged a whopping 1.667 that weekend and sported a .667 on-base percentage. The Tide is 3-1 all-time against the Razorbacks in the SEC tournament.
SEC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Crimson Tide holds a 25-18 all-time record in the SEC Tournament and has won the conference tournament three times. In the second ever playing of the SEC Tournament in 1998, Alabama earned its first win. The Tide defeated Tennessee, LSU twice and Mississippi State to capture the title. Alabama won its second SEC Tournament title in 2003 with wins over Auburn, LSU, Tennessee and LSU again in the final. The Tide's last tournament title was in 2005 where they collected wins over Mississippi State, Auburn, Tennessee and Georgia. Last season the Tide fell to the Gators in the championship game, 8-5. Charlotte Morgan, Lauren Parker and Ashley Holcombe were named to the all-tournament team. Morgan has earned all-tournament honors twice.
SEC CHAMPIONS
The Alabama softball team earned its second Southeastern Conference regular season title by sweeping Mississippi State last weekend and finishing with a 23-4 ledger in league play. Alabama out-distanced Florida (20-4) by earning the league title based on percentage points. The Tide sported a winning percentage of .852 while the Gators finished with a .833 clip. The regular season title is the second in program history for Alabama as it finished first in 2006 with a 25-4 record.
OVER THE 21-GAME WINNING STREAK
The Alabama softball team is currently on a 21-game winning streak as it enters the SEC tournament. The win streak spanned over all of April and now has entered the month of May. It is the fourth longest winning streak in the program's history and is only six wins away from the school record of 27 straight wins, set in the beginning of the 2001 season. Over the 21 games the Crimson Tide is batting .340 and sports a 1.66 ERA while opponents are hitting at a .186 clip and have been pounded for a 8.90 ERA. Alabama has out-scored its opponents 175-45 and have smashed 39 home runs. Freshman Kayla Braud leads the charge over the streak with a .477 (31 for 65) average, scoring a team-best 29 runs and swiping 20 bases. Senior Charlotte Morgan has drilled eight home runs, driven in 30 runs while adding a .358 (19 for 53) average. Amanda Locke has also added eight home runs, 20 RBI and sports a .356 average. In the circle Kelsi Dunne is a perfect 12-0 with a 1.16 ERA. The junior has struck out 113 in 66 2/3 innings and allowed just 37 hits for a .159 opponent batting average.
BRAUD RECORD WATCH
Alabama freshman Kayla Braud has instantly jumped on the scene to lead the Crimson Tide vaunted offensive attack. Braud enters the SEC Tournament with a .494 average and is on pace to break the Alabama single-season record. The record is .467 held by All-American Kelly Kretschman, who set the mark as a freshman in 1998. Alabama has only had three players record a single season batting average of .450 or more with a minimum of 135 at bats.
REILLY-BOCCIA SETS WALKS RECORD
Alabama sophomore Cassie Reilly-Boccia set the single season walk record by posting her 53rd free pass against Tennessee. The sophomore passes former teammate Kelley Montalvo, who set the mark of 52 last season. Reilly-Boccia earned her Alabama record-breaking walk by taking two free passes in the 7-6 win in the nightcap against the Lady Vols. The Yorktown Heights, N.Y., native now sports a 57/21 BB/K ratio and is second on the team with a .534 on base percentage. Her 57 walks also leads the SEC and is second all-time in the conference single season annals, trailing only the 62 walks by Tonya Callahan, set in 2008.
TIDE SETS SCHOOL HOME RUN RECORD
The Alabama softball team has been hitting home runs at an alarming rate this season. The Crimson Tide had already smashed the program's single season home run record before hitting May on the calendar. Alabama enters the SEC Tournament with 92 home runs, which betters the mark of 79 set in 2007. The Tide broke the old SEC single-season record by passing the 86 hit by Florida last season but the Gators now are one ahead this season with 93. Thirteen different members of the team have hit a home run with Charlotte Morgan (16), Amanda Locke (14) and Whitney Larsen (12) all posting double-digits in the long-ball category.
TIDE SITS ATOP NCAA RPI RANKING
Some, may have questioned head coach Patrick Murphy's tough scheduling leading into a year with seven new starters, the skipper's decision to schedule the nation's toughest schedule seems to be paying off as Alabama comes in at No. 1 in the first RPI ranking of the year. Alabama has eight wins against teams that are currently ranking in the top 15 of the RPI and claims victories over the number two, four and fifth ranked teams (Michigan, Florida and Georgia Tech) in the RPI. Twenty-eight of Alabama's 45 wins this season come against teams ranked in the top 50 of the RPI. The Crimson Tide could potentially play three more games against top 50 RPI teams in Fayetteville this week.
MILESTONE WINS
The Alabama softball program earned win number 700 with their first victory over Mississippi State last weekend. The program also just earned victory number 300 in SEC games as it swept Tennessee to grab the milestone two weeks ago. Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy also met a milestone as the coach tallied win No. 650, with the doubleheader sweep over Tennessee.
MORGAN BREAKS SEC RBI RECORD
Alabama senior Charlotte Morgan moved into sole possession of the SEC career RBI record. The All-American earned the record-breaking 242nd RBI by taking a pitch in the knee with the bases loaded against Mississippi on April 18. The Moreno Valley, Calif., native enters the week with 255 career RBI. Morgan broke the record held previously by Tonya Callahan of Tennessee. Morgan is also in the hunt for the SEC home run record as she currently sits in third with 57 homers, trailing Francesca Enea (61) of Florida. Morgan is only three home runs away from tying the school record held by former Alabama great Kelly Kretschman (60).
WHERE ALABAMA STACKS UP NATIONALLY
The Alabama softball team ranks fifth in the country in home runs per game with 1.70 and fourth in scoring (7.30). The Tide also checks in at No. 4 in slugging percentage with a .587 mark while ranking ninth in stolen bases per game (2.22). Freshman Kayla Braud ranks fifth in the nation with her .494 batting average and in runs per game (1.22) while Cassie Reilly-Boccia checks in at No. 4 in walks per game (1.06). Senior Charlotte Morgan ranks seventh in RBI per game with 1.20, 12th in walks (0.89) and 18th in home runs (16). Junior pitcher Kelsi Dunne ranks fourth in the country with an average of 11.7 Ks per seven innings and her 278 strikeouts rank 18th in the country. (As of May 11)
ALABAMA IN THE SEC
Alabama finished the regular season as the dominant offensive team in the conference. The Crimson Tide led the conference in runs (214), hits (222), home runs (50), RBI (191), total bases (419), slugging percentage (.613), walks (152), on base percentage (.459) and stolen bases (54). In the circle the Alabama pitching staff led the conference in strikeouts (212), batters struck out looking (74) and opposing batting average (.210)
Individually, Kayla Braud ranked second in the league in batting average (.500) and on base percentage (.580), while she led the league in runs scored (38). Senior Charlotte Morgan paced the conference in RBI (36), slugging percentage (.862), home runs (9) and ranked second in walks (30), on base percentage (.568) and was third in on base percentage (.564). Cassie Reilly-Boccia led the league with 33 walks. In the circle Kelsi Dunne led the league with 144 strikeouts, 49 looking, and also leads the conference with a .174 opponent batting average.
MORGAN NAMED LOWE'S SENIOR CLASS FINALIST
Alabama All-American Charlotte Morgan was named one of 10 NCAA student-athletes who excel both on and off the field and were tabbed as finalists for the 2010 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in the softball division. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition. The 10 finalists will be placed on the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award softball ballot for a nationwide vote beginning Monday and concluding May 17. Alabama has now had a finalist in three straight seasons as Ashley Holcombe and Brittany Rogers garnered the recognition last season and Jordan Praytor was a finalist in 2008. Rogers was also a finalist in her senior campaign.
MURPHY MOST FOLLOWED SOFTBALL COACH IN THE NATION
In today's high speed world of social networking college coaches try to keep up with technology and the latest fad. With this in mind, Alabama skipper Patrick Murphy jumped right into the Twitter craze joining the instant information giant with a profile last June. Since the coach joined the site at last year's Women's College World Series his "tweeting" has gained popularity on a national level. This past week Murphy surpassed Florida's Tim Walton to become the nation's most followed softball coach on Twitter and his followership continues to grow each day, currently standing near the 1,150 mark. Murphy's twitter page can be found at www.twitter.com/UACoachMurphy.
NEXT TIME OUT
If Alabama were to defeat Arkansas on Thursday it would continue its stay in Fayetteville and play the winner of the Georgia/Tennessee game on Friday, May 14 at 4:30 p.m. The semifinal will be broadcasted once again on ESPNU. The championship game is set for Saturday, May 15 at 6:30 p.m. and it will be broadcasted on ESPN.
