No. 1 Softball Rolls into the Palmetto State
3/30/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 30, 2011
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The No. 1/1 ranked Alabama softball team (33-2, 9-1 SEC) will be traveling to the Palmetto State to face the College of Charleston (21-12, 3-6 Southern Conference) on Thursday, March 31, at the Patriots Point Athletics Complex. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. CDT in Charleston, S.C. The game will start a four-day trek in the state of South Carolina. Then the Crimson Tide will travel from Charleston to Columbia to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks (17-15, 3-10 SEC) in a three game conference series matchup, starting Friday night, April 1. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. CDT, inside Beckham Field.
LAST TIME OUT
The Crimson Tide faced the Arkansas Razorbacks in a SEC Western division matchup over the weekend. Alabama junior Jennifer Fenton belted two home runs, including a grand slam and the Crimson Tide used a seven-run fourth inning to down Arkansas, 10-1, Friday night at Rhoads Stadium. Fenton smacked two home runs and drove in six runs for Alabama. Both were career highs for the center fielder. Freshman Jackie Traina (13-1) picked up the win for the Tide in the circle. Traina, who was perfect through four innings, allowed just two hits and struck out five of the 14 batters she faced while allowing an unearned run. On Saturday, Alabama earned the series victory over Arkansas with a 12-3 win. On her senior day, Kelsi Dunne grabbed the win as she allowed three runs off six hits. Dunne tossed nine strikeouts which places her in sole possession of second in total career strikeouts with 1,046. Juniors Amanda Locke and Cassie Reilly-Boccia paced Alabama at the plate. Junior Amanda Locke collected two hits, including a home run and drove in three while Reilly-Boccia went deep and also drove in three. Freshman Kaila Hunt collected two hits and drove in a pair. Behind the 100th career victory of senior Kelsi Dunne, the Alabama softball team earned the series sweep with a 9-0 victory over Arkansas, Sunday afternoon. Dunne tossed four innings, scattered three hits and did not allow a run while striking out seven and walking none. Dunne grabs her 16th win of the season, and only trails Shelly Laird in career total wins. Laird holds the record for Alabama with 115 career victories. Sophomore Kayla Braud paced the Tide at the plate with a pair of hits and two runs scored. Junior Amanda Locke drove in a pair and hit her third home run in the series to lead the power surge for Alabama.
WHO TO WATCH
Since SEC play has begun, freshman Kaila Hunt has led Alabama at the plate with a .450 average (9-for-20) with a home run, two doubles and four runs scored. Fellow freshman Jackie Traina has hit a pair of home runs, including a grand slam with a team-best 13 RBI. In the circle, the rookie has gone 3-1, earned her first career save and struck out 37 batters. Junior Jennifer Fenton has batted a .421 (8-for-19) with two home runs, five runs and 11 RBI. Sophomore Kayla Braud has hit .323 (10-for-31) since league action began with three doubles and 11 runs. Senior Kelsi Dunne is a perfect 6-0 against SEC opponents with 54 strikeouts.
SCOUTING COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON
The College of Charleston softball team split its Saturday afternoon Southern Conference doubleheader with Georgia Southern at Patriots Point. The Cougars claimed a 3-0 victory in the first game but fell in the nightcap, 4-3. Alexa Datko threw a no-hitter in the opening game to snap Georgia Southern's five-game winning streak. In the second game, a three-run, seventh-inning Georgia Southern rally downed College of Charleston and prevented the sweep. On Sunday, the College of Charleston softball team fell, 6-5, in a back-and-forth SoCon series conclusion to Georgia Southern. The Cougars led twice in the game but were doomed by a three-run seventh inning for the second game in a row. On Tuesday evening, C of C swept its doubleheader against South Carolina State in dominant fashion as the Cougars enforced the eight-run-rule twice in 8-0 and 15-0 wins. Carly Corthell extended her hit streak to eight games and has at least one hit in 25 of C of C's last 26 games. Katie Forbes leads College of Charleston is batting average (.405), RBI (14), on-base percentage (.470) and doubles (7). Corthell is a close second with a .393 average, and leads the team with 22 runs and 49 total bases. The Cougars' leading pitcher is Datko, who holds a 10-3 record with a 1.42 ERA.
SCOUTING SOUTH CAROLINA
South Carolina had a tough weekend as they were swept by No. 11 Tennessee. Another strong effort by South Carolina came up short on Friday as Tennessee came through with a 4-2 win in eight innings on Friday night. On Saturday afternoon, Tennessee came out on fire in the first and captured a 10-3 lead over South Carolina. Gamecock junior center fielder Lauren Lackey led the Gamecocks with a 2-for-3 day, driving in a run, while senior catcher P.J. Fulmer had one of South Carolina's two doubles, stretching her team lead to eight. A hard-fought game by South Carolina on Sunday slipped away at the end, as Tennessee captured its second walk-off win of the weekend with a 5-4 final in seven. The Gamecocks took the initial 4-0 lead in the first thanks to sophomore right fielder Hannah Milks' grand slam. Lauren Lackey leads the team with a .377 batting average, has 18 runs, 40 total bases and 11 stolen bases. Dana Hathorn is hitting a .353 average with 19 runs and 23 RBI. The Gamecocks will host USC Upstate at home this Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. EDT.
SERIES HISTORY
College of Charleston: This will be the first time the two programs have met each other in softball play.
South Carolina: Last season, the Crimson Tide opened its home portion of the SEC schedule with a weekend series against the Gamecocks on March 19. The then-No. 5 Alabama softball team defeated South Carolina twice Saturday afternoon, March 20, run-ruling the Gamecocks in game one, 8-0, and winning game two, 8-2. The second game of the doubleheader was both the 900th game in the program's history and head coach Patrick Murphy's 600th win at the Capstone. On Sunday afternoon, the Alabama softball team tied a school record with a 14-run inning and six home runs to earn a series sweep over South Carolina by the score of 21-1. The 21 runs equals the most scored in a game in UA school history as does the 20-run margin of victory. The 21 runs are the most scored by the Tide in Southeastern Conference play. Alabama holds a 10-game advantage over South Carolina, 26-16.
ALABAMA STILL A UNANIMOUS NO. 1
The Alabama softball team remained number one in both polls for the second consecutive week. The Crimson Tide received 19 of the 20 first-place votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll and earned 23 of 30 first-place votes in the latest USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Poll, as released on Tuesday. Opening week seven of the season on March 22, the Crimson Tide fell 4-1 to then-No.11 Tennessee after defeating the Lady Vols 9-5 in game one of the doubleheader. The split with Alabama, a team that swept Arkansas over the weekend, moved Tennessee (27-5, 5-3 SEC) back into the top 10 in the ESPN.com poll.
DUNNE SECOND IN CAREER STRIKEOUTS; EARNED 100TH CAREER WIN
Alabama senior pitcher Kelsi Dunne took sole possession of second in total career strikeouts with 1,046 on Saturday in the Tide's 12-3 victory over Arkansas. The senior struck out Chloe Oprzedek in the fifth inning to take over second and finished the series with 1,053 strikeouts. Next on the list for the right-hander is record-holder Stephanie VanBrakle (1,113). Dunne also earned her 100th career victory on Sunday, which is second place in the Alabama annals. Dunne tossed four innings on Sunday and did not allow a run while striking out seven and walking none Shelly Laird holds the record with 115.
LARSEN MOVES UP THE HOME RUN LIST
Alabama senior Whitney Larsen smacked a solo-shot to lead off the fourth inning against Arkansas on Saturday. Larsen now has 42 career homers which is third in UA history for career round-trippers. On the season, the senior has drilled eight home runs, added 36 RBI and is hitting .355. Charlotte Morgan ranks second all-time with 58 homers and Kelly Kretschman holds the top mark with 60 home runs.
ALABAMA REMAINS UNDEFEATED AT RHOADS STADIUM
The Crimson Tide is a perfect 17-0 at Rhoads Stadium for the 2011 season. Alabama is 5-0 against ranked opponents as well, including sweeps of then-No. 24 Auburn and then-No. 1 Georgia. Freshman Kaila Hunt has been more than impressive when at home this season, batting .483 with seven RBI and six runs. Junior Cassie Reilly-Boccia has knocked in 25 runs thus far and scored 16 times with a .340 batting average. Sophomore Kayla Braud is hitting .418 with 23 runs and nine stolen bases. Senior Kelsi Dunne has been marvelous inside the circle, compiling a 10-0 record with a 1.43 ERA and 91 strikeouts. The Tide has outscored their opponents 153 to 40 in front of an average attendance of 2,753 fans inside Rhoads Stadium.
ALABAMA AGAINST 2010 NCAA TOURNAMENT TEAMS
Alabama once again faces a tough schedule as the Crimson Tide has already played 24 games against teams that participated in the 2010 NCAA tournament. The Crimson Tide sports a 22-2 record in those games in 2011 with its only loss coming against No. 17 Louisiana-Lafayette (1-0, March 4) and No. 11 Tennessee (4-1, March 22). They are a perfect 13-0 against the 2010 tourney teams inside the friendly confines of Rhoads Stadium. The Tide has outscored those opponents 159-44 and is hitting .289 with 34 home runs and 146 RBI. In the circle, Alabama is pitching at a 1.58 clip and holding those teams to a .172 batting average. Sophomore Kayla Braud leads the team with a .442 average and has scored 26 runs and swiped 22 bases. Freshman Jackie Traina is batting .333 with eight home runs and 25 RBI. Cassie Reilly-Boccia closely follows with 26 RBI while adding a .328 average with five home runs. In the circle, senior Kelsi Dunne is 13-1 with a 1.23 ERA. She has struck out 138 in 85.2 innings.
ALABAMA AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS
Alabama holds an 8-2 record against ranked opponents in 2011. The Tide has outscored its ranked opposition 54-24 while hitting .237 with 10 home runs and 46 RBI. In the circle the Tide is pitching at a 2.09 clip and holding opponents to a .191 average. Alabama has now won seven of their last eight against ranked teams, including a sweep of No. 1 Georgia last weekend. Individually, Jennifer Fenton is hitting a .348 average with seven runs batted in. Kayla Braud is batting .333 and scored a team-best 10 runs while adding four doubles. In the circle, Kelsi Dunne is 6-1 with a 2.04 ERA and has struck out 64 in 44.2 innings.
NCAA TEAM STANDINGS
The Tide is currently dominating several categories in Division I softball. The Crimson Tide lead the NCAA in total stolen bases (92) due to Kayla Braud's team-leasing 38 stolen bases. Alabama places second in home runs (65), home runs per game (1.86) and slugging percentage (.638). The Tide is fourth in total runs (285), 13th in ERA (1.50) and 14th in batting average (.341). Overall, Alabama is tied for first with the best record in NCAA Division I softball.
NCAA INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS
Several Crimson Tide softball players contribute to their team's success. Kayla Braud leads the NCAA in stolen bases (38), fourth in runs scored (46), ranks 12th in batting average (.477) and 19th in on-base percentage (.562). Jackie Traina's stellar freshman performance is being recognized as she ties for seventh in home runs (13) and ties for 17th in slugging percentage (.925). On the verge of becoming the Alabama's all-time strikeout queen, Kelsi Dunne is seventh in shutouts (6), tied for ninth in total wins (16) and 14th in strikeouts (165).
SEC TEAM STANDINGS
With the hot start at the plate to the 2011 campaign, the Crimson Tide leads the Southeastern Conference in numerous statistical categories. Offensively, the Tide leads the circuit in: slugging percentage (.638), doubles (53), home runs (65) and stolen bases (92). The team ranks second in runs scored (285), runs batted in (264) and total bases (551). The Tide comes in at third in batting average (.341), on-base percentage (.449) and hits (295). In the circle, the Tide leads the circuit in ERA (1.50), strikeouts (308) and total wins (33). Alabama ranks second in opposing batting average (.175) and hits allowed (134).
SEC INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS
Numerous Alabama individuals currently pace the league in several categories. Kayla Braud leads the league in batting average (.477), stolen bases (38) and is tied for first in runs scored (46). Braud ranks second in on-base percentage (.562) and hits (51). Jackie Traina comes in at second in slugging percentage (.925) and home runs (13) while staying at fourth in runs batted in (40). In the circle, Kelsi Dunne is first in batters truck out (165), second in opposing batting average (.140) and third in ERA (1.24).
NEXT TIME OUT
The Alabama Crimson Tide will get some much needed time off this week before they head down to Baton Rouge, La., for the weekend to battle the LSU Tigers in a SEC western division matchup. The two ranked foes will face off inside Tiger Park with first pitch scheduled for Friday, April 8, at 6 p.m. CDT.
