Fourth-Ranked Alabama Softball Set to Host Arkansas
4/3/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 3, 2014
THIS WEEK
This weekend, No. 4 Alabama (32-5, 11-1 SEC) plays its fifth SEC series of the season, welcoming the Arkansas Razorbacks (24-12, 2-7 SEC) to Rhoads Stadium. Game one is set for an 8 p.m. CT first pitch on Friday, April 4 and the game will be aired on ESPNU. Game two will be on Saturday, April 5 at 2 p.m. and the series finale will be on Sunday, April 6 at 2 p.m., aired live on ESPN.
THE TIDE ON THE AIR
RADIO - 95.3 FM (Local Only)
TV
Friday - ESPNU*
Sunday - ESPN*
*Both games can also be viewed online at WatchESPN.com or with the WatchESPN app.
WEEKEND PROMOTIONS
Saturday - Molly Fichtner Senior Day, Power of Pink, Alumni Day
Sunday - Youth Day
SCOUTING ARKANSAS
Arkansas (24-14, 2-7 SEC) - The Razorbacks come into the weekend after breaking a four-game losing streak with a 9-0 victory in their midweek game against Missouri State. Arkansas jumped ahead to an early 6-0 lead and put it way out of reach with homers by senior Amanda Geile and junior Devon Wallace, marking the team's fourth-straight game with at least two home runs. The Razorbacks have yet to win an SEC series this season, though they avoided sweeps against Tennessee and Ole Miss with a win in each series. At the plate, Arkansas leads the SEC with a .335 average led by senior Clarisa Navarro at .389 (42-108) with a team-leading 32 RBI. Wallace leads the team with 10 home runs and opponents have pitched to her accordingly, as she has drawn an SEC-leading 43 walks. The Razorbacks have had to dig deep into their bullpen this season, throwing seven different pitchers. Freshman Grace Moll (8-4, 3.13 ERA) has seen the most time in the circle with 78.1 innings pitched over 22 appearances and 14 starts.
SERIES HISTORY
Alabama holds a 47-8 advantage in the all-time series, only losing once to the Razorbacks since 2002. That defeat came in 2012 during the most-recent series between the two teams. The teams split the opening two games, setting up an important Sunday game for Jaclyn Traina, who threw a complete game in the circle and helped her own cause with a two-run homer as the Tide went on to win, 5-1. The two teams have met five times in the SEC Tournament, with Alabama winning four.
LAST TIME OUT: ALABAMA SHUTS OUT SOUTH ALABAMA, 3-0, WEDNESDAY NIGHT
Facing the top-rated pitching staff in the country, a timely three-run double by Andrea Hawkins made the difference in Alabama's narrow 3-0 victory over eleventh-ranked South Alabama Wednesday night at Rhoads Stadium. With the win, Alabama snaps South Alabama's 17-game road winning streak, handing the Jaguars their first road loss since the Crimson Tide defeated them last season in Tuscaloosa. Alabama remains perfect all-time against their in-state foe, stretching the series record to 9-0. A second-inning double by Andrea Hawkins drove in three unearned runs while the Alabama defense overcame two errors to hold the visitors scoreless. Sydney Littlejohn (7-0) earned the win for Alabama, throwing the first 4.0 innings with just three hits allowed while Jaclyn Traina earned her second save of the season, throwing 3.0 shutout innings in relief. South Alabama junior Farish Beard (16-2), the national leader in ERA, took the loss in the complete-game effort, allowing three runs after allowing just nine all season heading into this game.
LEADING THE WAY
Alabama has made a habit of jumping ahead of teams early this season, as the fast starts have thrown plenty of opponents off balance. The Tide is 28-0 when scoring before its opponent and 20-0 when scoring in the first inning. Of the 259 runs Alabama has scored this season, 51 of those have come in the first inning, the most of any inning. Alabama has scored 141 of its 256 runs (55.1 percent) in the first three innings and is outscoring its opponents in the opening three innings 141-37. When leading off an inning, Alabama is hitting .491 (113-230) and is also hitting .585 (62-106) with a runner on third and less than two outs. Haylie McCleney has hit out of the leadoff spot in all but one game this season, leading the SEC and ranking second nationally with a .623 on-base percentage.
JADYN DIALED IN
Junior outfielder Jadyn Spencer owns the longest active hitting streak on the team, hitting safely in eight-straight games. The streak is a career-best for the Waterloo, Iowa native and raised her season average 65 points, from .300 prior to the Florida series to .365 following this week's game against South Alabama. During that eight-game stretch, she leads the team with a .520 average, 13 hits, two doubles, three home runs and seven RBI. She earned two hits in five of those eight games, giving her eight multi-hit games this season after earning just seven in her first two seasons combined. Her eight multi-hit games this season is tied for second on the team with Kaila Hunt, as the pair only trail Haylie McCleney's 16 multi-hit games.
TIMELY HITS FOR HAWKINS
Sophomore outfielder Andrea Hawkins has made a habit of coming up with big at-bats lately, driving in seven of the team's 10 RBI over the past three games. Trailing 1-0 in the seventh inning against LSU on Saturday, Haylie McCleney was intentionally walked to load the bases with one away, bringing Hawkins to the plate. With a pair of groundouts in her first two at-bats, Hawkins redeemed herself with a long fly ball to right field, driving in the game-tying run on the sacrifice fly to set up the eventual walk-off single by Kaila Hunt to secure the series. In Sunday's series finale over LSU, Hawkins drove in three runs off a third-inning double to the center-field wall as the Tide went on to win, 5-1. She earned a second-straight three RBI game on Wednesday, dropping a bases-loaded double into left field that rolled away from the South Alabama outfielder, allowing all three runners to score as they made the difference in Alabama's 3-0 shutout victory.
Kaila Hunt NAMED SENIOR CLASS AWARD FINALIST
Alabama senior Kaila Hunt was selected as one of 10 finalists for the 2014 Senior CLASS Award, announced on April 2. The CLASS award, an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, celebrates student-athletes that excel on and off the field. Last season, she became just the sixth player in Alabama history to earn NFCA All-American and CoSIDA Academic All-American honors in the same season. Hunt is a two-time Academic All-District honoree, a two-time Academic All-SEC honoree and two-time NFCA All-America scholar athlete. Hunt is one of three SEC players to make the cut, joining Hannah Rogers (Florida) and Madison Shipman (Tennessee). The winner will be selected by a vote of Division-I coaches, media and fans. The winner will be announced during the 2014 Women's College World Series.
SOFTBALL EARNS ITS HIGHEST RANKING OF THE SEASON AT NO. 4 IN BOTH POLLS
Alabama Softball continues to climb up the national rankings, earning its highest mark of this season this week at No. 4 in both the USA Today/NFCA poll and the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll, released Tuesday. Alabama made a large jump in the USA Today/NFCA ranks, moving up three spots from No. 7 last week to No. 4 this week. This is the highest Alabama has been ranked in the poll since week one. The Crimson Tide is now the second-highest ranked SEC team, jumping No. 6 Florida following their 0-3 weekend at the hands of the No. 2 Tennessee Volunteers. UCLA is a near-unanimous No. 1 pick this week, earning 31 of a possible 32 first-place votes. The Tide earns its highest spot of the season this week in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll, moving up one spot from No. 5 last week to No. 4 this week. The top five teams (UCLA, Tennessee, Oregon, Alabama and Michigan) are the same in both polls, while the winless weekend dropped the Gators all the way down to No. 7. Eight SEC teams are ranked in both polls, the most of any conference: Tennessee (2/2), Alabama (4/4), Florida (6/7), Kentucky (12/12), Georgia (15/17), Missouri (16/18), Texas A&M (18/21) and Auburn (19/19). LSU and Mississippi State are both receiving votes in the USA Today/NFCA poll.
NEXT TIME OUT: APRIL 9 VS. UAB
On Wednesday, April 9, Alabama hosts UAB (22-15) for a 6 p.m. game at Rhoads Stadium. This will be the teams' second meeting this season, as the Tide defeated the Blazers, 5-0, earlier this season in Birmingham.
