Alabama Softball Heads to Orlando to Open 2016 Season

Feb. 11, 2016

THIS WEEKEND

UCF KNIGHTS INVITATIONAL

Orlando, Fla. - UCF Softball Complex

vs. Fordham - Friday, Feb. 12 - 1 p.m. CT
at #17 UCF - Friday, Feb. 12 - 5:30 p.m. CT
vs. Rutgers - Saturday, Feb. 13 - 11 a.m. CT
vs. #19 James Madison - Saturday, Feb. 13 - 3:30 p.m. CT
vs. Liberty - Sunday, Feb. 14 - 9 a.m. CT

FOLLOWING THE TIDE

Radio: 95.3 FM / 953thebear.com
*Alabama vs. James Madison on 99.1 FM
Live Stats: rolltide.com
Twitter: @AlabamaSB

SCOUTING ALABAMA

The Tide returns 12 players from last season, including four All-Americans, and welcomes six newcomers to the team.
Alabama enters the season ranked No. 5 in both preseason polls after finishing last season ranked No. 6, its 11th-straight top 10 finish.
NFCA Hall of Fame head coach Patrick Murphy returns for his 18th season leading the program. He owns an 890-241 (.787) record at Alabama since being promoted to head coach in the 1999 season. The Tide has made the NCAA tournament every season under Murphy.
This season marks the 20th anniversary for the program, which originally began in 1997.
Alabama's schedule this season includes 34 games against 16 teams that made the 2015 NCAA tournament. Ten of those games are out-of-conference while the remaining 24 will come in SEC play.

ALABAMA ON OPENING WEEKEND

This is the first time since 2003 that Alabama will play two different ranked teams on opening weekend (No. 17 UCF and No. 19 James Madison).
This is the eighth time that Alabama will play at least one ranked opponent on opening weekend. The last ranked opponent Alabama played on opening weekend was South Alabama, ranked No. 23 last season.
Three of this weekend's opponents (Fordham, UCF and James Madison) won their league last season and made the 2015 NCAA Tournament. The Dukes earned a No. 15 seed in the tournament and hosted a regional.

ALABAMA VS. THE OPPONENTS

1-1 vs Fordham

Current Streak: Fordham 1
First Meeting: March 5, 2011 - Alabama 3, Fordham 1
Last Meeting: May 7, 2012 - Fordham 8, Alabama 5

3-1 vs. UCF

Current Streak: Alabama 3
First Meeting: Feb. 28, 2010 - UCF 3, Alabama 2
Last Meeting: Feb. 22, 2014 - Alabama 1, UCF 0

0-0 vs Rutgers First Meeting

1-0 vs James Madison

First Meeting: Feb. 21, 2015 - Alabama 6, James Madison 4

1-0 vs Liberty

First Meeting: March 10, 2010 - Alabama 10, Liberty 7

RETURNING FOUR ALL-AMERICANS

Alabama returns all four of its All-Americans from last season:

Haylie McCleney (Sr. - OF - First Team): Enters her senior season as the Alabama career leader in batting average (.449) and on-base percentage (.561) and, with another award this season, could become just the sixth four-time All-American in program history.
Alexis Osorio (So. - RHP - Second Team): Looking to build off a stellar freshman campaign as the SEC Freshman of the Year and a top-three finalist for the NFCA Freshman of the Year Award. She finished last season with a 22-9 record and 1.75 ERA with 227 strikeouts over 192.0 innings.
Marisa Runyon (Jr. - IF - Third Team): Set an Alabama single-season RBI record last year, driving in 80 thanks in large part to a scorching second half of the season. Led the team with 19 home runs, including four multi-homer games, the most in a single season in program history.
Demi Turner (So. - IF - Third Team): Led the team with 82 hits as a freshman with a .423 batting average, earning a hit in 46 of her 61 starts. She also led the team with 26 multi-hit games and was a top-25 finalist for the NFCA Freshman of the Year award.

TIDE WELCOMES SIX NEWCOMERS

Alabama welcomes six newcomers to the team this season:

Sydney Booker (So. - IF - Madison, Ala.): Booker is a sophomore transfer from Southeastern Louisiana, where she was a top-25 finalist for the NFCA Freshman of the Year award in 2015. She set a Lady Lion single-season record with 49 RBIs and eight triples.
Mari Cranek (Fr. - OF - Needville, Texas): Helped guide Needville High School to a runner-up finish at the state tournament her senior season, earning district MVP honors. Was invited to the U.S. Junior National Team tryouts in 2015.
Reagan Dykes (Fr. - C - Collins, Miss.): One of just 10 players selected to the 2015 Louisville Slugger Hit Club, which includes the top hitters in the country. Prepped at Presbyterian Christian and played club softball with the Birmingham Thunderbolts.
Caroline Hardy (Fr. - UTIL - Vestavia Hills, Ala.): Was the Birmingham News Hitter of the Year in 2013 and earned All-State and All-Metro honors in 2013 and 2014.
Madi Moore (Fr. - LHP - Winfield, Ala.): Guided Winfield High School to its first ever state championship in 2014, earning state tournament MVP honors and the title of "Miss Softball" from the Alabama Sports Writers Association.
Merris Schroder (Fr. - OF - Houston, Texas): Was the team offensive MVP as a junior and senior at Cy-Fair High School, earning first team All-District and All-State honors both seasons.

#TEAM20

This season marks the 20th anniversary of Alabama softball. Since throwing the first pitch in the spring of 1997, the Crimson Tide have become an annual powerhouse both in the Southeastern Conference and on the national scene:

968-288 (.771) overall record
10 Women's College World Series Appearances
2012 National Champions, the first of any SEC program
11-straight Super Regional appearances, the most of any program
17-straight NCAA Tournament appearances
5 SEC regular season titles ('06, '10, '11, '12, '14)
5 SEC tournament titles ('98, '03, '05, '10, '12)
24 players combining to earn 49 NFCA All-America honors
89 All-SEC honorees
19 Academic All-America awards

UP NEXT