Alabama Softball Hosts North Florida Wednesday at Rhoads Stadium

Wednesday, February 22

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

6 P.M. CT

Alabama

North Florida

Buy Tickets

Alabama Softball Hosts North Florida Wednesday at Rhoads Stadium

2/21/2017 2:27:00 PM | Softball

Game Notes (PDF)Live Stats Live Audio SEC Network+Tickets

THIS WEEK

No. 10/10 Alabama (7-2) vs. North Florida (7-4)

Wednesday, Feb. 22 - 6 p.m. CT

Tuscaloosa, Ala. - Rhoads Stadium

FOLLOWING THE TIDE
Video: SEC Network+ (Online Only)
Radio: 93.3 FM (praise933.com)
Live Stats: rolltide.com
Twitter: @AlabamaSB

SCOUTING ALABAMA (7-2)

Alabama defeated South Alabama, 3-1, on Wednesday in its 2017 home opener before dropping two out of three games on the road against No. 18 Louisiana-Lafayette.
With last Wednesday's win, Alabama is now 18-3 (.857) all-time in home openers and is 533-96 (.847) all-time at home, including a 478-76 (.863) mark at Rhoads Stadium.
The Tide fell in the national polls but remain in the top 10, coming in at No. 10 in both the USA Today/NFCA poll and the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll.
The series loss at Louisiana-Lafayette is the first series loss to a ranked opponent in almost a full calendar year, last doing so on March 11-13, 2016 at LSU. It is the last series loss in a three-game series outside of conference play since falling to Florida in the Women's College World Series championship series in 2014.

THE OPPONENT
North Florida Ospreys

Conference: Atlantic Sun Conference
2017 Record: 7-4
Head Coach: Marcie Hickey (9th Season)
Starters Returning/Lost: 6/3
Newcomers: 5

Stat Leaders

Batting Avg. - Macayla Kelley - .542
Hits - Navia Penrod - 20
Home Runs - Four Tied - 1
Wins - Amanda Blanchard - 3
ERA - Logan Green - 2.24
Strikeouts - Logan Green - 26

ALL-TIME VS. THE OPPONENT

1-0 vs. North Florida

Current Streak: Alabama 1
Last Meeting: Feb. 7, 2014 - W, 10-1 (5) - Troy Ala. (Troy Subway Invitational)

HOME STREAKS

Alabama will play its next six games at home before hitting the road briefly to face UAB in Birmingham, Ala., on Tuesday, Feb. 28. After that, the Tide will be back home for 10-straight games.
The upcoming six-game home stand already matches the longest such streak from last season, though 2016 was the only time in the last 10 years the Tide haven't had one streak of at least eight-straight home games.
The 10-straight home games following next Tuesday's contest at UAB is the longest home stand for Alabama since 2015 and the fifth time since 2008 Alabama has played 10-or-more consecutive games at home (10 in 2008, 10 in 2012, 12 in 2013 and 11 in 2015).

LAST TIME OUT: ALABAMA FALLS IN TWO OUT OF THREE AT LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE

GAME ONE: ALABAMA 3, LOUISIANA 0 - Three runs were all the Crimson Tide needed to win in the opening game of Saturday's doubleheader behind a strong combined pitching performance by Sydney Littlejohn and Alexis Osorio, with the junior ultimately getting the win in relief with 4.1 innings pitched and six strikeouts. Peyton Grantham and Bailey Hemphill each drove in a run while Merris Schroder scored the third and final run on a throwing error.
GAME TWO: LOUISIANA 11, ALABAMA 2 (6 INN.) - The Ragin' Cajun offense came alive in the day's second game, as the home team piled on 11 runs over six innings to hand the Crimson Tide its first loss of the 2017 season. Madi Moore threw all 5.2 innings in the loss while Marisa Runyon drove in both of the Tide's runs in the game. Needing to score at least one run to stay alive in the top of the fifth, Alabama loaded the bases with one away. A shallow popup went for out number two and Runyon kept the Tide alive with a two-run single up the middle to make it 8-2. Alabama would load the bases again later in the inning but could not cut any further into the deficit. The Ragin' Cajuns would end the game one inning later with a three-run home run by Beth Ashley for a final score of 11-2.
GAME THREE: LOUISIANA 7, ALABAMA 0 - Alabama could not find a rhythm offensively in the weekend finale against Louisiana-Lafayette, falling 7-0 to the Ragin' Cajuns. Alabama was shut out for the first time this season, as Louisiana-Lafayette took a quick lead in the first inning and never looked back. The Crimson Tide tallied just two hits in the loss, coming off the bats of Chandler Dare and Merris Schroder, while they left a total of seven runners on base. After allowing just 18 walks through the first eight games of the season, Alabama's pitchers allowed nine free passes today along with five hits, including two home runs, as Alexis Osorio ultimately took the loss in the circle, her first of the young season.

ALABAMA SOFTBALL MAINTAINS TOP-10 NATIONAL RANKING

A series loss on the road last weekend dropped Alabama softball in the week two polls, but the Crimson Tide maintained a spot in the top 10, coming in at No. 10 in both the USA Today/NFCA poll and the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll, released Tuesday.
Alabama dropped five spots in the USA Today/NFCA poll and six spots in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll after falling in two out of three games at Louisiana, who in turn rose to No. 16 in both of this week's polls.
Previously top-ranked Florida suffered its first loss of the season last weekend, allowing in-state rival Florida State to jump into the top spot in both polls. Auburn holds steady at No. 2 while the Gators are at No. 3. Oklahoma and Oregon take the next two spots in the NFCA poll while it's UCLA and the Sooners in the USA Softball poll.
Alabama is one of nine SEC schools ranked in this week's top 25, the most of any conference. Ranked SEC teams include Auburn (2/2), Florida (3/3), LSU (7/8), Alabama (10/10), Georgia (11/12), Tennessee (15/13), Texas A&M (18/18), Missouri (20/22) and Kentucky (22/24). South Carolina and Ole Miss are just outside the top 25 receiving votes in both polls while Arkansas is also receiving votes in the USA Softball poll.

RECORD WATCH

A number of Crimson Tide players are moving up the career school records so far in the 2017 season.
Junior Demi Turner is ranked fifth all-time with a .413 career batting average. She has 131 hits in 317 at-bats, making her one of five on the list with a career average over .400. Former teammate Haylie McCleney (2013-16) holds the record at .447.
Senior Chandler Dare is sixth in stolen base percentage (.881) and is just 10 points shy of fifth-place Whitney Larsen at .891. Dare is 2-2 in stolen bases so far this season.
Senior Marisa Runyon is seventh all-time with a .631 career slugging percentage and is tied for ninth with 35 home runs. Her 145 career RBIs put her 17 shy of cracking the top 10.
Senior Sydney Littlejohn is fifth all-time with a 1.91 career ERA and seventh with a .214 opposing batting average. Littlejohn has yet to allow an earned run so far this season. Junior teammate Alexis Osorio is seventh (2.01) and second (.178), respectively, in both categories.
Additionally, Osorio's 550 career strikeouts rank seventh all-time and her 9.53 strikeouts-per-game average is second, only trailing Kelsi Dunne (2008-11) at 9.82. Osorio is just the fourth pitcher in program history to earn at least 500 strikeouts in their first two seasons. Just eight more strikeouts would tie Erin Wright's (2001-04) all-time mark and 26 more would tie Chrissy Owens (2005-08).

UP NEXT
Alabama hosts the Easton Bama Bash at Rhoads Stadium, welcoming UCF, Texas Tech and Gardner-Webb. The Crimson Tide will play five games over three days starting on Friday, Feb. 24.

2017 Easton Bama Bash

Friday, Feb. 24