Alabama
Auburn
Alabama Softball Closes Regular Season With Three-Game Home Series Against Auburn
5/4/2017 3:02:00 PM | Softball
This Weekend
No. 14/15Â Alabama (39-13, 11-9 SEC) vs. No. 9/10 Auburn (43-8, 15-6 SEC)
Tuscaloosa, Ala. - Rhoads Stadium
- Friday, May 5 - 7 p.m. CT
- Saturday, May 6 - 7 p.m. CTÂ (ESPN)
- Sunday, May 7 - Noon CT (ESPN2)
Following the Tide
- Video:
- Friday - SEC Network+ (Online Only)*
- Saturday - ESPN
- Sunday - ESPN2
- Radio: 93.3 FM (praise933.com)
- Live Stats: rolltide.com
- Twitter: @AlabamaSB
* = SEC Network will have live look-ins on all of Friday's league games as part of its "Bases Loaded" coverage. The full broadcast will only be streamed online.
Scouting No 14/15 Alabama (39-13, 11-9Â SEC)
- Alabama and Ole Miss split a Saturday doubleheader before the Rebels defeated the Crimson Tide in a back-and-forth series rubber match on Monday. Alabama is now 39-13 overall and 11-9 in SEC play with one conference series remaining in the regular season.
- The Tide comes in at No. 16 in this week's NCAA Rating Percentage Index. Alabama is also ranked No. 14 in the most recent USA Today/NFCA poll and No. 15 the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll.
- The Crimson Tide is second in the SEC in strikeouts (435), with league-leader Florida as the only other team with over 400 this season. Alabama also ranks second in opposing batting average (.165), hits allowed (200) and runs allowed (93) and is third in walks drawn (222), earned run average (1.55) and fielding percentage (.977).
- Alexis Osorio is second in the SEC and seventh nationally with 255 strikeouts, with her and Florida's Kelly Barnhill as the only SEC pitchers with over 200 strikeouts. Littlejohn is fourth in the SEC with 154 strikeouts and Florida senior Delaney Gourley is third with 165, giving Florida and Alabama the top four strikeout leaders in the conference.
The Opponent
Auburn Tigers
- Conference: SEC
- 2017 Record: 43-8 (15-6 SEC)
- Head Coach: Clint Myers (Fourth Season)
- Starters Returning/Lost: 6/3
Auburn Stat Leaders
- Batting Avg. - Alyssa Rivera - .402
- Hits - Carlee Wallace - 52
- Home Runs - Kendall Veach - 11
- Wins - Kaylee Carlson - 24
- ERA - Kaylee Carlson - 1.24
- Strikeouts - Kaylee Carlson – 103
All-Time vs. The Opponent
45-18 vs. Auburn
- Current Streak: Auburn 3
- First Meeting: April 2, 1997 - L, 0-1 - Tuscaloosa, Ala.
- Last Meeting: May 13, 2016 - L, 4-6 - Starkville, Miss. (SEC Tournament)
- Last Meeting in Tuscaloosa: March 24, 2013 - W, 13-1 (5 Inn.)
Last Time Out: Alabama and Ole Miss Split Saturday Doubleheader, Tide Falls in Rubber Match
Alabama 2, Ole Miss 0
The two teams were scoreless for the first five innings of Saturday's series opener but a pair of runs by the Crimson Tide in the top of the sixth proved enough as Alabama won, 2-0. Alexis Osorio went the distance in the circle, holding the Rebels to just one hit with nine strikeouts. Elissa Brown posted her second straight multi-hit game, going 2-3 at the top of the order, while Marisa Runyon and Bailey Hemphill earned the team's two RBIs in the contest. Chandler Dare went 1-2, extending her hitting streak to a season-best six games.
Ole Miss 2, Alabama 1
Alabama took another early lead in game two of Saturday's doubleheader and the Tide remained on top until the bottom of the seventh when Ole Miss strung four key hits together to win in walk-off fashion, 2-1. Offensively, Alabama only scratched across one run on three hits with Marisa Runyon accounting for the lone RBI and two of the team's three hits. Sydney Littlejohn took the loss in the circle, holding Ole Miss scoreless on three hits before the Rebels' big seventh inning.
Ole Miss 5, Alabama 4
Alabama trailed 3-0 after two innings and cut the Ole Miss lead to one in the top of the third on a Marisa Runyon home run before taking a 4-3 lead in the top of the fifth on a two-run single by Reagan Dykes. The score remained the same until the seventh inning and, down to its final out, the Rebels drew a walk and took advantage of a three-base error to tie the game and an infield single in the next at-bat ended it as Ole Miss came back to win, 5-4. Runyon's home run was part of a 3-4 day at the plate for the Tide, tying a season high in hits for the senior. Elissa Brown went 2-3 in the plate and Dykes drove in two of the Tide's four runs. Alexis Osorio was a tough-luck loser in an otherwise strong outing in the circle, fanning 13 batters in the complete-game effort.
Tide History vs. Auburn
- Alabama is 45-18 all-time against Auburn. The 45 wins are the Tide's fourth-most against an SEC opponent, trailing only Mississippi State (59), Ole Miss (58) and Arkansas (56).
- Alabama is 26-6 (.813) all-time at home against Auburn. The Tigers won four of the first six meetings between the two teams in Tuscaloosa but the Tide has since gone 24-2.
- Auburn's 7-4 win over Alabama on March 23, 2013 snapped an 11-game home win streak for the Tide that stretched back to 2005. The next game, a 13-1 win in five innings for Alabama on March 24, 2013 is the most recent meeting between the two teams in Tuscaloosa.
- This weekend marks Auburn's first visit to Tuscaloosa under head coach Clint Myers, currently in his fourth season with the Tigers. The two teams have met seven times since Myers' debut in 2014, with Auburn holding a slim 4-3 advantage.
- The two teams have met eight times in the postseason, all coming in the SEC Tournament. Alabama has won five of the eight contests, though Auburn has won the last two.
Zeroes in the Run Column
Last Saturday's 2-0 victory over Ole Miss marked the 24th shutout of the season for Alabama. It is the most shutouts in a season since 2009 and tied for the third-most in program history, just two shy of tying the single-season record.
Most Shutouts in a Single Season at Alabama
- 26 - 2009
- 25 - 2001
- 24 - 2017, 2006
Late Season Streaks
- Elissa Brown has reached base safely in each of her last 11 games, her longest such streak of the season. Over that stretch she is hitting 12-27 (.444) with five walks, good for a .531 on base percentage, and has nine runs scored and nine stolen bases.
- A two-run single on Monday against Ole Miss extended Reagan Dykes' current hit streak to four games. She has earned a hit in five of her last six games and has reached base safely in six of her last seven. She has six RBIs over those seven games, the most of any Tide player in that stretch.
- Bailey Hemphill has reached base safely in eight of her last nine games, hitting 8-25 (.320) over that stretch with five RBIs, three runs scored and six walks. She reached base safely in 22-straight games to start the season, the second-longest streak for a freshman in program history. In total, she has reached base safely in 45 of her 51 games played.
- Monday's 5-4 loss was the first time the Alabama pitching staff had allowed an opponent to score more than three runs since April 2 against Missouri. Prior to Monday, the streak was at 13-straight games, including five shutouts. Overall, Tide pitching has allowed four or more runs just six times this season and has posted 24 shutouts. The team ERA of 1.55 currently ranks third in Alabama single-season history and its .165 opposing batting average is currently the best in program history.
Up Next
Next week, Alabama begins postseason play at the 2017 SEC Tournament in Knoxville, Tenn. Tournament seeding will be finalized upon the completion of this weekend's games on Sunday, May 7. Action at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium begins on Wednesday, May 10 and culminates with the SEC Tournament Championship on Saturday, May 13.
- First Round - Wednesday, May 10 (SEC Network)
- Quarterfinals - Thursday, May 11 (SEC Network)
- Semifinals - Friday, May 12 (ESPNU)
- Championship - Saturday, May 13 - 7 p.m. CT (ESPN)
