Alabama
Southern Miss
Alabama Softball Hosts Southern Miss Wednesday on SEC Network
4/17/2018 3:21:00 PM | Softball
#17/17 ALABAMA (26-13, 7-8 SEC) vs. SOUTHERN MISS (16-29, 5-10 C-USA)
Wednesday, April 18 – 6 p.m. CT (SEC Network)
Tuscaloosa, Ala. – Rhoads Stadium
SCOUTING ALABAMA
- Alabama is 26-13 overall and 7-8 in SEC play heading into this weekend after winning one of its three games against Arkansas last weekend in Fayetteville.
- The Crimson Tide moved up two spots in the NCAA RPI rankings to No. 16 but fell to No. 17 in both the USA Today/NFCA poll and ESPN.com/USA Softball poll.
- Freshman Kaylee Tow leads the offense in batting average (.370), runs scored (28), hits (40), home runs (10), on-base percentage (.485) and slugging percentage (.741). Sophomore Bailey Hemphill leads the team with 31 RBIs and 28 walks and is just behind Tow with eight home runs, hitting 31-for-100 (.310) on the season. A stellar month at the plate has propelled sophomore Gabby Callaway up to a .317 batting average, second on the team, with four multi-hit games over her last eight appearances. Elissa Brown is third on the team with a .314 batting average and leads the team with 22 stolen bases. Six of those stolen bases have come in conference play, which is tied for second in the SEC.
- Senior Alexis Osorio and junior Courtney Gettins lead the bullpen with 10 wins each, boasting ERAs of 2.29 and 2.14, respectively. Osorio has 152 strikeouts over 104.0 innings pitched and is just 14 away from the 1,000th of her career.
LAST TIME OUT: ALABAMA DROPS TWO AT ARKANSAS
- GAME ONE: ALABAMA 6, ARKANSAS 5: Alabama fell behind early after Arkansas scored in the first inning. A fielding error allowed the Crimson Tide to tie it up in the top of the third before an hour-long weather delay took the teams off the field. Upon resumption, Alabama went on to score two more runs in the inning to take a 3-1 lead. An RBI single from junior Caroline Hardy, part of a 2-for-4 day at the plate, extended it to 4-1 in the fifth inning and a two-run home run from sophomore Gabby Callaway made it 6-1 in the sixth. The Razorbacks would not go down quietly, rallying to score four runs with two out in the bottom of the seventh to cut the Tide's lead to one before a groundout ended the game with Alabama on top, 6-5.
- GAME TWO: ARKANSAS 3, ALABAMA 0: Alabama fell behind in the second inning after Arkansas scored a pair of runs, despite not posting a hit. The Razorbacks' first hit came in the bottom of the third and its second came soon after, an RBI double that made it 3-0. The Crimson Tide would bring the potential tying run to the plate in the top of the seventh but Arkansas held on to earn the shutout victory and even the weekend series. Each team tallied four hits in the game and each starting pitcher went the distance, with Mary Haff earning the win for the Razorbacks and junior Courtney Gettins taking the loss for the Tide.
- GAME THREE: ARKANSAS 6, ALABAMA 3: Alabama fell behind after Arkansas scored a pair of runs in the first inning and added another in the third. A solo home run from freshman Kaylee Tow in the fifth inning scored the Crimson Tide's first run of the day to make it 3-1 but the Razorbacks added three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth to extend its lead to five. Tow blasted her second home run of the day in the top of the seventh, a two-run shot, before a groundout ended the game with the final score at 6-3. Tow's two home runs were part of a 3-for-4 day at the plate, giving her a team-leading 10 home runs to go along with 26 RBIs this season. Sophomore Gabby Callaway also posted a multi-hit effort, her 10th of the season, as the San Diego, Calif., native earned at least one hit in all three games this weekend.
WEEK 10 STANDOUTS
- Sophomore Gabby Callaway (San Diego, Calif.) led the team with four hits over the weekend, going 4-for-10 (.400) including a home run in the series opener Friday. She went 2-for-4 in the series finale, her 10th multi-hit game of the season. Four of those 10 multi-hit performances have come in the last three weeks, with Callaway hitting 10-for-26 (.385) with six RBIs, five runs scored, three doubles and two home runs over her eight games played during that stretch.
- Freshman Kaylee Tow (Madisonville, Ky.) went 3-for-4 in the series finale against Arkansas, hitting a pair of home runs to drive in all three of Alabama's runs in the losing effort. It is already the second time this season a Tide player has hit multiple home runs in a game, following senior Sydney Booker's performance on March 31 at Kentucky. Tow now leads the team with 10 home runs this season.
- Sophomore Bailey Hemphill's (Lafayette, La.) reached base ended at 19 games after going 0-for-3 in game two of the weekend series. It is the longest streak for any Alabama player this season and was just three shy of her career best of 22-straight set last season. Over her career, Hemphill has reached base safely in 88 of the 101 games she has played in.
ALABAMA BATS AMONG SEC LEADERS
Through five conference series, the Alabama offense is among the league leaders in numerous categories in SEC-only play.
- Slugging Percentage - 2nd - .419
- Home Runs - 2nd - 15
- Runs Scored - 3rd - 62
- Batting Average - 4th - .265
- Hits - T4th - 105
- Runs Batted In - 4th - 55
- Walks - 4th - 46
- On Base Percentage - 5th - .349
TOW TEARING IT UP IN SEC PLAY
Freshman Kaylee Tow has led the Crimson Tide at the plate in SEC play and is among the top-10 league-wide in a number of offensive categories. In six of the eight categories, she is the highest ranked freshman or tied for the lead.
Kaylee Tow in SEC-Only Games
* = leader among freshmen
- *Total Bases - T3rd - 33
- *Slugging Percentage - T3rd - .717
- *Home Runs - T3rd - 5
- *Runs Batted In - T4th - 11
- *Batting Average - T5th - .370
- *Hits - T5th - 17
- On-Base Percentage - 6th - .482
- Runs Scored - 10th - 10
TOW AMONG FRESHMAN HOME RUN LEADERS AT UA
Freshman Kaylee Tow hit two home runs in Sunday's game at Arkansas, increasing her team-leading total to 10. This is the most home runs hit for a Crimson Tide freshman since Reagan Dykes in 2016 and is tied for the fifth-most from any UA freshman.
Most Home Runs as a Freshman
- 25 - Kelly Kretschman (1998)
- 13 - Jaclyn Traina (2011)
- 12 - Reagan Dykes (2016), Stephanie VanBrakle (2003)
- 11 - Charlotte Morgan (2007)
- 10 - Kaylee Tow (2018), Kaila Hunt (2011), Courtney Conley (2010)
OSORIO 14 AWAY FROM 1,000th CAREER STRIKEOUT
Senior Alexis Osorio is approaching a rare milestone at Alabama, as she is just 14 strikeouts away from the 1,000th of her career. She would be just the fourth player in program history to hit the 1,000 strikeout mark and the first since Kelsi Dunne (2008-11). She moved to fourth all-time at Alabama following last weekend's series at Arkansas, passing three-time All-American Jaclyn Traina (2011-14).
Alabama Career Strikeout Leaders
- Kelsi Dunne (2008-11): 1,219
- Stephanie VanBrakle (2003-06): 1,113
- Shelley Laird (1999-2002): 1,045
- Alexis Osorio (2015-pres.): 986
- Jaclyn Traina (2011-14): 976
SIX NATIONALLY TELEVISED GAMES REMAIN FOR ALABAMA
Alabama softball is slated to appear six more times across ESPN's family of networks during the regular season, playing in at least one televised contest in each of the remaining series.
All Crimson Tide home games and select road contests will also be available to stream online via the SEC Network+ digital platform. Links to watch online will be posted on the softball schedule page at RollTide.com and on Alabama Softball social media platforms.
Remaining Alabama Softball Televised Games
- Wednesday, April 18 vs. Southern Miss – 6 p.m. CT – SEC Network
- Sunday, April 22 vs. Tennessee – 2 p.m. CT – ESPN2
- Monday, April 23 vs. Tennessee – 6 p.m. CT – SEC Network
- Saturday, April 28 at Georgia – 5 p.m. CT – SEC Network
- Friday, May 4 vs. Texas A&M – 7 p.m. CT – SEC Network
- Saturday, May 5 vs. Texas A&M – Noon CT – SEC Network
UP NEXT
Alabama welcomes Tennessee for a three-game series starting Saturday, April 21 at 4:30 p.m. CT. Game two is set for a 2 p.m. CT start on Sunday, April 22 live on ESPN2 and the series wraps up on Monday, April 23 at 6 p.m. CT live on SEC Network.
