Alabama Heads to Baton Rouge to Conclude Regular Season at LSU

THIS WEEK: #4/5 ALABAMA (47-6, 15-6 SEC) AT #9/7 LSU (40-12, 14-7 SEC)
Baton Rouge, La. – Tiger Park

Friday, May 3 – 6 p.m. CT
Saturday, May 4 – 5 p.m. CT
Sunday, May 5 – 1 p.m. CT

SCOUTING ALABAMA

Alabama is 47-6 entering this week's games, owning a 15-6 record in conference play, good for first place in the SEC standings
The Crimson Tide can win an SEC Championship outright with two wins this weekend in Baton Rouge or can potentially earn a share of the title with one win
Last time out, Alabama fell in two of its three games against Kentucky in Tuscaloosa
Alabama is No. 4 in the USA Today/NFCA poll, No. 5 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball top-25 and No. 9 in this week's NCAA RPI
Five of the Tide's regular starters are hitting .300 or better, led by junior Bailey Hemphill at .372 along with 21 home runs and 65 RBIs that both rank fourth nationally
Junior Elissa Brown is second on the team with a .340 batting average and is 40-for-43 in stolen bases, which is fourth in the NCAA and only trails LSU's Aliyah Andrews for the SEC lead
Kaylee Tow leads D1 softball with 57 walks, which is nine shy of the UA single-season record and 22 from the SEC record
In SEC play, Alabama's trio of pitchers own the top three ERAs in the league in junior Krystal Goodman (1.44), junior Sarah Cornell (1.53) and freshman Montana Fouts (1.74)

ALL-TIME VS. LSU

Overall: LSU leads 43-35
In Baton Rouge: 8-23 | In Tuscaloosa: 19-13 | At Neutral Sites: 8-7
Current Streak: Alabama +1
Last Meeting: April 9, 2017 - Tuscaloosa, Ala. - W, 4-2
Last Meeting in Baton Rouge: March 13, 2016 - L, 1-8

LAST TIME OUT: ALABAMA DROPS TWO TO KENTUCKY

Alabama fell in two of its three games against Kentucky last weekend at home
Following a 4-1 loss on Friday, Alabama rebounded with a 3-1 win on Saturday, sparked by a key sixth-inning double from freshman Skylar Wallace to give the Tide the lead
Sunday's rubber match took 13 innings to decide with the Wildcats ultimately coming out victorious, 3-2
The 13-inning game was Alabama's longest of the season (by innings) and its longest since playing 14 on April 8, 2011 at LSU
Weekend attendance totaled 10,786, including a sellout of 3,940 on Sunday. It was the second sellout of the season, previously doing so on March 30 against Mississippi State
Junior Bailey Hemphill hit 6-for-8 (.750) over the weekend, including her 21st home run of the season on Friday
Junior Elissa Brown was 5-for-12 (.417) at the plate and 2-for-2 in stolen bases

REAGAN DYKES MATCHES UA CAUGHT STEALING RECORD

With two runners caught stealing last weekend, Reagan Dykes is now tied with Kendall Dawson (2009-12) for the career school record at 44
Dykes' 16 runners caught stealing last year was one off the single-season school record of 17 set by Dawson in 2011
Dykes, Dawson and Lacy Prejean (2000-03) are the only three catchers in school history with at least 16 runners caught stealing in a season

ELISSA BROWN PASSES 100 CAREER STOLEN BASES

In the first inning of game three against Kentucky, junior Elissa Brown stole her 100th career base, becoming the seventh player in program history to do so and the first since Haylie McCleney (2013-16)
Of the six ranked above her in the career records, Brittany Rogers (2006-09), Kayla Braud (2010-13) and Kelly Kretschman (1998-01) were the only ones to reach 100 stolen bases before the end of their junior season
She finished the weekend at 101 stolen bases, just one shy of Jordan Praytor's (2005-08) sixth-place career mark
So far this season, Brown is 40-for-43 in stolen bases

SEC DOWN THE STRETCH

Heading into the final weekend of conference play, Alabama, LSU and Ole Miss are the only remaining teams that can win a regular-season SEC title
Two wins from Alabama would secure a title outright for the Crimson Tide, while an LSU sweep would give the Tigers an outright title
Two wins from LSU would give the Tigers and the Tide identical 16-8 conference records, recognizing them as co-champions for the regular season title as the SEC only implements tie-breakers to determine SEC Tournament seeding
If LSU wins two of the three games and Ole Miss sweeps Georgia, the Rebels would finish with a 16-7 conference record and win the SEC regular season title

TOW WALKING UP THE LEADERBOARDS

Sophomore Kaylee Tow is the NCAA leader with 57 walks, putting her within reach of the UA and SEC single-season records
Her 57 walks is currently tied for third all-time at Alabama, alongside Charlotte Morgan (2010) and Bailey Hemphill (2017)
She is four shy of tying Haylie McCleney (2015) for second with 61 and nine away from Cassie Reilly-Boccia's (2010) record of 66
Reilly-Boccia's mark is the fifth-highest in SEC single-season history, with Arkansas' Devon Wallace (2013) leading the way with 79
Three of the top five marks in SEC history have come in the last four years, including Auburn's Kasey Cooper (71 - 2016), Florida's Amanda Lorenz (70 - 2018) and Florida's Kayli Kvistad (67 - 2017)

ALABAMA AMONG THE NATIONAL LEADERS

The Tide leads the SEC and ranks sixth nationally with 123 stolen bases
Alabama paces the conference and is eighth in the country with 71 home runs over 53 games, averaging 1.34 per contest
The Tide is first in the SEC and eighth nationally with 344 runs scored
Junior Bailey Hemphill is fourth on the NCAA leaderboards with 65 RBIs and 21 home runs
Sophomore Kaylee Tow leads DI softball with 57 walks
Junior Elissa Brown's 40 stolen bases is fourth nationally and only trails LSU's Aliyah Andrews for the SEC lead
Freshman Montana Fouts leads the SEC and is seventh among all Division-I pitchers with an 1.07 ERA, while junior Krystal Goodman ranks 13th at 1.20

ALABAMA PITCHING IN SEC PLAY (TOP 3)

Earned Run Average - 1st - 2.26
Runs Allowed - 1st - 60
Earned Runs Allowed - 1st - 49
Fewest Home Runs Allowed - 1st - 11
Opposing Batting Average - 2nd - .225
Hits Allowed - 3rd - 128

ALABAMA HITTING IN SEC PLAY (TOP 3)

Walks - 1st - 117
Stolen Bases - 1st - 42
Slugging Percentage - 2nd - .482
On Base Percentage - 2nd - .405
Home Runs - 2nd - 30
Runs Scored - 3rd - 118
Runs Batted In - 3rd - 102

SOFTBALL HEADS INTO FINAL REGULAR-SEASON SERIES WITH TOP-FIVE NATIONAL RANKING (APRIL 30)

Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, Alabama softball is ranked No. 4 in the USA Today/NFCA top-25 and No. 5 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball rankings
Alabama is the highest-ranked SEC team in both polls, joined in the top 10 by Florida (7/9) and LSU (9/7)
In total, 10 SEC programs are represented in both top-25 polls with Mississippi State receiving votes in the USA Softball poll

UP NEXT
All 13 Southeastern Conference teams will converge in College Station, Texas for the 2019 SEC Softball Tournament. The 5-13 seeds will open play on Wednesday, May 8 with the top four seeds earning a first-round bye. First- and second-round action will air live on the SEC Network, with Friday's semifinals and Saturday's championship game on ESPN2.

Alabama Heads to Baton Rouge to Conclude Regular Season at LSU

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Elissa Brown

Sarah Cornell

Reagan Dykes

Montana Fouts

Krystal Goodman

Bailey Hemphill

Kaylee Tow

Skylar Wallace

University of Alabama Athletics

Alabama Heads to Baton Rouge to Conclude Regular Season at LSU

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Elissa Brown

Sarah Cornell

Reagan Dykes

Montana Fouts

Krystal Goodman

Bailey Hemphill

Kaylee Tow

Skylar Wallace

Related Videos