Alabama Faces Oklahoma Thursday to Open Play at Women’s College World Series

Thursday, May 30

Oklahoma City

8:30 p.m. CT

Alabama

Oklahoma

Photo by: Crimson Tide Photos / UA Athleti

Alabama Faces Oklahoma Thursday to Open Play at Women’s College World Series

5/29/2019 2:20:00 PM | Softball

Game Notes (PDF)Live Audio (93.3 FM)

THIS WEEK: WOMEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES
No. 8 Alabama (57-8) vs. No. 1 Oklahoma (54-3)
Thursday, May 30 – 8:30 p.m. CT – ESPN2
Oklahoma City – USA Hall of Fame Stadium

SCOUTING ALABAMA

Alabama makes its 12th trip to the Women's College World Series this week, its first appearance since 2016
The Crimson Tide qualified for the WCWS after defeating Texas in three games at last weekend's Super Regional round in Tuscaloosa
Alabama now owns a 98-43 (.695) all-time record in the NCAA Tournament, including a 22-13 (.629) mark in the Super Regional round, winning 10 of the 15 rounds it has played in
The 57 wins this season is the highest total since winning 60 during the national championship campaign in 2012
Two players tied single-season school records during the Super Regional round, with junior Bailey Hemphill hitting her 25th home run and sophomore Kaylee Tow drawing her 66th walk
Tide pitcher Montana Fouts was selected as one of three finalists for the Schutt Sports/NFCA Freshman of the Year, with the winner to be announced Tuesday night in Oklahoma City prior to the start of the WCWS
The Tide placed a program-best six athletes on the NFCA All-Region team, tying its record total from 2012

ALABAMA AT THE WOMEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

This marks Alabama's 12th trip to the Women's College World Series and its first since 2016
The Tide has made more appearances in the WCWS than any SEC team, two ahead of second-place Florida
Alabama's first appearance came in 1999, just the program's third season in existence. The Tide would earn two wins for the first time in 2008 and has won at least two games in five of the seven appearances since
Alabama won the national title in 2012, the first NCAA Softball Championship for any SEC school
The Tide has made 12 WCWS appearances in 23 seasons of softball, qualifying more often than it hasn't
Since the NCAA began sponsoring softball in 1982, only UCLA and Arizona can also claim that feat

ALABAMA ALL-TIME VS. THE WCWS FIELD
Overall vs. Oklahoma: Alabama leads 9-8 (Current Streak: Oklahoma +2)

In Tuscaloosa: 2-1 | In Norman: 0-1 | At Neutral Sites: 7-6 | At WCWS: 3-3
Last Meeting: June 2, 2016 - Oklahoma City, Okla. - L, 0-3 (8) *WCWS*

Overall vs. UCLA: UCLA leads 9-0 (Current Streak: UCLA +9)

In Tuscaloosa: 0-0 | In Los Angeles: 0-3 | At Neutral Sites: 0-6 | at WCWS: 0-2
Last Meeting: Feb. 20, 2009 - Palm Springs, Calif. - L, 1-4
Last Meeting at WCWS: June 3, 2006 - L, 1-4

Overall vs. Washington: Washington leads 10-5 (Current Streak: Washington +6)

In Tuscaloosa: 5-3 | In Seattle: 0-7 | At Neutral Sites: 0-0 | at WCWS: 0-0
Last Meeting: May 26, 2018 - Seattle, Wash. - L, 0-6

Overall vs. Oklahoma State: Alabama leads 4-0 (Current Streak: Alabama +4)

In Tuscaloosa: 0-0 | In Stillwater: 0-0 | At Neutral Sites: 4-0 | at WCWS: 0-0
Last Meeting: Feb. 19, 2012 - Auburn, Ala. - W, 3-1

Overall vs. Florida: Alabama leads 40-37 (Current Streak: Florida +1)

In Tuscaloosa: 17-14 | In Gainesville: 21-13 | At Neutral Sites: 2-10 | at WCWS: 0-4
Last Meeting: May 11, 2019 - College Station, Texas - L, 1-2
Last Meeting at WCWS: June 3, 2014 - L, 3-6

Overall vs. Arizona: Arizona leads 12-5 (Current Streak: Alabama +3)

In Tuscaloosa: 2-1 | In Tucson: 1-5 | At Neutral Sites: 2-6 | at WCWS: 2-1
Last Meeting: Feb. 16, 2019 - Tucson, Ariz. - W, 6-1
Last Meeting at WCWS: May 30, 2009 - W, 14-0 (5)

Overall vs. Minnesota: Alabama leads 5-0 (Current Streak: Alabama +5)

In Tuscaloosa: 4-0 | In Minneapolis: 0-0 | At Neutral Sites: 1-0
Last Meeting: Feb. 23, 2019 - Tuscaloosa, Ala. - W, 7-2

ALABAMA DEFEATS TEXAS IN THREE GAMES TO WIN ITS 10TH SUPER REGIONAL

Alabama shut out Texas in the weekend opener, 3-0, before falling in game two, 7-5, to force a third game that saw the Tide hold off a late rally to win, 8-5
The Tide has hosted 10 of the 15 Super Regionals it has played in, winning nine of those
Alabama is now 3-2 in three-game Super Regional series, with this year's slate marking the first series victory for the Tide after losing the second game
Alabama is the only team in college softball to play in all 15 Super Regional rounds since the current postseason format was adopted in 2005

HEMPHILL TIES UA SINGLE-SEASON HOME RUN MARK, WITHIN STRIKING DISTANCE OF RBI RECORD

Junior Bailey Hemphill hit two home runs over the Super Regional series, tying Kelly Kretschman's single-season record of 25, which has stood since 1998
She is now one shy of tying the SEC single-season record of 26, set earlier this season by Mississippi State sophomore Mia Davidson
Hemphill's 78 RBIs is 3rd all-time at UA, one shy of Charlotte Morgan's second-place mark set in 2008 and two away from Marisa Runyon's single-season record from 2015
Hemphill is just the third player in program history to surpass 20 home runs or 70 RBIs in a season, with Kaila Hunt as the only other player to do both in the same season (2012)

TOW MATCHES SINGLE-SEASON WALK MARK

Sophomore Kaylee Tow drew her 66th walk of the season in game three against Texas, tying Cassie Reilly-Boccia's single-season record set in 2010
The 66 walks are the fifth highest in SEC single-season history, with Arkansas' Devon Wallace (2013) leading the way with 79
Four of the top-six marks in SEC history have now come in the last four years, with Tow joined by Auburn's Kasey Cooper (71 - 2016), Florida's Amanda Lorenz (70 - 2018) and Florida's Kayli Kvistad (67 - 2017)

HEMPHILL REACHED BASE STREAK AMONG ALABAMA'S BEST
Bailey Hemphill has reached base safely in 37-straight games, which stands as one of the longest streaks in program history:

Longest Reached Base Streaks at Alabama

Kelly Kretschman - 1998 - 49
Bailey Hemphill - 2019 - 37
Jordan Praytor - 2006 - 35
Haylie McCleney - 2016 - 34
Kayla Braud - 2011 - 33

ALABAMA AMONG THE NATIONAL LEADERS

The Tide is fourth nationally with 141 stolen bases, the highest total of any of this year's WCWS teams
Alabama's 83 home runs ranks eighth nationally, only trailing Oklahoma (108) and Arizona (106) among the tams in this year's WCWS field
The Tide is fifth nationally with 409 runs scored, only trailing Oklahoma's 437 among WCWS teams
Alabama's 57 wins are the most in the nation, with Florida State (55), Oklahoma (54), Louisiana (52), James Madison (51), UCLA (51) and Washington (50) as the only other 50-win teams
Junior Bailey Hemphill's 25 home runs is third on the NCAA leaderboards, only trailing Mississippi State's Mia Davidson (26) and Arizona's Jessie Harper (29)
Hemphill's 78 RBIs is the most among the WCWS field, leading UCLA's Bubba Nickles by nine, and only two shy of the D1 leader from this season, Drexel's Linda Rush
Sophomore Kaylee Tow leads the WCWS field and is second on the NCAA D1 leaderboards with 66 walks, two shy of first place
Junior Elissa Brown's 46 stolen bases is tops among WCWS players, fifth nationally and higher than the team total of three of the seven other teams in the WCWS field