Top-Seeded Alabama Opens SEC Softball Tournament Play Thursday

THIS WEEK: 2019 SEC SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
Alabama (50-6, 18-6 SEC) vs. Georgia (39-16, 12-12 SEC) / Arkansas (38-17, 12-12 SEC)
College Station, Texas – Davis Diamond

Thursday, May 9 – 8 p.m. CT *UPDATED START TIME DUE TO WEATHER*- SEC Network

SCOUTING ALABAMA

Alabama is 50-6 entering this week's SEC Tournament, finishing conference play with an 18-6 record to earn its sixth SEC regular-season tile
The Crimson Tide secured its regular-season crown with a road sweep at LSU last weekend, its first over the Tigers in Baton Rouge since 2005 and the first for either team on the road since 2006
Alabama is No. 4 in the the USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.com/USA Softball top-25 polls and No. 7 in this week's NCAA RPI
The Tide enters the SEC Softball Tournament as the No. 1 seed, looking for its sixth tournament title with previous wins in 1998, 2003, 2005, 2010 and 2012
Alabama had five players earn All-SEC honors, including junior Sarah Cornell as the Pitcher of the Year, Montana Fouts as the Freshman of the Year and Patrick Murphy as the Coach of the Year

ALABAMA ALL-TIME AT THE SEC TOURNAMENT

Alabama has a 39-25 (.609) all-time record at the SEC Tournament, qualifying every season since the inaugural tournament in 1997
The Crimson Tide has won five SEC Tournament Championships, in 1998, 2003, 2005, 2010 and 2012
Alabama's 39 tournament wins is the second-most of any league team, only trailing LSU's 43
This season marks the Tide's sixth as the No. 1 seed in the tournament, previously doing so in 2006, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014

RECORDS VS. OPPONENTS AT THE SEC TOURNAMENT

5-1 vs. Arkansas (Last Meeting: 2017 - W, 4-1)
6-3 vs. Auburn (Last Meeting: 2018 - W, 6-4)
3-5 vs. Florida (Last Meeting: 2018 - L, 2-5)
4-2 vs. Georgia (Last Meeting: 2015 - W, 2-1)
1-0 vs. Kentucky (Last Meeting: 2009 - W, 2-1)
6-6 vs. LSU (Last Meeting: 2010 - W, 5-4)
1-1 vs. Ole Miss (Last Meeting: 2017 - L, 1-4)
7-1 vs. Mississippi State (Last Meeting: 2016 - W, 2-1)
0-0 vs. Missouri
0-3 vs. South Carolina (Last Meeting: 2002 - L, 4-6)
4-3 vs. Tennessee (Last Meeting: 2010 - W, 4-3)
2-0 vs. Texas A&M (Last Meeting: 2017 - W, 2-1 (10))

LAST TIME OUT: ALABAMA WINS REGULAR SEASON TITLE WITH SWEEP AT LSU

Alabama earned its sixth SEC regular-season title with a weekend sweep on the road against LSU
The Crimson Tide previously won regular-season conference titles in 2006, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014
The sweep over LSU was Alabama's first in Baton Rouge since 2005 and the first series win for the road team in the series since 2006
The Tide's 50 wins is its highest regular-season total since 2007
Freshman Montana Fouts threw 9.0 scoreless innings over two appearances against LSU. She threw a complete-game shutout on Friday, just the second time the Tigers have been shut out this season, before coming in relief on Saturday and retiring all six batters she faced for her fifth save of the season to clinch an outright conference title for Alabama
Junior Bailey Hemphill was 3-for-8 (.375) at the plate over the series along with four walks, reaching base safely at least twice in each game. She had four RBIs, including a solo home run in the first inning of game one

ALABAMA RAKES IN POSTSEASON SEC AWARDS

In addition to five All-SEC accolades, two Freshman All-SEC and two All-Defensive honors, junior Sarah Cornell was named the Pitcher of the Year, Montana Fouts was Freshman of the Year and Patrick Murphy was Coach of the Year
Cornell's Pitcher of the Year award is the sixth in UA history, the first since Jaclyn Traina in 2014
Fouts is the Tide's ninth Freshman of the Year and the first since Alexis Osorio in 2015
This year marks UA head coach Patrick Murphy's fifth Coach of the Year award, previously winning in 2006, 2010, 2012 and 2014
Cornell and Fouts also claimed First Team All-SEC honors alongside junior Bailey Hemphill, who won second-team accolades last season
Sophomore Maddie Morgan and junior Elissa Brown represented the Crimson Tide on the SEC's second team, the first career honor for Morgan and second for Brown
This year's slate brings Alabama's total to 102 All-SEC honorees, and its five this season are the most since placing eight on the list in 2012
Fouts and fellow freshman Skylar Wallace were selected to the Freshman All-SEC team and Cornell and Brown also earned spots on the SEC All-Defensive team
Alabama has had at least one player on the Freshman All-SEC list every year since 2015 and has totaled 22

MONTANA FOUTS NAMED FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK

Montana Fouts, the Tide's rookie right-hander, is the first player in program history to earn four Freshman of the Week awards, surpassing the previous record of three set by Kayla Braud (2010) and Charlotte Morgan (2007)
This is Fouts' fifth overall weekly conference award this year, winning SEC Pitcher of the Week honors on April 23 in addition to her three previous Freshman of the Week awards
Alabama has claimed 23 SEC Freshman of the Week awards in program history and this is the seventh weekly accolade of the season for the Tide, its most since 2012

ALABAMA AMONG THE NATIONAL LEADERS

The Tide leads the SEC and ranks sixth nationally with 129 stolen bases
Alabama paces the conference and is eighth in the country with 74 home runs over 56 games, averaging 1.32 per contest
The Tide is first in the SEC and seventh nationally with 360 runs scored
Junior Bailey Hemphill is third on the NCAA leaderboards with 22 home runs and fourth with 69 RBIs
Sophomore Kaylee Tow is second in NCAA D1 softball with 59 walks
Junior Elissa Brown's 42 stolen bases is fifth nationally and only three behind LSU's Aliyah Andrews for the SEC lead
Freshman Montana Fouts leads the SEC and is sixth among all Division-I pitchers with an 1.00 ERA, while junior Krystal Goodman ranks 13th at 1.18

HEMPHILL SLUGGING TOWARDS UA SINGLE-SEASON RECORDS

Bailey Hemphill's 22 home runs is tied for 2nd all-time at Alabama, matching Kaila Hunt's total from her 2012 sophomore season
Kelly Kretschman holds the UA and SEC single-season record at 25, which has stood since 1998
Hemphill's 69 RBIs is tied for 5th all-time at UA, the most since Marisa Runyon set the single-season record in 2015 with 80
Only three Tide players have surpassed 70 RBIs in a season: Marisa Runyon (80 - 2015), Kaila Hunt (77 - 2012) and Charlotte Morgan twice (79 - 2008, 74 - 2010)

REAGAN DYKES MATCHES UA CAUGHT STEALING RECORD

With two runners caught stealing over the Kentucky series, 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 now has 103 stolen bases, good for sixth on the UA career record list and 15 shy of Haylie McCleney's (2013-16) fifth-place total
So far this season, Brown is 42-for-45 in stolen bases

TOW WALKING UP THE LEADERBOARDS

Sophomore Kaylee Tow is the second nationally with 59 walks, putting her within reach of the UA and SEC single-season records
Her 59 walks is currently third all-time at Alabama, one shy of tying Haylie McCleney (2015) for second with 61 and seven 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)

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

Heading into SEC Tournament play, Alabama softball is ranked No. 4 in the both the USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.com/USA Softball top-25 rankings
Alabama is the highest-ranked SEC team in both polls, joined in the top 10 by Florida (9/11) and LSU (10/10)
In total, 10 SEC programs are represented in both top-25 polls with Mississippi State and Missouri receiving votes in at least one poll

HEMPHILL AND FOUTS TOP-25 FINALISTS FOR USA SOFTBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Junior Bailey Hemphill and freshman Montana Fouts are among 26 finalists for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, the organization announced Wednesday
Alabama is one of seven teams with multiple finalists on the list, along with Arizona, Florida, Florida State, Oklahoma, UCLA and Washington
Eight of the 26 hail from the Southeastern Conference, the most of any conference

UP NEXT

Alabama awaits its NCAA Tournament fate, which will be announced Sunday, May 12 at 8 p.m. CT live on ESPNU on the selection show. NCAA Regional play begins at 16 designated host sites across the country that following weekend.

University of Alabama Athletics

Top-Seeded Alabama Opens SEC Softball Tournament Play Thursday

Players Mentioned

Elissa Brown

Sarah Cornell

Reagan Dykes

Montana Fouts

Krystal Goodman

Bailey Hemphill

Maddie Morgan

Alexis Osorio

Kaylee Tow

Skylar Wallace

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