Friday, March 19
Tuscaloosa, Ala.
6 p.m. CT
Alabama
vs
Tennessee
Photo by: Crimson Tide Photos / UA Athletics
No. 2 Alabama Softball Returns Home for Three-Game Series with No. 19 Tennessee
3/18/2021 1:50:00 PM | Softball
Friday’s and Sunday’s games will both air live on ESPNU
THIS WEEKEND: #2 ALABAMA (22-1, 3-0 SEC) VS. #19 TENNESSEEÂ (20-3, 1-2 SEC)
- Tuscaloosa, Ala. – Rhoads Stadium
- Friday, March 19 – 6 p.m. CT (ESPNU)
- Saturday, March 20 – 2 p.m. CT
- Sunday, March 21 – 1 p.m. CT (ESPNU)
SCOUTING ALABAMA
- No. 2 Alabama is 22-1 overall and 3-0 in SEC play after a road sweep of Auburn to open the league slate last weekend
- The Crimson Tide joins Arkansas and Ole Miss at the top of the SEC leaderboard after opening weekend
- Bailey Hemphill was named SEC Player of the Week and Lexi Kilfoyl earned Newcomer of the Week honors
- Alabama pitching leads the SEC with a 0.97 ERA, 27 runs allowed, 21 earned runs allowed and 20 walks allowed
- Alabama climbed as high as No. 2 in this week's national polls
- Alabama returns 17 players from last season, including all seven 2020 seniors, while adding five freshmen
INSIDE THE SERIES
- Overall: Alabama leads 36-25
- In Tuscaloosa: 19-7 | In Knoxville: 12-14 | At Neutral Sites: 5-4
- Current Streak: Alabama +1
- Last Meeting: April 23, 2018 - Tuscaloosa, Ala. - W, 4-0
LAST TIME OUT: ALABAMA AT AUBURN
- Alabama opened SEC play with a three-game road sweep over Auburn last weekend, winning 6-0, 4-1 and 4-2
- Bailey Hemphill reached base in 10 of her 12 plate appearances on the weekend, going 4-for-6 from the plate along with four walks and two hit-by-pitches
- Hemphill drove in five RBIs in the series opener, pushing her past the 200 career RBI mark
- Alexis Mack extended her reached-base streak to 11 games, going 5-for-11 (.455) with three runs scored
- Kaylee Tow tied the UA single-game record with three doubles in game two
- Bailey Dowling knocked in five RBIs on the weekend, including a go-ahead three-run home run in game three
- Tide pitching continued to dominate, with Lexi Kilfoyl earning a pair of wins with two runs allowed over 11.0 innings while Montana Fouts garnered a win and a save with just one uneared run allowed over 10.0 innings
SEC OPENING WEEKEND
- After a sweep this past weekend, Alabama is now 57-20 (.740) all-time on SEC opening weekend, including a 35-5 (.875) record at home and 22-15 (.595) mark on the road
- The Crimson Tide has won 18 out of its 25 opening SEC series, winning all 13 of its home series and five on the road
- This year's sweep over the Tigers marks the first opening weekend road sweep for the Tide since 2012 at Kentucky
HEMPHILL PASSES 200 CAREER RBI MARK
- With her second home run in game one against Auburn last weekend, Bailey Hemphill became the third player in program history to surpass the 200 career RBI mark, joining Charlotte Morgan (2007-10) and Kaila Hunt (2011-14) in the prestigious club
- Now with 202 career RBIs, Hemphill is only 13 shy of Hunt's second-place mark of 215 while Morgan boasts a school-record 264
HEMPHILL AND KILFOYL EARN WEEKLY SEC AWARDS
- Alabama softball claimed a pair of weekly accolades from the Southeastern Conference, with Bailey Hemphill being named the Player of the Week and Lexi Kilfoyl earning the inaugural Newcomer of the Week award, created specifically for the spring 2021 season to honor student-athletes who were freshmen during the shortened 2020 campaign
- Hemphill hit 4-for-6 (.667) on the weekend along with four walks and two hit-by-pitches, reaching base safely in 10 of her 12 plate appearances
- She went 3-for-4 in Friday's contest, driving in five runs on a double and two home runs
- Her five RBIs pushed her past the 200 mark for her career, joining Charlotte Morgan and Kaila Hunt as the only Alabama players to surpass the milestone
- Kilfoyl earned a pair of wins on the weekend in the circle, including a complete-game shutout in the opener with a career-high 10 strikeouts
- She returned to start Sunday, throwing 4.0 innings in the Crimson Tide victory. In total she allowed just two earned runs over 11.0 innings pitched, striking out 14
- The Player of the Week accolade is the first of Hemphill's career and the second this season for Alabama, with Kaylee Tow winning it on Feb. 22
PITCHING POWER
- The Alabama bullpen has been dominant so far this season, owning a 0.97 team ERA with just 21 earned runs allowed over 151.0 innings pitched
- Tide pitchers have struck out 195 batters as opposed to just 20 walks
- Opponents are only hitting 9-for-84 (.107) with runners in scoring position, striking out 31 times
- Alabama leads the SEC in ERA (0.97), wins (22), runs allowed (27), earned runs allowed (21) and walks allowed (20) and is second in strikeouts (195) and opposing batting average (.149)
- Montana Fouts and Lexi Kilfoyl are both ranked in the top 10 in the SEC in strikeouts with 98 (2nd) and 64 (8th), respectively, and Kilfoyl is second in the league with a 0.38 ERA
- Alabama is second nationally with 10 shutouts and fourth in team ERA
- Fouts is third nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio while Kilfoyl is sixth
- Fouts is also ranked eighth in strikeouts and 13th in strikeouts per seven innings
- Alabama is the only team with two pitchers with eight or more wins
UP NEXT - WEEK SEVEN
- Wednesday, March 24 vs. North Alabama - Tuscaloosa, Ala. - 6 p.m. CT
- Saturday, March 27 at Kentucky - Lexington, Ky. - 1 p.m. CT
- Sunday, March 28 at Kentucky - Lexington, Ky. - 2:30 p.m. CT (ESPN2)
- Monday, March 29 at Kentucky - Lexington, Ky. - 6 p.m. CT (SEC Network)
Players Mentioned
IF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
IF
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