Wednesday, March 24
Tuscaloosa, Ala.
6 p.m. CT
Alabama
vs
North Alabama
Alabama Softball Hosts North Alabama Wednesday Night at Rhoads Stadium
3/23/2021 4:47:00 PM | Softball
The Crimson Tide and Lions square off at 6 p.m. CT
THIS WEEK: #3 ALABAMA (24-2) VS. NORTH ALABAMA (16-5)
- Wednesday, March 24 – 6 p.m. CT
- Tuscaloosa, Ala. – Rhoads Stadium
SCOUTING ALABAMA
- No. 3 Alabama is 24-2 overall and 5-1 in SEC play following a series victory against Tennessee in Tuscaloosa last weekend
- Arkansas leads the league at 6-0 in SEC play with Alabama and Florida right behind at 5-1
- Alabama pitching leads the SEC with 24 wins and 26 walks allowed and is second with a 1.06 ERA, 215 strikeouts, 32 runs allowed and 26 earned runs allowed
- Alabama is ranked as high as No. 3 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: 0-0 (First Meeting)
LAST TIME OUT: ALABAMAÂ VS. TENNESSEE
- Alabama won two of its three games last weekend against Tennessee, falling 4-3 in the opener before coming back with a 7-1 win on Saturday and a 3-0 shutout on Sunday
- Stepping in for an injured Bailey Dowling, Savannah Woodard led the Tide at the plate going 3-for-7 (.429) with two runs scored
- Bailey Hemphill drew two walks to put her within two of tying the UA career record and hit a home run to put her within five of the career mark
- Lexi Kilfoyl threw a complete-game victory on Saturday to remain undefeated on the year and then drove in the go-ahead run as the designated player in Sunday's win
- Sunday's win was the eighth complete game of the season for Montana Fouts and her fourth solo shutout
PITCHING POWER
- The Alabama bullpen has been dominant this season, owning a 1.06 team ERA with just 26 earned runs allowed over 172.0 innings pitched
- Tide pitchers have struck out 215 batters as opposed to just 27 walks
- Opponents are only hitting 13-for-113 (.115) with runners in scoring position, striking out 41 times
- Alabama leads the SEC in wins (24) and walks allowed (26) and is secondin ERA (1.06), strikeouts (215), runs allowed (32) and earned runs allowed (26) and third in opposing batting average (.164)
- In SEC play, Alabama is tied with Arkansas for the league lead in strikeouts (43) while ranking second in ERA (1.17) and runs allowed (8)
- Montana Fouts and Lexi Kilfoyl are both ranked in the top 10 in the SEC in strikeouts with 113 (2nd) and 69 (8th), respectively, and Kilfoyl leads the league with a 0.45 ERA
- Alabama is third nationally with 11 shutouts, seventh in team ERA and is the only team with two pitchers with nine or more wins
- Fouts is ranked eighth in strikeouts, 12th in strikeout-to-walk ratio and 18th in strikeouts per seven innings
- Kilfoyl and Fouts are two of 23 pitchers who have thrown at least four shutouts this season, with only two others coming from rest of the SEC
PASSING IT DOWN
- Alabama is 81-for-245 (.331) with runners in scoring position this season, including 15 doubles, seven home runs, 42 walks and 116 RBIs
- Conversely, opponents are batting just 13-for-113 (.115) with runners in scoring position, only 13 RBIs
Alabama Leaders with Runners in Scoring Position
- Elissa Brown - 7-for-11 (.636), 5 RBIs, 2 BB
- Alexis Mack - 10-for-26 (.423), 10 RBIs, 2 2B, 3B, 4 BB
- Kaylee Tow - 12-for-29 (.414), 18 RBIs, 4 2B, HR, 8 BB
- Bailey Hemphill - 11-for-30 (.367), 16 RBIs, 2B, 8 BB
HEMPHILL CLOSING IN ON UA CAREER HOME RUN AND WALKS RECORDS
- Senior Bailey Hemphill's 55 career home runs ranks fourth in the UA career rankings, sitting five shy of Kelly Kretschman's (1998-2001) career record of 60
- She is the fifth player in program history to reach the 50 home run mark, the first since Kaila Hunt (2011-14)
- Hemphill hit nine home runs her freshman season, improved to 13 as a sophomore and tied the UA single-season record in 2019 with 26
- Her power potential also leads to a lot of teams pitching carefully to the slugger, as she has drawn 197 career walks, which is two away from Haylie McCleney's (2013-16) record total of 199
- With her second home run in game one against Auburn, 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 205 career RBIs, Hemphill is only 10 shy of Hunt's second-place mark of 215 while Morgan boasts a school-record 264
ELISSA RUNNING UP STOLEN BASE RANKINGS
- With 124 career stolen bases, Elissa Brown is ranked fifth all-time at Alabama
- Above her, Kelly Kretschman and Jennifer Fenton are tied at third with 133, Kayla Braud sits in second with 182 and Brittany Rogers holds the record with 198
- Brown is also sixth in career stolen base percentage at .892
UP NEXT - ALABAMA AT KENTUCKY (LEXINGTON, KY.)
- Saturday, March 27 - 1 p.m. CT
- Sunday, March 28 – 2:30 p.m. CT (ESPN2)
- Monday, March 29 - 6 p.m. CT (SEC Network)
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
IF
/ SoftballNCAA Super Regional GM 2 Postgame: Coach Murphy
Saturday, May 24
NCAA Super Regional GM 1 Postgame: Coach Murphy & Kali Heivilin
Friday, May 23
NCAA Super Regional Preview: Patrick Murphy, Jocelyn Briski & Audrey Vandagriff
Thursday, May 22
NCAA Super Regional Preview: Patrick Murphy
Wednesday, May 21
