Saturday, March 27
Lexington, Ky.
1 p.m. CT
Alabama
at
Kentucky
Alabama Softball Travels to Kentucky for Top 10 Matchup
3/26/2021 9:50:00 AM | Softball
Game Notes (PDF)Live Audio (93.3 FM)Saturday StatsSaturday Video (Online Only)Sunday StatsSunday Video (ESPN2)Monday StatsMonday Video (SEC Network)
The third-ranked Crimson Tide and seventh-ranked Wildcats begin the weekend series on Saturday
THIS WEEK: #3 ALABAMA (25-2, 5-1 SEC) AT #7 KENTUCKY (23-3, 1-2 SEC)
- Lexington, Ky. – John Cropp Stadium
- 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)
SCOUTING ALABAMA
- No. 3 Alabama is 25-2 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 a 1.02 ERA, 25 wins, 32 runs allowed, 26 earned runs allowed and 28 walks allowed and is second with 225 strikeouts
- 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: Alabama leads 48-9
- In Tuscaloosa: 22-5 | In Lexington: 23-4 | At Neutral Sites: 3-0
- Current Streak: Alabama +1
- Last Meeting: May 10, 2019 - College Station, Texas - W, 6-3 (SEC Tournament)
- Last Meeting in Lexington: April 1, 2018 - W, 9-3
LAST TIME OUT:Â ALABAMAÂ VS. NORTH ALABAMA
- Alabama shut out North Alabama, 5-0, Wednesday night in Tuscaloosa
- The shutout was the 12th of the season for the Crimson Tide, nine of which have come at home
- Jaala Torrence made her second start of the season, throwing 6.0 shutout innings with a season-best nine strikeouts to earn the win
- Six different players earned a hit, including multi-hit performances from Alexis Mack, KB Sides and Kaylee Tow
- Abby Doerr earned her first hit of the season, a sixth inning home run
- Claire Jenkins extended her reached base streak to 12 games, one shy of her season high
PITCHING POWER
- The Alabama bullpen has been dominant this season, owning a 1.02 team ERA with just 26 earned runs allowed over 179.0 innings pitched
- Tide pitchers have struck out 225 batters as opposed to just 28 walks
- Opponents are only hitting 13-for-116 (.112) with runners in scoring position, striking out 44 times
- Alabama leads the SEC in ERA (1.02) wins (25), runs allowed (32), earned runs allowed (26) and walks allowed (28) and is second in strikeouts (225) and opposing batting average (.162)
- 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 12 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 84-for-259 (.324) with runners in scoring position this season, including 17 doubles, eight home runs, 42 walks and 121 RBIs
- Conversely, opponents are batting just 13-for-116 (.112) with runners in scoring position, only 13 RBIs
Alabama Leaders with Runners in Scoring Position
- Elissa Brown - 7-for-12 (.583), 5 RBIs, 2 BB
- Kaylee Tow - 13-for-31 (.419), 19 RBIs, 5 2B, HR, 8 BB
- Alexis Mack - 11-for-27 (.407), 11 RBIs, 2 2B, 3B, 4 BB
- Bailey Hemphill - 11-for-32 (.344), 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 VS. TEXAS A&M (TUSCALOOSA, ALA.)
- Thursday, April 1 - 5 p.m. CT (SEC Network)
- Friday, April 2 - 5 p.m. CT
- Saturday, April 3 - 11 a.m. CT (SEC Network)
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
IF
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