Saturday Shutout Secures Series Sweep for Alabama over Mississippi State

Saturday, April 16

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

6 p.m. CT

Alabama

36-6, 13-5

Mississippi State

26-17, 7-8

Mississippi State

Alabama

Saturday Shutout Secures Series Sweep for Alabama over Mississippi State

4/16/2022 9:23:00 PM | Softball

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Montana Fouts strikes out 11 in the complete-game shutout

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – No. 2 Alabama softball secured its series sweep over Mississippi State with a 4-0 shutout Saturday night at Rhoads Stadium following a two-hour rain delay.

Alabama (36-6, 13-5 SEC) has won all 10 three-game series against Mississippi State (26-17, 7-8 SEC) in Tuscaloosa, with this weekend as its seventh home sweep over the Bulldogs. The shutout was the Crimson Tide's 12th of the season, its second in SEC play along with the perfect game against Georgia on April 4. The bottom three in the Alabama batting order each earned a hit, including nine-hole hitter Kat Grill who got the scoring started on a four-base error in the third. Freshman Aubrey Barnhart drove in a pair of runs on a pinch-hit single, her fourth hit of the season with a season-high two RBIs. Montana Fouts (19-3) was strong again in the circle in her second start of the weekend, fanning 11 batters in the complete-game shutout.

Scoreless in the bottom of the third, Grill laid down a bunt to lead off the inning and the throw to first sailed high into the right field corner, allowing her to hustle all the way around and score on the four-base error to give Alabama the first lead of the game. The Tide loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth inning and Barnhart came through with a pinch-hit single up the middle to drive in a pair and make it 3-0. An RBI groundout later in the inning improved the lead to 4-0, which ultimately proved final.

From Head Coach Patrick Murphy

"I really appreciate everybody having to work through the rain delay. Everybody on staff and the grounds crew especially because they worked really hard today to get the game in. I really thought Montana respected the heck out of that lineup and threw a great game. Eleven K's and a three-hitter, and they're a very good hitting team. So really pleased with the sweep and I'm really thankful for the fans that stuck around."

Highlights

Alabama improves to 65-11 all-time vs. Mississippi State, including a 34-3 mark in Tuscaloosa
The Tide has won all 10 three-game series against the Bulldogs in Tuscaloosa, with this weekend as its seventh sweep (22, 16, 11, 09, 07, 05, 01)
The shutout was Alabama's 12th of the season and its second in SEC play
Kat Grill has at least one hit in seven of her last eight games, going 9-for-21 (.429) over that stretch
Ashley Prange went 1-for-2 with a double and a walk to extend her reached-base streak to 18 games while Bailey Dowling drew a walk to move her streak to 15 games
Montana Fouts went 3-0 over the weekend with just one run allowed over 14.1 innings pitched, striking out 23

Scoring Summary

B3 | An errant throw on a bunt sailed all the way into the right field corner as Kat Grill hustled all the way around and scored on the four-base error (1-0, 0 Out)
B5 | Aubrey Barnhart sent a bases-loaded single up the middle, driving in two (3-0, 0 Out)
B5 | An RBI groundout tacked on another (4-0, 1 Out)

Up Next: Vs. UNA/Alcorn State (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)

Tuesday, April 19 vs. UNA (DH-1) – 3:45 p.m. CT
Tuesday, April 19 vs. Alcorn State (DH-2) – 6 p.m. CT

For the latest information on the team, follow @AlabamaSB on Twitter, BamaSB on Instagram and Alabama Softball on Facebook. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.