Alabama Softball Opens Extended Homestand Wednesday vs. Samford

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Seventh-ranked Alabama softball begins a 13-game homestand Wednesday night, hosting Samford at Rhoads Stadium. First pitch vs. the Bulldogs is set for 6 p.m. CT.

This Week: vs. Samford (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)

Wednesday, Feb. 22 – 6 p.m. CT
Video: SEC Network+ (streaming)
Radio: 97.5 FM | nick975.com

Scouting Alabama

This week, Alabama begins a 13-game homestand hosting Samford on Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 6 p.m. CT
The Crimson Tide will play its next 13 games at home before hitting the road for six straight starting on Wednesday, March 8 at UAB
Head Coach Patrick Murphy is just one win shy of his 1,200th at Alabama, looking to become just the ninth coach in history to earn 1,200 wins entirely at one Division-I institution
Alabama is coming off a 4-1 weekend at the TaxAct Clearwater Invitational, including wins over No. 16 Duke, No. 20 UCF and No. 6 Florida State
Ally Shipman leads the team with a .417 batting average (10-for-24) with Ashley Prange close behind at .407 (11-for-27), which includes a team-leading four home runs and 11 RBIs
Murphy is in his 25th season as head coach at Alabama with a 1,199-335 (.782) record
Alabama returns 11 players from last year's team, including All-SEC honorees Montana Fouts, Ashley Prange, Ally Shipman and Bailey Dowling, while also welcoming five freshmen and three transfers

Last Time Out: Clearwater Invitational

Alabama went 4-1 at last week's TaxAct Clearwater Invitational, earning wins over No. 16 Duke, No. 20 UCF, Indiana and No. 6 Florida State while dropping a narrow 5-3 loss to No. 2 UCLA
The Crimson Tide's primetime win over the Seminoles broke a six-game win streak in the series by Florida State, marking Alabama's first win over the Noles since 2018
Ally Shipman and Ashley Prange led the team with six hits each over the weekend, including four doubles from Shipman and three home runs from Prange
Kenleigh Cahalan continued her hot start in her freshman campaign, earning a hit in all five games and scoring a team-leading five runs
Montana Fouts went 3-1 over the weekend across four appearances, throwing 31 strikeouts in 22.1 innings

Murphy one shy of 1200 Wins at Alabama

Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy enters Wednesday's game with 1,199 wins at the helm of the Crimson Tide, one shy of his 1,200th Division I win
Including his one year as the interim head coach at Northwest Missouri State, Murphy has 1,227 wins across all levels
Seventeen other head coaches have surpassed the 1,200 win mark with 11 doing so entirely at the Division I level
Current and former SEC coaches on the 1,200 win list include Ralph Weekly (Tennessee), Jo Evans (Texas A&M) and Karen Weekly (Tennessee), though Murphy is the only one with over 1,000 wins entirely at a Southeastern Conference program
Only eight other coaches have earned 1,200 wins at one Division 1 program

1,200 wins at One Division 1 School

Carol Hutchins - 1,684 - Michigan (1985-2022)
Mike Candrea - 1,674 - Arizona (1986-2021)
Patty Gasso - 1,395 - Oklahoma (1995-pres.)
Diane Ninemire - 1,355 - California (1988-2020)
Eugene Lenti - 1,327 - DePaul (1980-97, 1990-2018)
Margie Wright - 1,294 - Fresno State (1987-2012)
Donna Papa - 1,276 - North Carolina (1986-2020)
Margo F. Jonker - 1,268 - Central Michigan (1980-2019)

Fire Freshman Start for Cahalan

Kenleigh Cahalan is off to a hot start during her freshman campaign, earning a hit in each of Alabama's first five games
The eight-game hitting streak is the second-longest hit streak of any Crimson Tide freshman to start their career, only bested by Haylie McCleney's 12-game streak to start her 2013 debut campaign
Only 16 other players have posted a hitting streak of at least eight games at any point during their freshman season, the last to do so before Cahalan being Reagan Dykes in 2016 with an 11-game hit streak

Longest Hitting Streaks by Alabama Freshmen to Start Career

Haylie McCleney - 12 Games (2013)
Kenleigh Cahalan - 8 Games (2023)
Kelly Kretschman - 6 Games (1998)
Demi Turner - 6 Games (2015)

Fouts Career Record Watch

With 79 career wins, Montana Fouts is tied for fifth all-time at Alabama with Alexis Osorio (2015-18), with Stephanie VanBrakle (2003-06) as the next milestone in fourth place with 97 wins
Fouts also has 94 career starts, putting her six shy of becoming the sixth player in program history to make 100 career starts
Her 909 career strikeouts rank sixth all-time, with Jaclyn Traina (2011-14) as the next highest at 976 in fifth place
If Fouts breaks 1,000 career strikeouts, she would become the fifth player in program history to do so and the first since Osorio

Sweet Home Alabama

Alabama sports a 686-126 (.845) all-time record at home, including a 650-110 (.855) mark under head coach Patrick Murphy and a 631-106 (.856) record at Rhoads Stadium, the Tide's home field since 2000
Since Rhoads Stadium opened in 2000, Alabama has won at least 25 home games in 19 of its 22 years there

Up Next: Easton Bama Bash (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)

Friday, Feb. 24 vs. Kennesaw State - 4 p.m. CT
Friday, Feb. 24 vs. Southeastern Louisiana - 6:30 p.m. CT
Saturday, Feb. 25 vs. Indiana State - 11 a.m. CT
Saturday, Feb. 25 vs. Southeastern Louisiana - 1:30 p.m. CT
Sunday, Feb. 26 vs. Kennesaw State - 1 p.m. CT

University of Alabama Athletics

Alabama Softball Opens Extended Homestand Wednesday vs. Samford

This Week: vs. Samford (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)

Scouting Alabama

Last Time Out: Clearwater Invitational

Murphy one shy of 1200 Wins at Alabama

Fire Freshman Start for Cahalan

Fouts Career Record Watch

Sweet Home Alabama

Up Next: Easton Bama Bash (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)

Players Mentioned

Kenleigh Cahalan

Bailey Dowling

Montana Fouts

Ashley Prange

Ally Shipman

Related Videos