Montana Fouts Throws Eighth Perfect Game in Alabama Softball History as Tide Posts Two Shutouts

Sunday, March 5

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

11:15 a.m. CT

Alabama

16-3

Longwood

10-9

Longwood

Alabama

Montana Fouts Throws Eighth Perfect Game in Alabama Softball History as Tide Posts Two Shutouts

3/5/2023 4:05:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score vs. Longwood (PDF)Box Score vs. Mercer (PDF)Photo Gallery Photo Gallery 2

The Crimson Tide stretched its shutout streak to six-straight games with two more on Sunday

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama pitching continued making headlines on the third and final day of the T-Mobile Crimson Classic, with Montana Fouts throwing the eighth perfect game in program history as part of a pair of Sunday shutouts over Longwood and Mercer.

Fouts went 18-up, 18-down in a six-inning run rule victory for Alabama (17-3) over Longwood (10-9) in the opening game of the day, striking out 14. The perfect game is the eighth in program history and third of Fouts' career, previously contributing to a combined perfect game at Alabama State (Feb. 12, 2021) and throwing a solo perfect game against UCLA in the 2021 Women's College World Series (June 4, 2021). The offense saved her an inning of work, scoring seven runs before Jordan Stephens capped it off with an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth to secure the run-rule victory.

Jordan Stephens caps the run-rule win and secures the perfect game for Montana Fouts!@jsteph25 x @MontanaFouts #Team27 #RollTide pic.twitter.com/MNV0GQOUPX
— Alabama Softball (@AlabamaSB) March 5, 2023

In the second game against Mercer (6-13), the Tide broke a scoreless tie with three runs in the third and started to add some distance with a four-run fourth before a bases-loaded wild pitch in the fifth sealed the 8-0 win. Alex Salter (2-0) continued the weekend trend of excellent starts in the circle, allowing just two hits with no walks over 5.0 shutout innings in the circle.

At the plate, Ashley Prange was a combined 4-for-7 with two home runs, four runs scored and five RBIs. Bailey Dowling was 3-for-6 while Jenna Johnson also slugged a home run, her second of the season. On the weekend, Prange was 6-for-13 (.462) with seven RBIs while Dowling and Jordan Stephens were close behind with four hits each.

From Head Coach Patrick Murphy

"We haven't allowed a run since the Southern Miss game on Wednesday, so kudos to [Alabama pitching coach] Lance [McMahon] and all four pitchers and both catchers. It's a 50-50 proposition out there, and to throw it that well against anyone in college softball these days is a heck of a feat. Montana's perfect game was huge. She just keeps doing it, she is amazing to watch."

From Montana Fouts

"It felt pretty good. We had the opportunity to play the same teams multiple times this weekend and that is what it's going to be like when we get to SEC play, regionals, super regionals and the WCWS. I went into today's game with a postseason mindset. My defense had my back and we scored a bunch of runs. It was just an overall good day for us."

Highlights

Montana Fouts' perfect game was the eighth in program history and third of her career, previously contributing to a combined perfect game against Alabama State (Feb. 12, 2021) and throwing a solo one against UCLA at the 2021 Women's College World Series (June 4, 2021)
Fouts has now thrown 25 straight scoreless innings, beating her previous career-long of 24 set in 2021
Alabama has now won six straight shutout victories and thrown 38.0 straight shutout innings
With 14 strikeouts today, Fouts now has 965 for her career, just 35 away from becoming the fifth Tide player to reach 1,000
The two run-rule shutouts give Alabama seven run-rule wins this season and eight shutouts
Alabama is 12-2 when scoring first and 7-2 when scoring in the first inning
Emma Broadfoot is on an eight-game reached base streak
Bailey Dowling has 12 RBIs in her last seven games, driving in at least one in six of those seven games
Ally Shipman's triple vs. Longwood was her first with the Crimson Tide and the sixth of her career

Scoring Summary vs. Longwood

B1 | Ally Shipman went from first to third on a single and came home on an error (1-0, 2 Out)
B4 | Emma Broadfoot drove in Jordan Stephens from third with an RBI single through the left side (2-0, 2 Out)
B5 | Ally Shipman lifted a sac fly RBI to right (3-0, 0 Out)
B5 | Bailey Dowling dropped an RBI single into left (4-0, 1 Out)
B6 | Ashley Prange slugged a three-run home run to center (7-0, 2 Out)
B6 | Jordan Stephens ended the game with an RBI single through the left side (8-0, 2 Out)

Scoring Summary vs. Mercer

B3 | Kenleigh Cahalan poked an RBI double to the wall in left field (1-0, 1 Out)
B3 | Ashley Prange followed that with another RBI double to drive in Cahalan (2-0, 1 Out)
B3 | Bailey Dowling ripped an RBI double down the third base line (3-0, 2 Out)
B4 | Jenna Johnson sent the first pitch of her at-bat over the fence for a two-run home run (5-0, 0 Out)
B4 | Kali Heivilin tagged up at second and scored on a deep fly ball to center (6-0, 1 Out)
B4 | Prange smashed a solo home run to left (7-0, 2 Out)
B5 | A bases-loaded wild pitch ended the game (8-0, 1 Out)