Alabama Softball sweeps the Aggies to close regular season
By Chris Dodson
Alabama Softball closed out the 2018 season with a three-game sweep of the 10th-ranked Texas A&M. The sweep is the first for the Crimson Tide in SEC play and puts Alabama on a streak heading into the SEC Tournament.
The first two games of the weekend came easy for Alabama softball as both freshman Kaylee Tow and sophomore Bailey Hemphill kept hitting balls out of the park leading to wins of 6-2 and 10-4. Game three took a little more effort as Alabama gave up three runs in the seventh to send the game to extra innings. However, it had a storybook ending. With Merris Schroder in scoring position in the eighth, senior Demi Turner knocked a walk-off single to win 5-4 and complete the sweep.
With the postseason beginning this week, a streak is just what the doctor ordered, especially over a top-10 team. As they close out of a roller-coaster of a season, there is reason to be positive that Alabama softball can surprise some teams.
Where has this team been?
We’ve documented all season that Alabama has had a mountain of talent. So, to come out of the season with 17 losses and a 12-12 conference record is very disappointing.
However, you can attribute that to so many other things. The SEC is absolutely stacked from top to bottom with excellent teams. A few unlucky things have also happened that caused Alabama to not pull together games. A tough schedule has put them in games where they were away from home against great teams.
However, something different has happened to this team in this four-game streak. The offense has suddenly sparked and the mistakes are getting fewer. Ever since their win against Georgia in game three, which began the four-game streak, they have played at a different level. “It’s all about being hot at the right time,” as they say.
That phase gives hope for fans who have endured a very trying season. You never know how well the postseason will pan out, however. You also don’t want to hype up a postseason run based simply on a small four-game win streak. If you combine that streak with the talent that Alabama softball has on the roster, you’ve got a recipe for big potential.
With the sweep of the Aggies, the Tide finished the 2018 regular season with a 32-17 record.
Next: Alabama Football: 6 Bold Predictions for the 2018 Season
Up Next
Alabama softball heads into SEC play with a tough road to the championship. Alabama enters as the eighth-seed and will play ninth-seeded Auburn Wednesday at 6:30 PM on the
SEC Network. If the Tide wins that, it will play No.1 seed Florida. In six regular-season games against Auburn and Florida, Alabama softball was 2-4.