Alabama Softball: Crimson Tide victory train rolls on for another Rhoads weekend
By Ronald Evans
The first weekend in March will be a busy one for Alabama Softball. The Crimson Tide welcomes Texas, Miami-Ohio and Eastern Illinois for a total of five games on Friday through Monday. The No. 2 ranked Crimson Tide will be a heavy favorite against the three opponents.
The strongest challenge for the weekend will be in the first two games, against the Texas Longhorns. Texas opened their season with a 4-0 win over a ranked Clemson team. The Longhorns are now 10-7, with losses to ranked teams Florida State, UCLA, Auburn and Arizona State. The Horns are currently on a five-game winning streak.
The Miami Redhawks are 4-6 this season, with wins over South Carolina and Louisville. Against generally lesser competition, the Eastern Illinois Panthers are 6-9. The Panthers should enjoy the Tide’s hospitality and west Alabama’s early spring weather, but the Monday afternoon game could make for an unpleasant experience.
Alabama Softball is not just winning, the Crimson Tide is rolling through opponent after opponent. A 13-hit explosion Wednesday night at Rhoads led to a Crimson Tide 7-0 win over UAB. It was the Crimson Tide’s ninth shutout of the season.
Seven of the Crimson Tide’s 16 wins have come in games ended in run-rule outcomes. Patrick Murphy’s team has outscored its 13 opponents, 109-13.
Alabama Softball Pitching
In the 16 games, Crimson Tide pitchers have struck out 132 batters. Montana Fouts leads the Tide pitchers with 66 strikeouts and holding opponents to a .111 team batting average. Fouts was the SEC Pitcher of the Week last week, adding three wins to her season record of 6-0. In the three games, she pitched 17 shutout innings.
Alabama Softball Hitting
The Crimson Tide has five hitters with a batting average of .355 or higher. The Tide’s batting leaders are Dallis Goodnight at, .477; Ally Shipman and Kat Grill, both hitting .381; Jenna Johnson at .371 and Megan Bloodworth at .355. In addition, Ashley Prange, Jordan Stephens, KJ Haney, Abby Doerr and Lexi Kilfoyl are all batting above .300.
The weekend schedule is:
- Friday, March 4 vs. Texas – 6 p.m. CST
- Saturday, March 5 vs. Texas – 2:30 p.m. CST
- Saturday, March 5 vs. Miami (OH) – 5 p.m. CST
- Sunday, March 6 vs. Miami (OH) – 12:30 p.m. CT
- Monday, March 7 vs. Eastern Illinois – 3 p.m. CT
The games can be seen on the SEC Network+ stream
Note: Player stats are from rolltide.com
Next. Talking Final Four too early. dark
Next up for the Crimson Tide will be a three-game series in Baton Rouge, against LSU.