News and notes from Alabama Crimson Tide athletics on the final day of February:
Alabama baseball stays unbeaten with rout of North Dakota State
Starter Zane Adams dug himself an early hole as North Dakota State plated three runs in the first inning, but Adams settled in after that and the rest of the Tide's pitchers on Friday night were dominant. After allowing three runs to plate in the first inning, the Tide only gave up a single run the rest of the night.
Kade Snell went 4-of-5 at the plate and hit a solo homerun as part of a five-run second inning that allowed Alabama to take a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way. Jason Torres, Brennen Norton, and Richie Bonomolo Jr. all added home runs as the Tide pulled out a 12-4 win despite the first hitless game of the season for superstar shortstop Justin Lebron.
Alabama will face North Dakota State in game two of the three-game weekend series on Saturday afternoon with Riley Quick on the bump for the Tide.
Alabama softball wins double header via two run rules
Alabama softball is hitting its stride after a difficult beginning of the season. On Friday, Patrick Murphy's team extended its program record to six consecutive wins via run rule.
Alabama bludgeoned UAB 15-1 in the afternoon matchup and then rolled through Furman 12-2 in the evening. Alabama plated 10 runs in the 4th inning against the Blazers highlighted by a bases-clearing three-run double by Catelyn Riley.
The Tide broke it open in the second inning against Furman, scoring nine runs after falling behind 1-0. A Lauren Johnson three-run double got the Tide rolling and they didn't look back.
The two wins improved the Crimson Tide to 12-6 on the season. They face another double-header on Saturday against SIUE and Furman.
Alabama Women's basketball moving up in latest ESPN Bracketology
In the aftermath of a massive, program-altering overtime win over LSU on Thursday night, Alabama women's basketball moved up a seed-line in ESPN's latest bracketology.
Kristy Curry's team is now a projected 4-seed according to ESPN. That's significant because Top 4 seeds in each region get to host the first two rounds of games. Alabama hasn't made the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament in 26 years. Getting home-court advantage in the opening two rounds of the tournament would give Alabama its best opportunity to do that.
Alabama Gymnastics gets first SEC win with season-high score
Alabama entered Friday night's meet in Fayetteville against Arkansas with a disappointing 0-6 mark in SEC play this season. That changed as the Tide put together its best overall score of the season to beat the Razorbacks 197.650-197.425.
Karis German (vault) and Chloe LaCoursiere (bars) set new career highs in the process.
This has not been a vintage Alabama gymnastics squad, but it is a young team that is getting better and could do some damage in the near future.