THIS WEEK
2016 SEC SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
- Starkville, Miss. - Nusz Park
- Wednesday, May 11 vs. Mississippi State
- 6:30 p.m. CT *SEC Network*
*winner advances to play Auburn on Thursday, May 12 at 6:30 p.m. CT*
FOLLOWING THE TIDE
- Video:
- Wednesday/Thursday - SEC Network
- Friday - ESPNU
- Saturday - ESPN
- Radio: 95.3 FM / 953thebear.com
- Live Stats: rolltide.com
- Twitter: @AlabamaSB
SCOUTING ALABAMA (45-11, 16-8 SEC)
- Alabama won its seventh SEC series of the season, taking two out of three games from Georgia at Rhoads Stadium. The Tide clinched the series with a big comeback in game two, overcoming a 7-1 deficit in the sixth inning with eight runs to eventually win 9-7.
- Over 10,000 fans packed Rhoads Stadium over the weekend's three games, giving Alabama a final regular season attendance of 77,175, an average of 3,087 fans over 25 home games. Alabama is the first team to average over 3,000 fans during the regular season.
- Alabama will enter this week's SEC Tournament as the No. 5 seed, opening play on Wednesday, May 11 against tournament host and No. 12 seed Mississippi State. The Tide swept the Bulldogs earlier this season in Tuscaloosa, outscoring them 23-2 over three games. Alabama owns a 35-22 all-time record at the SEC Tournament, including tournament titles in 1998, 2003, 2005, 2010, 2012.
- Alabama pitching has only allowed 102 walks, the lowest mark in the SEC. With 357 strikeouts, the Tide's 3.50 K/BB ratio is the second-best in the league, only trailing Florida at 4.15.
- Alabama's defense has committed the third-fewest errors in the league, both in overall games (38) and SEC-only contests (17). The Tide has a .972 fielding percentage, both overall and in SEC play, which ranks third in the league.
- The Tide's stolen base percentage of .889 (88-99) is currently the highest mark in program history, just edging out the team's 2013 mark of .886 (117-132). The team's two stolen base leaders, Haylie McCleney and Chandler Dare, are a combined 37-38 this season.
LAST TIME OUT: ALABAMA TAKES TWO OF THREE FROM GEORGIA
- Game One: Alabama 7, Georgia 2 - Alabama took an early 3-0 lead over Georgia in the first inning and never looked back, scoring seven unanswered runs before the Bulldogs eventually erased the shutout in the fifth inning. Haylie McCleney went 2-3 out of the leadoff spot, including a two-run homer, with Leona Lafaele andMarisa Runyon also smacking back-to-back long balls in the first inning.
- Game Two: Alabama 9, Georgia 7 - Alabama's early 1-0 lead was erased after Georgia scored seven unanswered runs in the fifth and six innings, but the Tide offense put together its biggest comeback of the season with the eight-run sixth to earn the gutsy 9-7 win. The eight-run inning included seven hits, including five RBI singles, over 13 plate appearances.
- Game Three: Georgia 9, Alabama 7 - Alabama fell behind early to Georgia and four runs late in the game proved too little, too late to overcome the deficit. Leona Lafaele went 3-4 batting third, driving in two of the team's five runs with a solo home run and an RBI double.
ALABAMA PLACES FIVE ON SEC SOFTBALL POSTSEASON TEAMS
The Southeastern Conference announced its annual postseason awards ahead of this week's SEC Tournament and five Alabama softball players won seven spots on the various All-SEC teams.
Senior
Haylie McCleney was named First Team All-SEC outfielder for the third-straight season and also earned a spot on the SEC's All-Defensive Team at center field for the fourth-straight season. Alabama's second-team honorees include junior pitcher
Sydney Littlejohn and senior infielder
Leona Lafaele, with Lafaele also taking home SEC All-Defensive honors at first base. Tide freshman
Reagan Dykes was named to the Freshman All-SEC team while senior
Kallie Casewas named to the All-Defensive team in left field.
Alabama and Tennessee were tied for the second-most players represented with five each. Florida and Georgia led the league with seven players each.
MCCLENEY JOINS 300/200/100 CLUB
With a two-run home run in the fourth inning of Friday's win over Georgia,
Haylie McCleney emphatically became the fifth player in program history with 300 hits and the fourth with 300 career hits, 200 runs and 100 stolen bases. She joins former Tide All-Americans Kelly Kretschman (368/288/133), Brittany Rogers (343/256/198) and Kayla Braud (344/271/182) on the prestigious list. She is just the 21st player in NCAA history to join the 300/200/100 club and Alabama is now tied with UCLA for the most players among those 21 with four each.
COMEBACK FOR THE AGES
Alabama's comeback victory on Saturday against Georgia is tied for the largest comeback win in program history. Last weekend, the Tide trailed the Bulldogs 7-1 in the sixth inning before scoring eight runs to surge ahead and eventually win, 9-7. Alabama has only come back from a six-run deficit once before, defeating Liberty on March 9, 2010. In that game, Alabama trailed 7-1 in the second inning and scored six in the bottom of the second to tie the game and three more in the sixth to eventually win, 10-7. Saturday's win was Alabama's 39th in program history in which the opponent scored at least six runs. In those 39 games, Alabama trailed by four or more runs in just eight of them.
ALABAMA AT THE SEC TOURNAMENT
- All-time record: 35-22 (.614)
- Tournament titles: 5 (1998, 2003, 2005, 2010, 2012)
Tournament Record vs. Opponents
- 4-1 vs. Arkansas (Last Meeting: 2010 - W, 9-0)
- 5-2 vs. Auburn (Last Meeting: 2015 - L, 7-1)
- 3-4 vs. Florida (Last Meeting: 2013 - L, 8-4)
- 4-2 vs. Georgia (Last Meeting: 2015 - W, 2-1)
- 1-0 vs. Kentucky (Last Meeting: 2009 - W, 2-1)
- 6-6 vs. LSU (Last Meeting: 2010 - W, 5-4)
- 0-0 vs. Missouri (Last Meeting: N/A)
- 6-1 vs. Mississippi State (Last Meeting: 2012 - W, 5-2)
- 1-0 vs. Ole Miss (Last Meeting: 2006 - W, 6-0)
- 4-3 vs. Tennessee (Last Meeting: 2010 - W, 4-3)
- 1-0 vs. Texas A&M (Last Meeting: 2013 - W, 10-9)
- 0-3 vs. South Carolina (Last Meeting: 2002 - L, 6-4)
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Leona Lafaele hit .500 (4-8) over three starts, leading the team with five RBIs and two home runs. She now leads the team with 13 home runs and 53 RBIs this season and has a career-best .366 batting average.
- Kallie Case drove in four runs over three starts, including a two-run home run in game three. The home run was just the fourth of her career and her first in over a year. Her last home run before this weekend also came against the Bulldogs, a go-ahead homer on March 15, 2015 in Athens, Ga.
- Sydney Littlejohn ended the regular season with 22 overall wins, which ranks second in the SEC, while her 12 wins in conference play was the most of any SEC pitcher. Her 12 conference wins came at the expense of only 82.0 innings, which is eighth among SEC pitchers. She is the only SEC pitcher with fewer than 90.0 conference innings pitched and more than 10 conference wins.
