| BSB/SB 🥎 Saturday Shutout Secures Series Sweep for Alabama over Mississippi State

Softball Hosts Mississippi State Starting Thursday at Rhoads Stadium - University of Alabama Athletics

Alabama returns home for a three-game SEC series against Mississippi State beginning Thursday, April 14

rolltide.com

This Week: #3/2 Alabama vs. Mississippi State (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)​

• Thursday, April 14 – 5 p.m. CT – SEC Network
• Friday, April 15 – 6 p.m. CT
• Saturday, April 16 – 4 p.m. CT – SEC Network
• Radio: 97.5 FM | Varsity App | nick975.com

Scouting Alabama​

• Alabama returns home for a three-game SEC series against Mississippi State beginning Thursday, April 14
• Games one and three of the series with the Bulldogs will be nationally televised on the SEC Network
• The Tide is 33-6 overall and 10-5 in conference play after taking two of three games on the road last week at Florida
• Alabama is ranked No. 2 in the latest RPI and is ranked as high as No. 2 in the latest national polls
• The Tide leads the league in SEC play with 119 hits, with Kaylee Tow (17) and Ashley Prange (16) both inside the top five individual rankings
• Montana Fouts (82) and Lexi Kilfoyl (44) have two of the four highest strikeout totals of anyone in conference play, with Fouts' total at the top of the list 32 ahead of the next-highest mark
• Head Coach Patrick Murphy is in his 24th season as head coach at Alabama with a 1,182-326 (.784) record
• Alabama returns 11 players from last year's team that made the Women's College World Series semifinals, including a pair of All-Americans in Montana Fouts and Kaylee Tow
• The Tide welcomes nine newcomers, including three transfers and six freshmen

Last Time Out: at Florida​

• Alabama took two of three games last weekend in Gainesville to secure the series against Florida
• The Crimson Tide has won each of the last four regular season road series at Florida (2022, 2019, 2016, 2014)
• Bailey Dowling slugged three home runs over the weekend, including the go-ahead solo shot in extra innings in game two to push Alabama to the 2-1 victory
• Kaylee Tow led the team with seven hits over the weekend, while Ashley Prange finished 6-for-13 (.462) with three extra-base hits and Jenna Lord went 5-for-11 (.455) with four RBIs

Starting Early​

• Alabama is outscoring its opponents 45-5 in the first inning, the largest scoring margin of any inning
• The Tide is 26-4 when scoring first this season and 14-2 when scoring in the first inning
• Alabama batters are 55-for-167 (.329) in the first inning, which only trails the 61 hits and .367 average earned in the fifth inning

Two Outs, So What?​

• Alabama is batting 102-for-334 (.305) with two outs this season and is even better in conference play at 49-for-149 (.329)
• In SEC play, 36 of the team's 76 RBIs have come with two out
• Ally Shipman has seen the most at-bats with two out this season, going 16-for-45 (.356) with 11 RBIs
• Bailey Dowling leads the team with 12 two-out RBIs, hitting 15-for-32 (.469) with three doubles, a triple and three home runs

Alabama in the SEC Rankings (Top Five)​

Games played through April 6

Team - Overall

• 1st - Earned Run Avg. - 2.22
• 1st - Runs Allowed - 95
• 1st - Earned Runs Allowed - 81
• 1st - Home Runs Allowed - 18
• 2nd - Batters Struck Out - 312
• 2nd - Opposing Batting Avg. - .206
• 2nd - Hits Allowed - 193
• 2nd - Fielding Pct. - .981
• 3rd - On Base Pct. - .411
• 3rd - Walks - 149
• 3rd - Walks Allowed - 89
• 5th - Batting Average - .310

Individual - Overall

• 1st - Batters Struck Out - Montana Fouts - 180
• 4th - Runs Batted In - Ally Shipman - 43

Team - SEC Only

• 1st - Hits - 119
• 1st - Batters Struck Out - 129
• 1st - Opposing Batting Avg. - .237
• 2nd - Runs Scored - 81
• 2nd - Runs Batted In - 76
• 2nd - Home Runs Allowed - 10
• 2nd - Fielding Pct. - .979
• 3rd - Doubles - 23
• 3rd - Total Bases - 197
• 3rd - Walks - 50
• 4th - Batting Avg. - .290
• 4th - On Base Pct. - .378
• 4th - Stolen Bases - 11
• 4th - Earned Run Avg. - 3.87
• 5th - Home Runs - 17

Individual - SEC Only

• 1st - Batters Struck Out - Montana Fouts - 82
• T2nd - Hits - Kaylee Tow - 17
• T2nd - Hits - Ashley Prange - 16
• 4th - Doubles - Ashley Prange - 5
• 4th - Runs Batted In - Ally Shipman - 15
• 4th - Home Runs - Bailey Dowling - 5
• 5th - Runs Scored - Ashley Prange - 12
• 5th - Total Bases - Bailey Dowling - 33
• 5th - Walks - Ashley Prange - 9

 

[RTB Twitter Bot]

 

[bama alum]

Fouts with 2Ks in the first.

Interesting...Prange is now the leadoff, and Goodnight is hitting second.

 

[tider79]

Break out the broom....RTR!

 

[UA Press Release]

Saturday Shutout Secures Series Sweep for Alabama over Mississippi State - University of Alabama Athletics

No. 2 Alabama softball secured its series sweep over Mississippi State with a 4-0 shutout Saturday night at Rhoads Stadium following a two-hour rain delay.

rolltide.com

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – No. 2 Alabama softball secured its series sweep over Mississippi State with a 4-0 shutout Saturday night at Rhoads Stadium following a two-hour rain delay.

Alabama (36-6, 13-5 SEC) has won all 10 three-game series against Mississippi State (26-17, 7-8 SEC) in Tuscaloosa, with this weekend as its seventh home sweep over the Bulldogs. The shutout was the Crimson Tide's 12th of the season, its second in SEC play along with the perfect game against Georgia on April 4. The bottom three in the Alabama batting order each earned a hit, including nine-hole hitter Kat Grill who got the scoring started on a four-base error in the third. Freshman Aubrey Barnhart drove in a pair of runs on a pinch-hit single, her fourth hit of the season with a season-high two RBIs. Montana Fouts (19-3) was strong again in the circle in her second start of the weekend, fanning 11 batters in the complete-game shutout.

Scoreless in the bottom of the third, Grill laid down a bunt to lead off the inning and the throw to first sailed high into the right field corner, allowing her to hustle all the way around and score on the four-base error to give Alabama the first lead of the game. The Tide loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth inning and Barnhart came through with a pinch-hit single up the middle to drive in a pair and make it 3-0. An RBI groundout later in the inning improved the lead to 4-0, which ultimately proved final.

From Head Coach Patrick Murphy​

"I really appreciate everybody having to work through the rain delay. Everybody on staff and the grounds crew especially because they worked really hard today to get the game in. I really thought Montana respected the heck out of that lineup and threw a great game. Eleven K's and a three-hitter, and they're a very good hitting team. So really pleased with the sweep and I'm really thankful for the fans that stuck around."

Highlights​

• Alabama improves to 65-11 all-time vs. Mississippi State, including a 34-3 mark in Tuscaloosa
• The Tide has won all 10 three-game series against the Bulldogs in Tuscaloosa, with this weekend as its seventh sweep (22, 16, 11, 09, 07, 05, 01)
• The shutout was Alabama's 12th of the season and its second in SEC play
• Kat Grill has at least one hit in seven of her last eight games, going 9-for-21 (.429) over that stretch
• Ashley Prange went 1-for-2 with a double and a walk to extend her reached-base streak to 18 games while Bailey Dowling drew a walk to move her streak to 15 games
• Montana Fouts went 3-0 over the weekend with just one run allowed over 14.1 innings pitched, striking out 23