FanPost

Tide set to start SEC play

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"I wanted to get out of Mississippi in the worst way. Go back? What I want to go back for?" - Muddy Waters

 

       The Tide picked up three more wins this week over sub-par competition, but the real season starts Saturday with the opening of SEC play.  The Tide won the SEC West last season, finishing second overall behind Florida.  Because of the unbalanced scheduling, Alabama will face its toughest challenges (Florida, Tennessee, and LSU) on the road, but they will be opening at home with Mississippi State. 

 


 

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Saturday, March 14th, 2009 - 1:00pm CST

Saturday, March 14th, 2009 - 3:00pm CST

Sunday, March 15th, 2009 - 1:30pm CST

 

 

Mississippi State Bulldogs

Current Record:  14-6

2008 Record:  41-22 (3rd SEC West)

RF/RA:  5.5-3.2

BAF/BAA:  .309-.250

ERAF/ERAA:  2.70-4.48

Notable Wins:  5-4 #25 Florida State

Notable Losses:  0-4 Kennesaw State, 0-7 #22 Ohio State, 3-8 Florida Gulf Coast, 1-3 Radford

Record vs. Alabama:  7-34

Last Meeting:  UA 3-0 (03/16/2008)

Notes:  The Bulldogs have had a very lackluster opening to the 2009 season.  Their only really impressive win came over Florida State.  But they have also lost three games to vastly inferior opponents.  Kennesaw State is 13-11, but the Bulldogs are their only victory over a BCS school.  The Florida Gulf Coast win is semi-respectable, given the Eagles 16-game winning streak and 25-4 overall record.  Radford, while 11-3, only has a pair of wins over BCS teams.  Mississippi State has just not played the caliber of schedule that Alabama has played.  On offense, the Bulldogs have a fairly shallow roster.  Six players have started every game and a seventh has started all but one.  They have also been the beneficiaries of some poor defense.  State’s opponents have committed 32 errors this season, leading to 22 unearned runs.  In the circle, the Bulldogs have been a little below-average.  Only of their pitchers has a sub-2.00 ERA and while they have tossed six shutouts so far, their pitching rarely wins them games.

Player to Watch:  Junior catcher Chelsea Bramlett is the sparkplug at the top of the order for the Bulldogs.  She is currently batting .530 and has scored 22 percent of her team’s runs.  She is a batter very much like Brittney Rogers, though Bramlett has more gap power with four extra-base hits so far this season.

Bama wins if…they can keep Bramlett off of the basepaths.  37 times this season she has reached first base (either through a single or a walk) and she has stolen second 27 times.  In other words, 73 percent of the time she reaches first base, she turns it into a double.  Getting her out at the plate will go a long ways toward a Crimson victory.

 


Midweek Mayhem

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 Jennifer Fenton batted 5-6 with 4 RBI, 5 runs, and 6 SBs in two games against Mississippi Valley State.

 

Game One:  #2/2 Alabama Crimson Tide 6, UAB Blazers 3

Bama Notes:  The Tide steadily put runs on the board throughout the game, scoring in four of the seven innings.  Jennifer Fenton’s triple led off the scoring in the third inning.  Montalvo’s fifth inning homer—her fourth of the season—put Alabama up 3-0 and they then put up one run in the sixth and two more in the seventh to seal the game.  Pitcher Amanda Locke only gave up two runs in 5 1/3 innings of work, but she struggled with her control, walking four and hitting one batter.  She is now 4-0 on the season. 

UAB Notes:  The Blazers struggled to put runs across the plate, stranding eight runners in the game.  Catcher Mandy Lowman, who homered in last week’s matchup with the Tide for the Blazers' only run of the game, plated two runs with a sixth inning single.  Pitcher Lindsey Croft lost her eighth game of the season, allowing six runs (four earned) on twelve hits.  UAB fell to 8-11.

Player of the Game:  Kelley Montalvo reached base three times with two hits and a walk.  She also homered, scored twice, and drove in two runs.

Turning Point:  With one out in the bottom of the seventh, runners on second and third, and the tying run at the plate, Charlotte Morgan struck out a batter and forced a groundout to third to end the game.

 

Game Two:  #2/2 Alabama Crimson Tide 8, Mississippi Valley State 5

 Bama Notes:  In the first game of a doubleheader the Tide fell behind early when Amanda Locke gave up a five spot in the second inning, but they rallied back on the big bats of Jennifer Fenton and Cat Dozier.  Fenton hit a three-run homer in the second to tie the game at five and Dozier put one over the fence in the fourth inning to put the Tide on top for good.  They scored some insurance in the sixth but it wasn’t necessary.  After that awful second inning, Amanda Locke was on fire, allowing only two hits over the next five innings. 

MSVSU Notes:  The Devils (I refuse to call them the Devilettes) put on quite the show in the second inning.  They scored five runs entire on walks, singles, and wild pitches.  Unfortunately, they couldn’t string those hits together again.  And given that they did not have even one extra-base hit, singles just weren’t enough.

Player of the Game:  Center Fielder Jennifer Fenton.  Making the start in place of Brittney Rogers, Fenton hit a three-run home run (her third in the last twelve days), went 3-4 overall, scored twice, and stole two bases.  Not bad for a freshman.

Turning Point:  Fenton’s homer tied the game and put Alabama back in the fight.

 

Game Three:  #2/2 Alabama Crimson Tide 11, Mississippi Valley State 2(5)

 Bama Notes:  In the second game of the evening, Alabama cruised to an 11-2 victory in five innings.  17 of the 27 Alabama batters reached base.  The Tide offense jumped out early, with each of the first six batters reaching base.  In total, Alabama scored five first inning runs on seven hits and a pair of errors.  From there they never let up, scoring two runs in the second, three in the third, and one last run in the fourth.  Even though no balls left the park the Tide had no trouble scoring runs.  In the circle, Amanda Locke was, again, unspectacular in upping her record to 6-0.  She gave up five runs (only two earned) on five hits in five innings, striking out seven.

MSVSU Notes:  It seemed that Murphy was in the lineup for the Devils as everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong.  The fielders committed four errors while the pitchers walked three batters and threw two wild pitches.  Three of those errors and one of the wild pitches led directly to Tide runs.  The only good news for the Devils is that, despite the two losses, they are still 8-3 on the season.

Player of the Game:  Jennifer Fenton.  Once again the freshman put on a show.  In the first inning she singled, stole second base, and scored on an error.  In the second inning she walked, stole second and third, and scored Jaz Lunceford’s double.  In the third, Fenton singled to score Brittney Rogers, stole second, and scored on Lunceford’s single.  Three plate appearances, three runs, and four stolen bases.  Not too shabby.  Jazlyn Lunceford should also be singled out for going 3-3 with two runs and two RBI.

Turning Point:  When you put your first six batters on base and score five of them, it’s kind of hard to look back.

 

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