Treacherous Waters: Alabama Softball Wades into SEC Play

Patrick Murphy put together an aggressive out-of conference schedule for this Crimson Tide this year. Alabama has already played five teams ranked in the Top 10 and they have taken their lumps for it. With SEC play kicking in, now is the time when we see if that strategy pays off.

ARKY

So far this season, the #20 Razorbacks are 16-4 but have played a relatively softer schedule. Most of their wins are over teams like Bradley, Marist, and Furman. Arky has played two games against ranked teams but lost both by a single run (Baylor 3-2, FSU 2-1).

The Hogs are led by 2019 second team All-American (I am not making this up) Autumn Storms (somebody call child services) who stands at nine wins and two losses with an ERA of 0.99. Her two defeats were at the hands of the aforementioned Baylor and FSU in which teammates (bullpen, fielders) let her down. In 56.1 innings, she has walked only 6 and struck out 55. She has a good drop ball that induces groundball outs and has a pretty good curve as well. She is going to be tough on the Tide. The second pitcher is Mary Haff who is 4-1 with a 1.68 ERA but not nearly as effective.

The offense has a team batting average of .343 which is 6th highest among Power 5 schools. They are eleventh in team home runs at 25. Three Razorbacks have five or more long-balls on the season. Braxton Burnside is batting .435 with 5 HR and 20 RBI.

One thing they don’t do is steal many bases. Alabama’s Alexis Mack has swiped more bases (12) than the entire Arky team (10).

FOUTS

Crimson Tide ace Montana Fouts pitched last Friday but missed the rest of the weekend due to illness. She is expected back for this weekend.

SCHEDULE

(Wednesday’s game with Alcorn State was canceled due to rain. Make-up date, if there even is one, is TBD.)

Fri. March 6, 6:00pm vs Arkansas
Sat. March 7, 2:00pm vs Arkansas - Alexis Mack senior day
Sun. March 8, 1:30pm vs Arkansas

The weather is supposed to be nice, so come on out to the park. Otherwise, all games should be available on SECN+.

ESS-EE-SEE

Tickets for the SEC Softball Tournament are now on sale at this link and they are much cheaper than the price to see Alabama’s Pro Day.

#Team24 #RollTide