Prange Powers Alabama Softball to a First Round Win

Alabama sidestepped any talk of losing in the first round. As she has done all season, Ashley Prange carried the offensive load for the Crimson Tide slamming a pair of round-trippers and collecting 3 RBI.

GAME 1: ALABAMA 7, MISSOURI 2

Prange wasted no time getting going with an absolute bomb to dead centerfield.

Bama added three more runs in the 2nd inning on singles and an error. In the bottom of the 4th, Bailey Dowling doubled, advanced to third on a wild pitch and subsequently scored on another wild pitch.

In the 5th, Larissa Preuitt singled with one out and it was Prange’s turn once again.

Montana Fouts of course started in the circle. The Tide ace had one of those letdown innings that she has not had in awhile. In the top of 3rd with one out, Mizzou doubled and singled in back-to-back at bats for a run. And then in typical fashion, Fouts got the next two outs with no problem. In the 5th up 5-1, the Tigers scored a second run on some small ball.

Fouts (23-9) was not at her best allowing eight hits but she got back to double digit Ks with 10 and only one walk. Alabama collected nine hits including three extra base hits.

NOTES

*** Lollipop unicorn rainbow chasers, stop reading here lest ye get your feelings hurt! ***

The RBR softball coverage will call them as we see them and will not change because some reader(s) got upset because someone declared Patrick to not be a Saint. We are not going to blow sunshine up your backsides and pretend everything is all unicorns frolicking in a field of gumdrops and lollipops when it is not. If that is the sort of thing you want, there are plenty of sunshine-pumpers out there willing to fill your pretty little head with that sort of malarkey.

• Due to rain and lightning delays, the Bama-Mizz game started at 9 p.m. CT - five hours past the original start time.
• Whatever ailed Ally Shipman last weekend, she seemed fine Wednesday night, getting the start at catcher and going 1 for 3.
• With 10 strikeouts, Fouts now has 1,160 in Alabama career whiffs.

1. 1,219 Kelsi Dunne 2008-11
2. 1,160 Montana Fouts 2019-pres.
3. 1,113 Stephanie VanBrakle 2003-06
4. 1,063 Alexis Osorio 2015-18

• Now with 302 Ks, Fouts is just the third pitcher in program history to have two 300+ strikeout seasons. She joins Dunne and VanBrakle in that category. Jaclyn “J-Train” Traina still holds the season strikeout record of 361 in the magical 2012 season.
• Prange is up to 15 dingers on the season. That is most by a Tide batter since Bailey Hemphill’s gigantic 2019 season in which she hit 26.

MVP

1. PRANGE: 3 for 3, 2 RUNS, 3 RBI, 2 HR
2. DOWLING: 2 for 3, 2 RUNS, 2B

OTHER GAMES

Continuing the trend of the weird and unpredictable SEC season, underdogs won the first two games of the day.

• Game 2: #11 Ole Miss 5, #6 LSU 3 - UPSET
• Game 3: #10 South Carolina 1, #7 Texas A&M 0 - UPSET
• Game 5: #8 Florida vs. #9 Kentucky - DELAY, Thursday 10 a.m. CT, SEC Network

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

The weather in Fayetteville does not look promising early. Rain is expected most of the morning. Prognosticators are expecting it to clear up somewhat around 1-ish. The SEC is hoping to squeeze in four games today starting at 10 a.m. CT.

Bama now faces 4-seed Arkansas in their home stadium. With the UF-UK game pushed to Thursday, first pitch for Bama-Ark will be 35 minutes after Game 7 (SCar-UGA) which is slotted for 4 p.m. CT. If all goes as planned, The Tide will start sometime around 7 p.m. But again, the weather does not look great. Alabama may not get this game in until Friday.

All of today’s games air on the SEC Network.

ARKANSAS

The Tide lost two of three to the Razorbacks in Tuscaloosa in mid-March.

Rylin Hedgecock is having a splendid season. She has 20 round-trippers and 58 RBI with a .318 BA and a .775 slugging percentage. Leadoff hitter Reagan Johnson is at .377 with the team high in runs scored (41) and second-most hits (72) among SEC players. She is also 17-17 in stolen bases.

Alabama will likely face Chenise Delce (20-8, 1.82 ERA). Montana Fouts (292) will undoubtedly start for the Tide on Thursday and for the foreseeable future.

#RollTide #Team27 #BoycottALdotcom