Alabama Softball NCAA Tournament: Knoxville Super Regional Preview

The Alabama Crimson Tide head to their NCAA-record 18th Super Regional round after winning the Tuscaloosa Regional in three straight victories. The roadblock ahead of the them is nemesis Tennessee who won the SEC regular season crown and has been top 3 most all of the season. Cue the video.

TENNESSEE (43-10)

To say the Vols are on a roll might be the understatement of the post-season. In three games of their Regional series, UT outscored their opponents 21-0. That said, the opponents were Dayton and twice versus Virginia - a team Bama beat twice in February.

Like Alabama, the Volunteers were also one-and-done in the SEC Tournament at the the hands of LSU. Before that, Tennessee’s last defeat was at the hands of... wait for it... Alabama. After shutting out the Tide 5-0 and 2-0 in a late April series, Alabama took the final game on an absolute gem of a 1-0 two-hit shutout performance by Kayla Beaver.

Tennessee pitchers Payton Gottshall (20-4, 1.21 ERA) and Karlyn Pickens (21-6, 1.15 ERA) are likely the only pitcher the Tide will see unless there is a lopsided score at some point.

The offense is led by Rylie West (.364, 13 HR, 39 RBI) and 2023 All-American and 8th year senior Kiki Milloy (.354, 13 HR, 31 RBI, 64 runs scored, and 24 stolen bases). Fellow All-American McKenna Gibson is hitting .346 with 7 longballs and 41 RBI.

ALABAMA (36-17)

The Crimson Tide will counter with Kayla Beaver (17-8, 1.72 ERA) and freshman Jocelyn Briski (9-5, 2.22).

The offense heated up in the Regional a way Tide fans have not seen all year. Was it an anomaly or is it here to stay? The hottest of these are Jenna Johnson, Bailey Dowling and slapper Kristen White. However, most of the their offense has been in the form on one-baggers. Kenleigh Cahalan has been swinging a good bat for the last month or so. She leads the team in batting average, slugging percentage, extra base hits, total bases, and most other offensive categories. In addition, Marlie Giles appears to be inching her way back to being 100% healthy after an unfortunate mid-season arm injury.

WEATHER

Here we go again with another round of potential rain. K-ville is expecting scattered thunderstorms all weekend.

SCHEDULE

• GM1: Friday, May 24, 3pm CT
• GM2: Saturday, May 25, 2pm CT
• GM3: Sunday, May 26 - if necessary, TBA

HOW TO WATCH... ALLEGEDLY

Games 1 and 2 will be on ESPN2. The third “if necessary” game is TBA. All games will be called by Eric Frede with former Vol Madison Shipman providing color commentary.

OTHERS TO WATCH

All but two seeded teams advanced. Arkansas fell to Arizona and ULL bowed to Baylor. If you tend to cheer for Cinderellas, those are your marks.

• (1) Texas vs. (16) Texas A&M - WOO, BOY! There will be some serious hate flowing in this one.
• (2) Oklahoma vs. (15) Florida State - Has Okie gotten their mojo back? They win Game 1 on Thursday 11-3.
• (4) Florida vs. Baylor - Gators should romp. Friday 11am first pitch.
• (5) Oklahoma State vs. Arizona - Okie Lite is led by a pitcher you may have heard of.
• (6) UCLA vs. (11) Georgia - If you like high scores, this is the series for you. The Bruins destroyed the Dwags in the first game on Thursday 8-0.
• (7) Missouri vs. (10) Duke - Perhaps one of the most intriguing 50-50 series.
• (8) Stanford vs. (9) LSU - Another potentially entertaining one.

#RollTide #Team28