3/7/21 Alabama softball vs South Alabama
Alabama's Montana Fouts (14)
Photo by Evan Pilat
This Week: No. 4 Alabama (26-4, 6-3 SEC) VS. No. 23 Texas A&M (25-5, 4-2 SEC)
- Tuscaloosa, Ala. – Rhoads Stadium
- Thursday, April 1 – 5 p.m. CT (SEC Network)
- Friday, April 2 – 5 p.m. CT
- Saturday, April 3 – 11 a.m. CT (SEC Network)
Scouting Alabama
- No. 4 Alabama is 26-4 overall and 6-3 in SEC play after dropping two of its three games last weekend at seventh-ranked Kentucky last weekend
- Through three weeks of SEC play, Arkansas leads the league at 9-0 with Florida in second at 8-1 and Alabama third at 6-3
- Alabama pitching leads the SEC with a 1.26 ERA, 36 earned runs allowed and 34 walks allowed and is second with 243 strikeouts, 26 wins, 47 runs allowed and nine home runs allowed
- The Crimson Tide is ranked as high as No. 4 in this week’s national polls
- Alabama returns 17 players from last season, including all seven 2020 seniors, while adding five freshmen
Inside the Series
- Overall: Alabama leads 16-4
- In Tuscaloosa: 5-1 | In Bryan-College Station: 9-3 | At Neutral Sites: 2-0
- Current Streak: Texas A&M +1
- Last Meeting: March 24, 2019 – College Station, Texas – L, 3-4
- Last Meeting in Tuscaloosa: May 6, 2018 – W, 5-4 (8)
Last Time Out: Alabama at Kentucky
- Alabama won its series opener against Kentucky, 11-6, before falling in a pair of close losses, 4-2 and 5-4
- The 11 runs scored in the weekend opener was the most for the Tide in an SEC game since March 3, 2019 at Texas A&M
- Bailey Hemphill led the Alabama offense over the weekend, hitting 5-for-11 (.455), including a double and a home run, with six RBIs
- Three other Tide players finished the weekend at or above .300, including Elissa Brown (.400), KB Sides (.333) and Savannah Woodard (.300)
- All four of Sides’ hits on the weekend were doubles
- Brown set a new career high with four hits on Saturday, as did Woodard with three on Monday
- Ten different Tide players earned at least one hit over the weekend with six players driving in a run
Hemphill Closing in on UA Career Home Run and Walks Records
- Senior Bailey Hemphill’s 56 career home runs ranks fourth in the UA career rankings, sitting four shy of Kelly Kretschman’s (1998-2001) career record of 60
- She is the fifth player in program history to reach the 50 home run mark, the first since Kaila Hunt (2011-14)
- Hemphill hit nine home runs her freshman season, improved to 13 as a sophomore and tied the UA single-season record in 2019 with 26
- Her power potential also leads to a lot of teams pitching carefully to the slugger, as she has drawn 198 career walks, which is one away from Haylie McCleney’s (2013-16) record total of 199
- With her second home run in game one against Auburn on March 12, Hemphill became the third player in program history to surpass the 200 career RBI mark, joining Charlotte Morgan (2007-10) and Kaila Hunt (2011-14) in the prestigious club
- Now with 211 career RBIs, Hemphill is only four shy of Hunt’s second-place mark of 215 while Morgan boasts a school-record 264
Alabama League Play Leaders
- Bailey Hemphill
- RBIs – 1st – 14
- On Base Pct. – 1st – .588
- Total Bases – 1st – 25
- Caught Stealing By – 1st – 4
- Home Runs – 2nd – 4
- Slugging Pct. – 2nd – 1.000
- Batting Average – 4th – .440
- Hits – 5th – 11
- Elissa Brown
- Runs – 2nd – 8
- Alexis Mack
- Runs – 3rd – 7
- KB Sides
- Doubles – 1st – 5
- Montana Fouts
- Strikeouts – 2nd – 35
- Wins – 3rd – 3
- Lexi Kilfoyl
- Wins – 3rd – 3
Pitching Power
- The Alabama bullpen has been dominant this season, owning a 1.26 team ERA with just 36 earned runs allowed over 199.1 innings pitched
- Tide pitchers have struck out 243 batters as opposed to just 34 walks
- Opponents are only hitting 21-for-147 (.143) with runners in scoring position, striking out 51 times
- Alabama leads the SEC in ERA (1.26), earned runs allowed (36) and walks allowed (34) and is second in strikeouts (243), runs allowed (47) and wins (26)
- In SEC play, Alabama is second with 61 batters struck out, just two shy of league-leader Arkansas while ranking third in ERA (1.91) and home runs allowed (3)
- Montana Fouts and Lexi Kilfoyl are both ranked in the top 10 in the SEC in strikeouts with 124 (3rd) and 75 (8th), respectively, and Kilfoyl is third in the league with a 0.82 ERA
- Alabama ranks third nationally in shutouts (12), strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.15) and fifth in earned run average (1.26)
- Fouts is ninth nationally and second in the SEC strikeout-to-walk ratio (10.33)
- Alabama is the only team with two pitchers who have thrown at least four shutouts this season, with only three other pitchers in the entire SEC also doing so
Passing It Down
- Alabama is 84-for-259 (.324) with runners in scoring position this season, including 19 doubles, 10 home runs, 47 walks and 134 RBIs
- Conversely, opponents are batting just 21-for-147 (.143) with runners in scoring position and just 21 RBIs
Alabama Leaders with Runners in Scoring Position
- Elissa Brown – 8-for-15 (.533), 5 RBIs, 3 BB
- Kaylee Tow – 14-for-35 (.400), 21 RBIs, 5 2B, 2 HR, 9 BB
- Alexis Mack – 14-for-35 (.400), 13 RBIs, 2 2B, 3B, 5 BB
- Bailey Hemphill – 22-for-39 (.359), 22 RBIs, 2 2B, HR, 8 BB
Up Next – Alabama at Arkansas (Fayetteville, Ark.)
- Friday, April 9 – 6 p.m. CT
- Saturday, April 10 – 11 a.m. CT (ESPN2)
- Sunday, April 11 – 1 p.m. CT
