This Week: No. 5 Alabama (33-7) vs. Southern Miss (20-19)
- Wednesday, April 21 – 6 p.m. CT
- Tuscaloosa, Ala. – Rhoads Stadium
Scouting Alabama
- No. 5 Alabama is 33-7 overall and 12-6 in SEC play after falling in two of its three games against Florida last weekend
- The Crimson Tide steps out of conference play this week facing Southern Miss (April 21) and Louisiana (April 24-25) before concluding SEC play with series at Georgia (April 30-May 2) and vs. Ole Miss (May 6-8)
- Alabama pitching leads the SEC with 339 strikeouts and is third with a 1.65 ERA
- In SEC play, the Tide leads the league in hits (134), runs batted in (82), batters struck out (146) and runners caught stealing (5)
- The Crimson Tide is ranked as high as No. 5 in this week’s national polls
- Alabama returned 17 players from last season, including all seven 2020 seniors, while UA added five freshmen
Inside the Series vs. Southern Miss
- Overall: Alabama leads, 13-2
- In Tuscaloosa: 9-0 | In Hattiesburg: 4-1 | At Neutral Sites: 0-1
- Current Streak: Alabama +10
- Last Meeting: March 2, 2019 – Tuscaloosa, Ala. – W, 3-1
Last Time Out: Alabama vs. Florida
- Alabama fell in its first two games against Florida, 2-0 and 9-2, before bouncing back with a 4-2 win in game three
- KB Sides led the Tide at the plate, going 4-for-9 (.444) with at least one hit in each game to extend her hitting streak to nine games and her reached base streak to 18 games
- The Gators pitched carefully around Bailey Hemphill, walking her five times as she increased her school-record walk total to 209, which puts her three shy of tying Auburn’s Kasey Cooper for third in SEC history at 212
- Montana Fouts pitched two complete games with double-digit strikeouts in each, striking out 10+ batters in each of her last five starts
No Sunday Sweeps
- After falling in the first two games, Alabama defeated Florida on Sunday to avoid the series sweep
- The Crimson Tide has not been swept in a three-game SEC series since April 26-28, 2013 at LSU and has not been swept at home since March 27-28, 2004, also against the Tigers
- Since that 2013 series, Alabama has bounced back with a game three win five times after losses in games one and two
Game Three Wins Following Losses in Games One and Two
- March 21-23, 2015 vs. Florida (0-1, 1-4, 5-1)
- May 5-6, 2017 vs. Auburn (0-3, 1-4, 3-2)
- April 21-23, 2018 vs. Tennessee (0-1, 3-13, 4-0)
- April 27-29, 2018 at Georgia (3-5, 3-4, 7-4)
- April 16-18, 2021 vs. Florida (0-2, 2-9, 4-2)
Hemphill Two Shy of UA Career Home Run Record
- Senior Bailey Hemphill’s 58 career home runs is tied with Kaila Hunt (2011-14) and Charlotte Morgan (2007-10) at second in the UA career rankings, two 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 Hunt
- Hemphill tied the UA single-season record in 2019 with 26 home runs
- 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 221 career RBIs, Hemphill passed Hunt’s total of 215 and continues to close in on Morgan’s school-record total of 264
Alabama League Play Leaders
Team Rankings (Top 3)
- Hits – 1st – 134
- Runs Batted In – 1st – 82
- Batters Struck Out – 1st – 146
- Runners Caught Stealing – 1st – 5
- Runs Scored – 2nd – 90
- Batting Average – 3rd – .275
- Doubles – 3rd – 19
- Walks – 3rd – 59
- Total Bases – 3rd – 192
- Stolen Bases – 3rd – 14
- Earned Run Average – 3rd – 2.31
Individual Rankings (Top 3)
- On Base Percentage – Bailey Hemphill – 1st – .642
- Runs Batted In – Bailey Hemphill – 1st – 23
- Batters Struck Out – Montana Fouts – 1st – 92
- Runners Caught Stealing – Bailey Hemphill – 1st – 5
- Runs Scored – Alexis Mack – 2nd – 16
- Walks – Bailey Hemphill – 2nd – 18
- Home Runs – Bailey Hemphill – 2nd – 6
- Batting Average – Bailey Hemphill – 3rd – .455
- Total Bases – Bailey Hemphill – 3rd – 42
- Slugging Percentage – Bailey Hemphill – 3rd – .955
Up Next – Alabama vs. Louisiana (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)
- Saturday, April 24 – 1:30 p.m. CT
- Sunday, April 25 – 1:30 p.m. CT
