Alabama Softball Falls Slightly After First Loss of the Season

After defeating Mississippi State and going 4-1 in the Easton T-Town Showdown this past week, it was announced Tuesday that the Crimson Tide fell two spots to No. 4 on the NFCA Coaches Poll and USA Softball poll.

After a 1-0 loss to South Alabama, Alabama Softball (19-1) fell three spots and now sits at No. 6 on the D1Softball poll and No. 7 on the Softball America poll.

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Week highlights:
All five pitchers on the Alabama pitching staff got a start in the circle over the weekend.

“The goal going into the weekend was to get everybody a start, and we did that,” said head coach Patrick Murphy.

4-0 win vs. Mississippi State
The Crimson Tide started the week off with a win over Mississippi State in a non-conference game. Starting pitcher Montana Fouts set a new career-high in strikeouts. She was able to strike out 16 of the 25 batters she faced and served multiple strikeouts to 6 of the 25 batters.

9-1, 11-3 doubleheader win vs. Kent State
Alabama run-ruled Kent State in both games of its doubleheader. The Crimson Tide issued a comeback in both games after being down 1-0 and 3-2 respectively.

5-3, 8-0 win vs. Northern Iowa
In game one, Bailey Hemphill reached 197 career RBIs and passed Whitney Larsen’s 196 career RBIs to take the third spot in the record book.

Freshman Jaala Torrence got her first start in the circle in game two. She pitched her first career shutout and was credited with her first win.

"I think one of her first pitches was 68 miles an hour and it was like her setting the tone for her career," said Murphy. "I'm just really proud of her... she consistently hit 68,70,71 [miles per hour] so she's going to really help us."

Savannah Woodard was able to lead the Crimson Tide to an 8-0 victory with a walk off grand slam in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Alabama Softball will travel to Auburn, Ala. to begin SEC play with a three-game series against Auburn on Friday, March 12.