Trainer Patrick Murphy he couldn’t have asked for much more from his pitching team this weekend, as they kept opponents off the scoreboard in four games. The attack sparked some races and stole 19 bases.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22303433/paint.jpeg)
GAME 1: ALABAMA 10, ALABAMA STATE 0 (5 INNINGS)
Montana Fouts dominated the Hornets: no strikes, no walks, no runs, no basic runners of any kind and 9 eliminations in 4 entries. Sarah Cornell eliminated two of his own in the 5th, when Tide completed a game without perfect strokes. If you are scoring at home, there are 15 ASU hitters and 11 eliminations.
Oh yeah. There was some offense too. Bama had eight hits, eight walks and five stolen bases. Kaylee Tow hit the first home run of the season, a non-doubtful one that disappeared into the night sky. Alexis Mack scored three runs and stole two bases.
Despite the great victory, Bama has some problems to work with, namely leaving the runners at the base (at least one at each entry) and in a scoring position. With the bases loaded and one eliminated in the first and second rounds, Claire Jenkins and Savannah Woodard hitting seventh and eighth failed to advance the runners.
GAME 2: ALABAMA 10, NOTRE DAME 0 (5 INNINGS)
No, you are not seeing twice as much. Crimson Tide once again won a 10-0 game of mercy rules. Tide led 2-0 going to fifth place, when it exploded for eight races highlighted by Claire Jenkinsdouble base cleaning. Alexis Mack Stabbed his way around the base paths all night going 3 on 3 on the board, scoring three more runs and hitting a pair.
Lexi Kilfoyl played four entries, eliminating six and allowing only two basic runners in singles. True freshman Jaala Torrence had his first taste of college softball launching his fifth. She struggled with her control, walking two, but kept the goose egg on the scoreboard in a strikeout and a pair of groundouts.
Notre Dame (2-1) is not a bad team. They are a regular game in the postseason and are chosen to finish third in the ACC this season. The Irish defeated northern Alabama 9-0 on Friday and also the non-hit Alabama State 13-0 on Sunday. This lessens Bama’s victory over the Hornets, but makes his romp over the ND even more impressive. FACT: American football and Alabama softball combined to defeat the Irish 45 to 14 this year.
LAZY ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT
It is HIGHLY disappointing that the University has not been able to find a way to allow fans to watch these games or at least broadcast them live, when Alabama State had no problems with six different teams playing. I suppose Greg Byrne he was too busy asking for solid gold toilet seats for Saban’s personal bathroom for anyone to lift an iPhone at Rhoads.
Since there were no witnesses to testify that these games actually took place – not even the news teams – the recaps will have to come from interpretations of the box and Twitter scores. Allegedly.
GAME 3: ALABAMA 5, LOUISVILLE 0
Supposedly, Fouts made seven complete entries, resulting in a single walk and a walk. She eliminated 11 cardinals. Supposedly, KB sides and Elissa Brown both hit 2 in 3. So they say, Jenkins had three RBIs in one and one out. Brown also reportedly stole three bases, Sides one, and Bailey Dowling 1.
Six different Tide players were eliminated. Bamae again struggled to leave the runners at the base. Bailey Hemphill it was based on the choice of a fielder with the runners on the first and second bases to close the second entry.
GAME 4: ALABAMA 4, LOUISVILLE 0
Rumors say that Tide completed the weekend with its fourth consecutive shutout. Interestingly, the AU had a video camera set up, but apparently nobody could figure out how to broadcast it live. Interwebbing is difficult.
Sources reported that Bama had only five hits and made two mistakes, both for Bailey Dowling. Kilfoyl is said to have yielded three hits and a walk, but hit 10 out of seven.
The only thing we can prove is that freshman Dowling did his first home run in college – unless the video was staged. THANKS, AU ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT FOR GETTING OUT OF BED THIS MORNING! I HATE to bother you for a football game!
GRADES
- It looks like Murphy is still messing with the rear of his lineup, but he has most of the hitting order set. The top five remained the same in all four games and all produced well on the board.
- RF KB sides
- 2B / LF / DP Alexis Mack
- Ç Bailey Hemphill
- WL Bailey Dowling
- 1B Kaylee Tow
- In addition, CF Elissa Brown hit ninth in four games as “second hitter in the lead”, a strategy I don’t like.
- Hemphill picked up three of the four games and appears to be the daily catcher going forward.
- Claire Jenkins was wearing a large knee brace when she started third on all four. She lost everything from last season after tearing up an ACL. Jenkins started out as a shortstop in 2019, but paved the way for Dowling.
- Maddie Morgan, who started at third base in the past two seasons, reached 0.350 last year and was the team’s second at RBI at 20, had only one successful appearance throughout the weekend. Could there be a “doghouse” situation or an injury?
- One lesson Murphy apparently didn’t learn last year was to let pitcher Lexi Kilfoyl hit herself in games she starts in the circle. Last season, Kilfoyl made it 1 to 11 on the board. On Saturday against Notre Dame, she walked, had an inner field appear and attacked with loaded bases. It doesn’t make a lot of sense with so many good bats on the bank. On Sunday, facing Louisville, Kilfoyl did not respond.
- catcher Abby Doerr and 2B Taylor Clark both had their first start of the season in Game 3 and both missed three strokes each.
- Savannah Woodard was hit unsuccessfully in five on the sticks.
WEEKEND MVPs
- Elissa Brown recorded six hits in nine on bats (0.677), scored five runs and stole NINE bases. She had no RBI due to the deficiencies of the hitters in front of her. Her stats would probably have been better if she hadn’t hit ninth.
- In 11 entries in two games, Montana Fouts (2-0) allowed only two runners from the base to reach the base (one, a walk) and none of them advanced further. She hit 20 strokes, had no wild shots or strokes and only two strokes in the air.
NEXT SCHEDULE
This weekend is the real home debut in front of the fans for the annual Easton Bama Bash. The TV will be decided if the lazy bums who run rolltide.com decide to swallow their lattes long enough to post it. (Incidentally, I had to go to the Louisville website to get the score from Game 4’s box. Smh)
- Friday, February 19th vs. Freedom (3-0) – DH: 16h and 18h CT
- Saturday, February 20th vs. Gardner-Webb (0-0) – DH: 15h and 17h CT
- Sunday, February 21st vs. LSU (2-1) – 13h CT – non-conference
NOTE
It seems that the former Bama player Skylar Wallace cannot play for Florida in 2021. Due to SEC rules, non-graduate intra-conference transfers generally need to be out for a year.
“As of now, Skylar is not eligible,” (Gators Tim coach) Walton said. “There is still a potential waiver process, but there is a small, small, small percentage of chances that she will be eligible to play, with the SEC’s abstention rule. The NCAA obviously had the issue of the transfer rule in play, but ended up putting it into practice until later … we knew [that she might have to sit out] when recruiting her – the SEC has a rule – and she knew that when making her decision. ”
This is an interesting problem to watch, because Alabama football is trying to find a way to get the former Tennessee linebacker Henry To’o To’o on board for 2021. Like Wallace, he didn’t graduate, with only two years of college.