Alabama Athletics
Crimson Tide Softball Aims for Better Pitching During Home Opening Weekend
The Alabama softball team is amping up its energy as it prepares for the 2020 Easton Bama Bash at Rhoads Stadium this weekend.
That especially goes for the pitchers.
The hectic offseason caught up to sophomore ace Montana Fouts, who is 0-2 with a 4.88 ERA.
“She took the eight weeks off from the Olympics trials until finals," Crimson Tide coach Patrick Murphy said. "The last day of finals she pitched for the first time. Then she was on a pitch count over Christmas break, her and her dad, and it was every other day."
"We told her 'you don’t have to be 100 percent in February. We want you to be ready to go in May and June.'”
Fouts had worked all summer between the Junior Olympic team and competing for a spot on Team USA. Alabama used the shutdown with an eye on the postseason as it hopes to return to the Women's College World Series.
“I've heard her say 'If I can throw 700 pitches in a bullpen I would,'" Murphy said. "This was her first rest, literally, since she was eight years old. We were going to do it this summer but she made the junior Olympic team. Then we were going to do it when she came back and she got to try out for the Olympic team.
"I was not going to take away either of those because that is not fair. Those are great opportunities and she won a gold medal. The only other choice was: 'You are not picking up a ball.' So it was eight weeks.”
Alabama was preseason No. 1 in two of four major polls, but is off to a 4-5 start.
The team will compete against Wichita State (4 p.m.) and Penn State (6 p.m.) on Friday, Louisville (1:30 p.m.) and Penn State (4 p.m.) on Saturday, and Louisville (1:30 p.m.) on Sunday to wrap up the Bama Bash.
The rest of the staff has freshman Lexi Kilfoyl (2-2, 1.49 ERA), senior Krystal Goodman (1-0, 4.00), and senior Sarah Cornell (1-1. 6.75).
Kilfoyl was named SEC Freshman Player of the Week after throwing a one-hit shutout over top-ranked Washington during the tournament. She also pitched a combined of nine innings against UCLA and Oklahoma State, finishing with eight strikeouts and only allowing five runs.
“It (being named SEC Freshman) feels really great especially with it being only week two," she said. "It does put a bigger target on my back which motivates me that much more to keep pushing myself and get better every day.”
Cornell improved to 1-1 against USF by only giving up five hits over four and a third innings. She struck out two and allowed only one run while throwing 68 pitches.
“This sport is all about pitching. If they can keep us in the game I think we have a good chance to score a run” Murphy said. “We have to have better team defense and take advantage of bases loaded and walks that people give us.”
Correction
Due to an inadvertent error by an editor, this story was briefly posted with incorrect information on Wednesday night. We apologize for the mistake and the confusion.
