The Up And Down Week That Was In Alabama Softball
Week four of the 2020 Alabama softball season was up and down. It began with a postponed game Wednesday that will now be played April 21 at UAB. It ended with a 4-0 win over McNeese in the final game Sunday of the Easton Crimson Classic.
Crimson Tide coach Patrick Murphy was present to coach the win but left immediately after the game Sunday to fly to his home state of Iowa for a funeral and was not available to comment. Junior outfielder KB Sides was asked to sum up the weekend including two tough losses to the nation’s seventh-ranked team.
“Our team as a whole, my takeaway is we’re playing May games in February,” Sides said. “Not a lot of teams are doing that. I feel like we’re going to be over=prepared when it comes to April, May.
“Every game matters, but the ones that really matter are towards the end of the season like SEC [games]. I think us playing a hard schedule is going to make us even more better.
“Losing games; you have to persevere through it and I think it’s just going to make us better as a whole.”
There were a pair of tough losses against no. 7/7 Arizona, and both of those saw freshman Lexi Kilfoyl [4-4, 3.02 ERA] take the loss. She pitched well enough to win both games had her offense not left a total of 18 runners on base in the 2-1 and 7-5 losses. In the latter game, Bama rallied for three runs in the bottom of the sixth only to see the Wildcats answer with three in the top of the seventh on a two-out homer by Malia Martinez.
On Friday and Saturday the Crimson Tide posted wins over UT Arlington by scores of 11-3 and 3-2. Red hot hitters/juniors Sides and Maddie Morgan each drove in three runs in the Friday win, In the second win senior Sarah Cornell went five innings and allowed two earned runs while posting seven strikeouts against seven walks. She is now 2-1 of the year but her ERA needs improvement as it sits at 4.48.
The Sunday win over the McNeese Cowgirls saw senior Krystal Goodman get the start in the circle on her Senior Day and earn her third win of the season in a 4-0 shutout that included Hemphill’s second homer of the year.
Sophomore Montana Fouts missed a scheduled Saturday start against Arizona due to illness.
Oregon transfer/left fielder Alexis Mack continues to excel in the leadoff role for Murphy’s offense. For the weekend, she went 6-for-17 with two walks and stole four bases to give her a team-leading 12 for the season. No one on the team, including Murphy, knows who would win a race from home to first between Mack and injured senior outfielder Elissa Brown [broken wrist].
“Too close to call,” Murphy said with a grin when quizzed recently about the two fastest members of his “green light girls.” That group also includes Skylar Wallace, Sides, Jenna Johnson, Mary Greg Anderson and Savannah Woodard. They can all attempt to steal second base when they see fit, hence the term “green light.”
Next on the schedule for no. 8/12 Alabama is a Wednesday night game at home against Alcorn State, weather permitting. The Tide and Braves will square off at 6 p.m. CT at Rhoads Stadium with TV coverage provided via the internet on SEC Network Plus.
