Alabama Softball Hosts Florida in Top-5 Showdown
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama and Florida have quite the softball rivalry. It will be renewed this weekend at Rhoads Stadium on the University of Alabama campus; a weekend when A-Day will occur at Bryant-Denny Stadium and Auburn baseball is visiting Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
Traffic on campus will be interesting, but back to that softball rivalry. Alabama comes in ranked third nationally while the Gators are at No. 5.
“He recruits good kids," Crimson Tide coach Patrick Murphy said of his Florida counterpart Tim Walton. "Good students. I try to do the same.
“It’s a healthy rivalry. It’s not a dirty rivalry. I know it’s going to be a hard-fought [series]. We’re [both] going to play the right way. They’re not going to beat themselves. That’s a compliment to them. You’re going to have to beat them.”
The Gators (30-5, 10-2 SEC) and the Crimson Tide (32-5, 11-4 SEC) enter the weekend series second and third, respectively, in the SEC standings, with UF 1.5 and UA 2.0 games back from the lead held by Arkansas.
In SEC play, Florida has yet to drop a conference series as it has defeated Kentucky (3-1, 3-1, 2-4), Mississippi State (1-0, 10-0, 8-0), LSU (5-0, 7-4, 9-3) and Georgia (2-4, 17-1, 8-1).
Alabama has won four of its five conference series matchups with decisions against Auburn (6-0, 4-1, 4-2), Tennessee (3-4, 7-1, 3-0), Texas A&M (11-3, 8-6, 14-6) and Arkansas (5-3, 0-4, 2-0), while its lone series defeat came against Kentucky (11-6, 2-4, 4-5).
Also in conference play, Florida holds the second-best team batting average (.300) and ERA (1.56), and leads the league in on base percentage (.401) and opposing batting average (.193).
Alabama currently leads league in league play in runs (84), hits (123), RBIs (78), walks and batters struck out (120).
The Crimson Tide maintains a 41-37 advantage over the Gators in the all-time series and a 13-17 record when playing a Rhoads Stadium. The last meeting between the two programs in Tuscaloosa occurred in 2018 where the Gators took the series 6-1, 2-3 and 3-2.
At the plate the Gators are led by the .431 average of senior infielder Hannah Adams. Junior third baseman Charla Echols leads Florida with 10 homers and 39 RBIs. She bats .374, good for second on the team.
Though not eligible due to SEC transfer rules, former Alabama star infielder/junior Skylar Wallace is now a Gator.
In the pitching circle, junior Elizabeth Hightower is 14-2 with a 1.40 ERA. Alabama will also likely see senior Natalie Lugo [9-1, 1.41].
Hightower is expected to be opposed Friday and Sunday by reigning SEC Pitcher of the Week Montana Fouts [13-2, 1.62]. Murphy’s Saturday starter of late has been sophomore Lexi Kilfoyl, who is 11-3 with a 1.56 ERA. Fouts beat Arkansas twice last weekend.
The Crimson Tide is led at the plate by graduate outfielder Alexis Mack and her .429 average. Mack is the team leader in steals with 17. Graduate catcher Bailey Hemphill tops the Tide with eight homers and 38 runs driven in.
Game times and TV coverage are: Friday at 6 p.m. CT (SEC Network+), Saturday at 1 p.m. (ESPN2) and Sunday at 1 p.m. (SEC Network).
