Montana Fouts Shuts Out State, Alabama Earns Second SEC Sweep

A little rain could only temporarily delay the inevitable between Alabama and Mississippi State Saturday evening at Rhoads Stadium.

After a two-hour plus delay, the No. 2 ranked Crimson Tide rallied to beat Mississippi State 4-0, sweeping the series over the Bulldogs.

Throwing for the third game in a row with her second start of the weekend, Montana Fouts delivered one of her best starts of the SEC season. Fouts only allowed three hits from Mississippi State and had 11 strikeouts while allowing zero runs. It was her first seven-inning shutout since Feb. 25 against Southeastern in the Mardi Gras Mambo.

On the weekend, Fouts threw 14.1 innings of one-run ball with 23 strikeouts, dropping her ERA back below 2.00 and earned the win in all three outings.

After game one, Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy said he wanted his team to put pressure on the Bulldogs earlier in the games, and while they did not do that, they still managed to find ways to win both remaining games of the series.

Alabama used a three-run fifth inning to build on an early 1-0 lead with the key hit delivered by freshman pinch hitter Aubrey Barnhart. Jenna Johnson broke out of a five-game hitting slump to lead off the inning with a single followed by another single from Kat Grill. A walk to Ashley Prange loaded the bases, and Barnhart took care of the rest with a single up the middle to score two runs. The Crimson Tide tacked on one more on an RBI groundout from Bailey Dowling who now has seven RBIs in her last five games.

The Crimson Tide first got on the board in an unconventional way. Grill laid down a bunt right in front of home plate. A wild throw from Bulldog catcher Mia Davidson allowed Grill to come all the way around to score, giving Alabama the 1-0 lead. Grill has base hits in eight of her last 10 SEC games.

With the important sweep at home, Alabama (36-6, 13-5 SEC) stays in good position for the SEC regular title race. The Crimson Tide will play a doubleheader at Rhoads on Tuesday against North Alabama and Alcorn State before traveling to College Station for a three-game series against Texas A&M beginning Friday.