The 'Very Valuable' Piece of Alabama's Offense this Postseason

OKLAHOMA CITY–– Audrey Vandagriff served as Alabama's leadoff hitter for most of the first half of the 2026 season. Alexis Pupillo took over the role in early April. Both players had good moments in the position but weren't getting on base consistently enough.

So when postseason play started in the SEC tournament, Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy, never one to be fully committed to the same starting lineup, put a new player in the leadoff spot. Second baseman was inserted in the top spot in the lineup and has been a spark plug for the offense ever since.

Young reached base four times with three hits and three runs scored during Alabama's 6-3 win over UCLA in its Women's College World Series opener on Thursday night. Every time the Crimson Tide scored, Young was part of the play.

She scored in the first inning on an RBI single from Marlie Giles. The infielder was also on base for home runs from Alexis Pupillo and Brooke Wells. Facing an offense as dangerous as UCLA's, every run counted.

"Unbelievable today," Murphy said of Young after the game. "Just terrific. She's been like that in the postseason. We needed a little shot in the arm from her."

As the leadoff hitting ahead of Alabama's two best home-run hitters in Wells and Pupillo, Young sets the tone for the offense. When she gets on base, it puts a lot of pressure on the opposing pitchers and defenses and forces them to throw more to Wells.

"I was hoping one of the two behind her would do something big, and they both did," Murphy said. "We needed both of them. Jena has been terrific leadoff, works the count, battles with two strikes, all those things. The last hit was the duck fart to left field. It got in there. It was a base hit. Wells does the rest with the home run."

Since moving to the leadoff spot this postseason, Young is hitting .406 (13-for-32) with two home runs, seven RBIs and 10 runs scored. She has scored in seven of the ten games in the postseason.

"She's been very valuable," Murphy said.

Young is in her first season with the Crimson Tide after transferring in from Iowa. She earned a spot in the starting lineup right away but spent some time on the bench in late March after slumping at the plate. A few games later, she came through with one of Alabama's biggest hits of the season in with a home run in the series-deciding Game 3 against Texas in the regular season.

"I just didn't feel good in the box, and knew that I needed to make a change and just start seeing the ball better," Young said back in April. "So I spent a lot of time with Adam Arbour and Kayla Braud to feel more comfortable in the box. I didn't feel comfortable and was getting away from what I was used to. I just needed to bring that back in and come back to myself."

Not only has Young been great at the plate, but she has made some highlight reel, run-saving, hit-robbing plays at second base for the Tide on defense. Murphy has said she is deserving of a gold glove.

No. 1 Alabama will continue needing quality at-bats and hits from Young as the Tide is looking for its first national title since 2012. Next up for the Crimson Tide is a meeting with National Player of the Year Jordy Frahm and the No. 4 Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday evening with a spot in the WCWS championship game on the line.

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