Three Takeaways from Alabama's Road Series Win at Missouri

Alabama softball has won its first three SEC series for the first time since the 2019 season after taking two of three games at Missouri over the weekend. The Crimson Tide won the first and third games of the series started by Jocelyn Briski and lost the middle game started by freshman Vic Moten.

Here are three of my biggest takeaways from the weekend.

Second-game slump

Alabama Softball Player Kaitlyn Pallozzi (18) in action against Mizzou at Mizzou Softball Stadium | UA Athletics

Coming into the weekend matchup, Alabama only had one loss on the season, and Missouri was the only team in the SEC with a losing record. The Tigers are the lowest RPI team from the SEC by more than 20 spots. On paper, this should have been a sweep for the Crimson Tide, but it didn't turn out that way as Alabama dropped Game 2.

Alabama's freshmen pitchers Moten and Kaitlyn Pallozzi combined to give up five runs in the second game of the series, but it wasn't just on the pitching. The offense scored two solo home runs in the first inning, and then never scored again.

It marked the second straight SEC weekend that Alabama dropped Game 2. That's not completely surprising given that Alabama is not pitching its ace in the second game, but the Tide needs to find ways to give better performances all around in the middle game of conference series if it wants to stay in the hunt at the top of the SEC standings.

Bats go cold with runners in scoring position

Alabama Softball Player Salen Hawkins (47) against Mizzou at Mizzou Softball Stadium in Colombia, MO on Friday, Mar 20, 2026. | UA Athletics

Alabama got one hit with a runner in scoring position all weekend: Ambrey Taylor's go-ahead home run in Game 3. The Tide finished the weekend 1 for 16 with RISP.

All eight runs on the weekend came via home runs. While seeing six home runs in an SEC series is an positive thing, it's not as encouraging that the Alabama offense could never put together an inning where the team continued to pass the bat down and drive in runners.

Averaging less than three runs a game against one of the statistically worst pitching staffs in the SEC isn't good enough. Jocelyn Briski pitched well enough that the Crimson Tide was able to escape Columbia with two wins, but working with small run support is going to continue to put strain on her and the freshmen pitchers too.

It's not a question of ability. The Crimson Tide showed just last weekend against Arkansas that it can rally to put together runs. The good news is Alabama's offense will have plenty of opportunities to reset over the next week with games against Jacksonville State, North Alabama and North Dakota State before defending national champion Texas comes to Rhoads Stadium on April 2.

Freshmen spark the bounceback

Ana Roman rounds first celebrating a home run against Missouri | UA Athletics

After dropping Game 2, Alabama needed to find a way to rally and leave Missouri with a series win. Briski gave Alabama another strong start in the circle, but the Crimson Tide trailed by two runs after three innings.

Freshman Ambrey Taylor was making the first conference starts of her career against Mizzou. She only had one hit through the first two games but came up with the biggest hit of the series in Game 3 with her three-run home run in the top of the fourth inning to give Alabama the 3-2 lead.

Fellow freshman Ana Roman added an insurance run with a solo home run in the fifth inning. Roman's home run, which was her ninth of the season, would prove to be the game-winning run. In a game that Alabama had to have, it was the freshmen that stepped up in the biggest moments for the Crimson Tide.

SEC Softball standings

Team	SEC record	Overall record
Texas	6-0	28-1
Oklahoma	6-0	32-2
Florida	8-1	31-2
Texas A&M	5-1	22-9
Alabama	7-2	29-2
Tennessee	6-3	28-3
Arkansas	3-3	27-4
Georgia	3-3	23-8
LSU	3-6	21-10
Mississippi State	2-4	29-6
Auburn	2-4	22-10
South Carolina	1-5	21-12
Missouri	1-5	15-18
Kentucky	1-8	20-12
Ole Miss	0-9	20-14

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