Alabama Softball Opens Women’s College World Series Play Thursday vs. Arizona

5/7/21 WSB Alabama vs Ole Miss Alabama's Jenna Johnson (18) Photo by Evan Pilat

THIS WEEK: WOMEN’S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

SCOUTING ALABAMA

Third-seeded Alabama earned three shutout wins in last week’s NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional to advance to the Super Regional round, hosting 14th-seeded Kentucky at Rhoads Stadium
The Crimson Tide is the only team to play in every Super Regional since the current postseason format was adopted in 2005
Alabama has won every regional round since 2005 and has won an NCAA-record 43-straight games in regional play, stretching back to 2007
Crimson Tide pitching combined to throw 20.0 shutout innings last weekend with 44 strikeouts, including a combined no-hitter from Lexi Kilfoyl and Krystal Goodman against Alabama State
Alabama rides a 16-game winning streak into the NCAA Tournament, including four-straight shutouts and 14 wins against ranked teams, outscoring its opponents 103-30

ALABAMA AT THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

This marks Alabama’s 13th trip to the Women’s College World Series, most recently finishing third in 2019
The Tide has made more appearances in the WCWS than any other SEC team, three ahead of second-place Florida
Alabama’s first appearance came in 1999, just the program’s third season in existence and the first under head coach Patrick Murphy
The Tide would earn two wins for the first time in 2008 and has won at least two games in six of the eight appearances since
Alabama won the national title in 2012, the first NCAA softball championship for any SEC school
With 13 WCWS appearances in 25 seasons of softball, the Tide has qualified more often than it hasn’t, a feat only UCLA and Arizona can also claim

LAST TIME OUT: SUPER REGIONALS

Third-seeded Alabama defeated No. 14 Kentucky in two games, 4-3 and 4-1, to win the Tuscaloosa Super Regional
The Tide is the only team to play in all 16 Super Regionals since the current postseason format was adopted in 2005
Alabama has now won 10 of the 11 Super Regionals it has hosted at Rhoads Stadium
Seven of the 11 Super Regionals in Tuscaloosa were won by Alabama in two games, including this season
Kaylee Tow led the team with three hits over the two games, including a two-run double in game two
Montana Fouts and Lexi Kilfoyl each earned complete-game victories over the Wildcats, combining for 18 strikeouts over 14.0 innings with just four runs allowed on 12 hits, with only two going for extra bases

BAILEY HEMPHILL CLOSING IN ON SEC WALKS RECORD

With 233 career walks, Bailey Hemphill is closing in on the all-time SEC record, just two shy of second-place Devon Wallace and three of Amanda Lorenz’s record mark
Hemphill is just the fourth player in SEC history to draw 200 career walks
Drawing her second walk of the day in the fourth inning against Texas A&M on April 1, Bailey Hemphill improved her career total to 200, passing former Alabama record-holder Haylie McCleney to become the program’s all-time walks leader

SEC Career Walks Leaders

FOUTS HITS 300 STRIKEOUT MARK

Montana Fouts threw her 300th strikeout of the season in the regional round against Clemson, marking the eighth time an Alabama pitcher has broke the 300 mark
It is the first 300 strikeout season since Alexis Osorio finished the 2017 campaign with 334
Jackie Traina holds the Alabama single-season record with 361 during the 2012 national championship year
Of the eight pitchers with 300 strikeouts, Fouts’ 1.60 K/IP only trails 2010 Kelsi Dunne (1.66) and 2017 Osorio (1.65)

300 Strikeout Seasons

HEMPHILL BREAKS UA CAREER HOME RUN RECORD

After tying the Alabama career home run record with two homers May 13 against Kentucky at the SEC Tournament, Bailey Hemphill launched herself into Crimson Tide history with a sixth-inning home run the next day against Tennessee to move into first place with 61 career home runs
She passed previous record-holder Kelly Kretschman, who held the Alabama record at 60 since 2001
Now with 62 home runs, she ranks fifth in SEC history
Hemphill previously tied the UA single-season record in 2019 with 26 home runs
With her second home run in game one against Auburn on March 12, Hemphill became the third player in program history to surpass the 200 career RBI mark, joining Charlotte Morgan (2007-10) and Kaila Hunt (2011-14) in the prestigious club
Now with 235 career RBIs, Hemphill passed Hunt’s total of 215 and continues to close in on Morgan’s school-record total of 264

DOUBLE DIGIT STRIKEOUTS

Montana Fouts has thrown 10+ strikeouts 20 times this season, setting a new Alabama single-season record
Her 14 most recent double-digit totals have come against ranked teams
She set an SEC Tournament record with 39 strikeouts across her three starts, including a single-game record 15 against Kentucky

Most Games with 10+ Strikeouts in a Season

PITCHING POWER

The Alabama bullpen owns a 1.69 team ERA with just 91 earned runs allowed over 377.1 innings pitched
Tide pitchers have struck out 510 batters as opposed to just 104 walks
Opponents are only hitting 49-for-312 (.157) with runners in scoring position, striking out 112 times
Alabama ranks fifth nationally with a 4.90 strikeout-to-walk ratio

PASSING IT DOWN

Alabama is 179-for-547 (.327) with runners in scoring position this season, including 30 doubles, 23 home runs, 96 walks and 268 RBIs
Conversely, opponents are batting just 48-for-293 (.164) with runners in scoring position and 65 RBIs

Alabama Leaders with Runners in Scoring Position