Alabama Softball Welcomes Louisiana for Top-20 Out-of-Conference Matchup

This Week: No. 5/ No. 5 Alabama (34-7) vs. No. 13/ No. 18 Louisiana (35-7)

• Tuscaloosa, Ala. – Rhoads Stadium
• Saturday, April 24 – 1:30 p.m. CT
• Sunday, April 25 – 1:30 p.m. CT

Scouting Alabama

• No. 5 Alabama is 34-7 overall and 12-6 in SEC play after earning a 6-3 win over Southern Miss on Wednesday
• The Crimson Tide concludes the non-conference portion of its schedule this weekend against No. 13 Louisiana (April 24-25) before finishing SEC play against Georgia (April 30-May 2) and Ole Miss (May 6-8)
• Alabama pitching leads the SEC with 346 strikeouts and is third with a 1.66 ERA
• In SEC play, the Tide leads the league in hits (134), runs batted in (82), batters struck out (146) and runners caught stealing (5)
• The Crimson Tide is ranked as high as No. 5 in this week’s national polls
• Alabama returned 17 players from last season, including all seven 2020 seniors, while UA added five freshmen

Inside the Series vs. Louisiana

• Overall: Series tied 6-6
• In Tuscaloosa: 4-1 | In Lafayette: 1-4 | At Neutral Sites: 1-1
• Current Streak: Louisiana +2
• Last Meeting: Feb. 19, 2017 – Lafayette, La. – L, 0-7
• Last Meeting in Tuscaloosa: March 1, 2015 – W, 3-2

Last Time Out: Alabama vs. Southern Miss

• Alabama edged Southern Miss, 6-3, Wednesday night at Rhoads Stadium
• Six different players earned a hit in the win, including multi-hit efforts from Elissa Brown and Kaylee Tow
• It was the 13th multi-hit game for both Brown and Tow this season, which is tied for the team lead
• Abby Doerr and Savannah Woodard each drove in a pair of runs, tallying their second and third multi-RBI games of the season, respectively
• Bailey Hemphill drew two walks to improve her career total to 211, just one shy of Auburn’s Kasey Cooper at third in SEC history
• Krystal Goodman allowed just one run on three hits over 6.0 innings pitched to earn the win, striking out six

Alabama Out of Conference

• This weekend marks Alabama’s final non-conference games of the regular season, with the Crimson Tide sporting a 22-1 mark outside of SEC play this season
• The out-of-conference slate includes four ranked games, including two this weekend against No. 13 Louisiana and two wins against then-No. 8 LSU on Feb. 20-21
• Seven of the games so far were won via the run rule
• The Tide is hitting .329 (187-for-569) in out-of-conference play this season, outscoring its opponents 148-30
• Alabama pitching sports a 1.13 out-of-conference ERA with 200 strikeouts and just 24 walks

Hemphill Two Shy of UA Career Home Run Record

• Senior Bailey Hemphill’s 58 career home runs is tied with Kaila Hunt (2011-14) and Charlotte Morgan (2007-10) at second in the UA career rankings, two shy of Kelly Kretschman’s (1998-2001) career record of 60
• She is the fifth player in program history to reach the 50 home run mark, the first since Hunt
• Hemphill 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 221 career RBIs, Hemphill passed Hunt’s total of 215 and continues to close in on Morgan’s school-record total of 264

Alabama League Play Leaders

Team Rankings (Top 3)

• Hits – 1st – 134
• Runs Batted In – 1st – 82
• Batters Struck Out – 1st – 146
• Runners Caught Stealing – 1st – 5
• Runs Scored – 2nd – 90
• Batting Average – 3rd – .275
• Doubles – 3rd – 19
• Walks – 3rd – 59
• Total Bases – 3rd – 192
• Stolen Bases – 3rd – 14
• Earned Run Average – 3rd – 2.31

Individual Rankings (Top 3)

• On Base Percentage – Bailey Hemphill – 1st – .642
• Runs Batted In – Bailey Hemphill – 1st – 23
• Batters Struck Out – Montana Fouts – 1st – 92
• Runners Caught Stealing – Bailey Hemphill – 1st – 5
• Runs Scored – Alexis Mack – 2nd – 16
• Walks – Bailey Hemphill – 2nd – 18
• Home Runs – Bailey Hemphill – 2nd – 6
• Batting Average – Bailey Hemphill – 3rd – .455
• Total Bases – Bailey Hemphill – 3rd – 42
• Slugging Percentage – Bailey Hemphill – 3rd – .955

Pitching Power

• The Alabama bullpen owns a 1.66 team ERA with just 64 earned runs allowed over 270.1 innings pitched
• Tide pitchers have struck out 346 batters as opposed to just 79 walks
• Opponents are only hitting 36-for-232 (.155) with runners in scoring position, striking out 84 times
• Alabama leads the SEC in strikeouts (346) and is third in ERA (1.66)
• In SEC play, Alabama has struck out a league-leading 146 batters, over 30 more than the next-highest team
• Montana Fouts and Lexi Kilfoyl are both ranked in the top 10 in the SEC in strikeouts with 181 (2nd) and 95 (9th), respectively
• Alabama ranks seventh nationally in shutouts (13) and eighth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.40)
• Fouts’ 181 strikeouts ranks eighth nationally

Passing It Down

• Alabama is 127-for-393 (.325) with runners in scoring position this season, including 22 doubles, 15 home runs, 60 walks and 185 RBIs
• Conversely, opponents are batting just 36-for-232 (.155) with runners in scoring position and 47 RBIs

Alabama Leaders with Runners in Scoring Position

• Elissa Brown – 11-for-23 (.478), 9 RBIs, 4 BB
• Bailey Hemphill – 19-for-46 (.413), 32 RBIs, 2 2B, 3 HR, 10 BB
• Alexis Mack – 16-for-40 (.400), 15 RBIs, 2 2B, 3B, 6 BB
• Kaylee Tow – 20-for-51 (.392), 31 RBIs, 6 2B, 3 HR, 11 BB

Bailey Hemphill Sets Alabama Career Walks Record

• Drawing her second walk of the day in the fourth inning of game one against Texas A&M, Bailey Hemphill improved her career total to 200, passing former Alabama record-holder Haylie McCleney to become the program’s all-time walks leader
• Hemphill is just the fourth player in SEC history to draw 200 career walks

SEC Career Walks Leaders

1. Amanda Lorenz (Florida) – 236 – 2016-19
2. Devon Wallace (Arkansas) – 235 – 2012-15
3. Kasey Cooper (Auburn) – 212 – 2014-17
4. Bailey Hemphill (Alabama) – 211 – 2017-pres.

Up Next – Alabama at Georgia (Athens, Ga.)

• Friday, April 30 – 5 p.m. CT
• Saturday, May 1 – 12 p.m. CT (ESPN2)
• Sunday, May 2 – 1 p.m. CT