The softball team will host Ole Miss in a three-game series starting at 2 p.m. The weekend series also marks the return to conference play for the Crimson Tide.
“We have 12 SEC games left,” said head coach Patrick Murphy. “We’re 12-4 [in the SEC], and it would be an awesome season if we could go 24-4. That’s 12 consecutive wins, which is going to be difficult because we have Ole Miss, which is the only other team besides us who has beaten Florida.
“Our goal is to protect our home turf and not lose another game at home the rest of the year. If we could go 3-0 this weekend and 3-0 against Tennessee, that will set us up pretty good for the rest of the year.”
Recently, the team has gone on a winning streak, having won eight in a row. Junior pitcher Kelsi Dunne acknowledged the team faced some adversity early on in the season, but was able to lean on each other and boost each other’s confidence.
“All of us all work together,” she said. “All four pitchers help each other in different ways, all of our pitches complement each other. We’re always working together to try and make each other better.”
In the Tide’s most recent victory over Mississippi Valley State, freshmen pitcher Lauren Sewell allowed just two hits and one run.
“I think she did really well with the 10 strikeouts,” Murphy said. “The only score was on a wild pitch, which was too bad because she did have a shutout going. It was two outs, and she struck the kid out on the next pitch after that. Her record right now is 8-1, and she just gets better every time she gets out there.
Not only was Alabama’s pitching dominant, but its batting as well. The Tide scored five runs in the first two innings against MVSC. The Tide went on to score one more run in the fourth inning to close out the Lady Devilettes 6-1. Though Alabama won the game, the team did so without scoring in the 5th, 6th or 7th innings.
“They changed pitchers, and she did a really good job against us,” Murphy said. “I spoke to their coach right after the game. I told him, ‘I’m glad you didn’t start the second kid.’ She held us down pretty good. I don’t know if we were just happy with the five runs early because we kind of coasted after that. It was a 1-1 game after the second inning, so that was probably the only disappointment.”
Though the Tide’s first game is scheduled for the same time as the A-Day scrimmage game, Murphy and the team still expect their regular supporters to attend.
“When it’s A-Day we usually get about 400-500 people come over after their game and watch our second game, so it kind of helps our crowd,” Murphy said. “There are some people who come into town because softball’s playing.”
