The University of Alabama softball team will play the Mississippi Valley State University Delta Devils Tuesday in the fifth game of its 10-game home stand.
The Tide played Southeastern Conference opponent Missouri last weekend claiming a 2-1 record in the series. The team defeated the Tigers by an eight-run margin in the last game of the series after falling to its opponents on Saturday. Head coach Patrick Murphy said he hopes the huge score differential Sunday sets the speed for the two games this week and for the rest of the season.
“I’m hoping our offense will keep going, because that’s what we need,” Murphy said. “I mean, the offense, if it keeps going, we’re going to be fine the rest of the year because [Missouri’s Chelsea Thomas] is one of the best pitchers in the country, and to score fourteen against them is saying something.”
Last weekend’s series brought the Tide’s record to 10-5 in SEC play and 35-6 overall. Murphy said the season has been tough so far because of the intensity brought by opponents and that the Tide has played a majority of its conference games on the road. He said the team needs to understand this as they go into the rest of the season.
“You know the first four weekends, three are on the road, and anybody that plays us is going to play out of their minds and play their best game, and we know that,” Murphy said. “We expect that, and I think the girls are finally realizing that everybody’s going to bring their best game against us, and we’ve got to bow up.”
Junior Mollie Fichtner said the Tide is not taking the non-conference opponent lightly. She said the team will still focus on playing “Alabama ball” against the Devils. The team is focusing on the finer points of the game as it goes into the midweek game, Fichtner said.
“You’ve got to do the little things,” Fichtner said. “They’ll turn into the big things. So just take it every single inning. We have some adjustments to make, and those are great opportunities to make them.”
Murphy said he is looking for everyone to step up in the game against Mississippi Valley State. Lauren Sewell is set to pitch Tuesday in a game that will help decide the team’s weekend practice schedule.
“Lauren definitely gets to pitch, and then we need to clean it up the whole week,” Murphy said. These are two big games because we have the weekend off, and depending on how we do they either get Thursday off or we practice Thursday. Then Friday, Saturday, Sunday [are] completely off. It’s been on the calendar since September so it’s good. I totally believe in what Coach Saban says. One day off is good, but two days off is great, and three days off is awesome. For an arm that’s been throwing since mid-September in Traina and Jury, it’ll be good for them.”
The Tide will take on the Devils Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the Rhoads Softball Stadium. The team will continue at home against The University of Alabama at Birmingham Blazers Wednesday.
Contributing writer Kelly Ward contributed to this article.
