Alabama softball coach Patrick Murphy said it may not be easy to beat the formidable SEC foe the Crimson Tide has in Ole Miss, but that is what No. 9 Alabama will seek to do as it travels to face the Rebels this weekend.

Murphy said the team will employ all of its tools to get wins in this series and during SEC play.

“I don’t think there are going to be many sweeps, for anybody,” Murphy said. “Obviously, at home you want to get them as much as you can, but on the road you need to steal some. Our bats need to put the ball in play a lot, play great defense and give it to Jackie [Traina] and Leslie [Jury] and Sydney [Littlejohn], and hopefully they’ll do the rest.”

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Ole Miss is currently unranked, but its potential is something Murphy said he has been watching. Last weekend, Ole Miss opened its series against No. 1 Florida with a win on Friday. Though it could not repeat the upset, the Rebels held the Gators to just two runs on Sunday. Murphy said pitching will be a challenging factor.

“I think whoever has a senior pitcher is going to have an advantage,” Murphy said. “And obviously, their senior pitcher [Carly Hummel] is hot. She beats Florida, she had a really good game against them Sunday, she throws a perfect game the Monday before that. So obviously, she’s very talented, and she’s hot right now, so it’s going to be tough scoring runs against her.”

Hummel threw Ole Miss’ first ever perfect game last Monday and is slated to face Alabama this weekend. Alabama senior Jordan Patterson said the team has been preparing for her.

“Their pitcher is coming off of a great weekend at Florida,” Patterson said. “She beat them on Friday and held them to two runs on Sunday, and to do that with an offense like Florida is very respectable. So we have film on her, we’re going to be preparing, and our hitters will definitely be ready.”

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Patterson also said the Crimson Tide is not underestimating its opponent.

“We definitely have to be very focused,” she said. “Ole Miss is a great team, and it’s always tough to go on the road and play in someone else’s home turf, so we’re definitely going in very focused. We’re going to have a good day of practice today, and really prepare for their pitcher, and that’s kind of our mindset going in.”

Freshman Chandler Dare, who saw playing time with a triple and three RBIs Tuesday night against Mississippi Valley State, said Alabama is taking things step by step.

“We’re just taking it one game at a time,” Dare said. “SEC play is big, you want to win, and Ole Miss is a very good team. We’re just taking it one game at a time, and we’re just going to go out there and play our best and hope to come out with the win.”

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