It’s the annual weird mid-season OOC match-up. I am not sure why they are only playing two games.
ACCOLADES
- Nada
RAT POISON REALITY
The polls were not impressed with the Tide’s performance in CoMo last weekend.
- Softball America 13 ↑ 8 ↑ 6 ↑ 4 ↔ 4 ↔ 4 ↔ 4 ↓ 6
- D1Softball 14 ↑ 10 ↑ 9 ↑ 8 ↑ 5 ↔ 5 ↑ 4 ↓ 6
- USAToday/NFCA 16 ↑ 13 ↑ 9 ↑ 7 ↑ 6 ↔ 6 ↔ 6 ↓ 7
- ESPN/USA Softball 15 ↑ 10 ↑ 8 ↑ 5 ↑ 4 ↔ 4 ↔ 4 ↓ 6
SCHEDULE
The Crimson Tide continue their Tuscaloosa home stand with additional chances to learn to breathe through their eyelids, ask Jobu to take fear from bats, or whatever they need with Texas up next. Unfortunately, there is another Alabama sports event going on at the same time as Game 1.
- Fri, Mar 27 vs North Dakota State 6pm/7pm – Larissa Preuitt Senior Day
- Sat, Mar 28 vs North Dakota State 1pm/2pm – Abby Duchscherer Senior Day
HOW TO WATCH… ALLEGEDLY
Moar SECN+ streaming (ESPN+).
WEATHER
It may be a little
cooler in Tuscaloosa but mostly clear skies.
NORTH DAKOTA STATE (16-16)
BACKGROUND
Vanderbilt has always been the oddball member of the SEC. It’s the only private institute in the conference and also by far has the lowest enrollment (at ~13,500, it’s almost 10,000 less than MSU). It’s the only school not named for a geographic location. Instead, the university is named for mega-rich businessman who held a monopoly on shipping and the railroads in the 19th century. But I digress.
The other difference is that they are the only school in the SEC who foolishly does not sponsor a softball team, opting instead for… bowling. Yes, I said BOWLING. Because of their apostate ways, the conference has an odd 15 teams. Thus, there cannot be SEC match-ups every weekend. Each program is on their own to find an opponent in the midst of league play.
Patrick Murphy chose North Dakota State of the Summit League as Bama’s “off-week” opponent. It might seem like a random pick, but it’s more likely tied into senior Abby Duchscherer, who hails from Kindred, North Dakota — about a 30 minute drive to the NDSU campus — and plans to play basketball for the Bison next season. In years past, Murphy has taken some mid-season road trips to schools in the vicinity of certain seniors’ hometowns as a tribute, but it often led to homesickness and upset losses. It makes one wonder if he originally planned to go to Fargo instead of hosting the Bison in Tuscaloosa this weekend. We’ll probably never know.
2026
The Bison have made several NCAA Tournament appearances, but none since 2019. The last two campaigns have left them with losing records. This year’s rendition has not beaten any team of note, unless you count Minnesota (11-20). NDSU just got swept by Omaha in their Summit League opener.
NUMBERS
- Team batting average is .291 which is about 130th in the nation, and the Bison have compiled only 20 homers. Alabama’s Brooke Wells and Alexis Pupillo have combined for 26 this season.
- Team ERA is 3.96, but ace Jocelyn McClary is at 2.24 with a 7-4 record.
- The Bison have a way high 31 errors.
TEN CENT ANALYSIS
There is absolutely no excuse to not sweep these two games, and do so decisively.
