It’s not the Third Saturday in October, but the hype might be just as big.
TUESDAY: ALABAMA 6, UAB 0
The Crimson Tide won the game but it wasn’t exactly the blowout that might have been expected. In the 2nd inning, Jena Young scored on a Salen Hawkins sac fly. Lauren Johnson led off the 3rd with a solo dinger.
In the 5th, Brooke Wells doubled in a pair to make it 4-0. In the final frame, Ana Roman doubled and Alexis Pupillo golfed
a drop ball over the center field wall.
Vic Moten had a complete game 2-hitter and allowed no hits in the final five frames. She whiffed 10 Dragonettes with no walks.* Alabama had 7 hits, including two doubles by Roman. Bama batters had zero walks in the game. I am too lazy to do the research, but that hasn’t happened very often this season.
* I am probably jinxing it but… Crimson Tide pitching has not allowed a walk over the last 27 innings.
ACCOLADES
- Vic Moten and Kaitlyn Pallozzi are among the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Top 25 finalists for the 2026 NFCA Division I Freshman of the Year award.
- It doesn’t appear that the SEC handed out awards this week (???). No recognition from D1Softball or Softball America for Bama came to fruition.
ALUMNUS OF THE WEEK
RAT POISON
- Softball America 13 ↑ 8 ↑ 6 ↑ 4 ↔ 4 ↔ 4 ↔ 4 ↓ 6 ↑ 4 ↑ 1 ↓ 2 ↓ 3 – Evidentially, sweeping Minnesota – who is 14-30 – is enough for Nebraska to jump both Alabama and Oklahoma.
- D1Softball 14 ↑ 10 ↑ 9 ↑ 8 ↑ 5 ↔ 5 ↑ 4 ↓ 6 ↑ 4 ↑ 3 ↑ 2 ↔ 2
- USAToday/NFCA 16 ↑ 13 ↑ 9 ↑ 7 ↑ 6 ↔ 6 ↔ 6 ↓ 7 ↑ 4 ↑ 3 ↔ 3 ↔ 3
- ESPN/USA Softball 15 ↑ 10 ↑ 8 ↑ 5 ↑ 4 ↔ 4 ↔ 4 ↓ 6 ↑ 5 ↑ 3 ↑ 2 ↔ 2
SCHEDULE
- Sat, Apr 25 at Tennessee 6pm/7pm – NEW TIME
- Sun, Apr 26 at Tennessee 3pm/4pm
- Mon, Apr 27 at Tennessee 6pm/7pm
HOW TO WATCH… ALLEGEDLY
The opener is on SECN+ Streaming. Game 2 is on ESPN2 and the finale airs on SECN.
WEATHER
Rain is expected on Saturday which forced the change of game time. Looking at the forecast, they probably should have gone earlier. There is a good chance the time of the first pitch is altered again.. Sunday and Monday should be okay with mostly cloudy skies.
#11/9/9/8 TENNESSEE (38-7, 12-6 SEC)
The Vols started off the season red hot, winning their first 26 games before tasting defeat. Their pre-conference slate was highlighted by wins over UCLA, Florida State, Oregon, and Nebraska, followed by a sweep of LSU in the SEC opener. It wasn’t until the next SEC series against Mississippi State in Starkville that UT took a loss. Then the troubles began. Tennessee would beat Florida in the first game of their 3-game set, but drop the next two. That was followed by losing two of three to Ole Miss and one defeat to South Carolina — all three on their home field. That represented a 4-6 record in the conference in a ten game stretch.
They swept Kentucky in Lexington about as bad as Alabama did, but lost a roadie to #12 Duke Wednesday a week ago [NO, that is NOT the same as losing to 19-26 Samford]. Tennessee volunteered to not play a series last weekend due to the .
UT is 15-3 overall at home this season and 6-3 in SEC play in Knoxville.
THROW THE BALL
If you know softball, then you know the name Karlyn Pickens (11-5, 1.43 ERA). She was named the 2025 SEC Pitcher of the Year when she went 25-11 and tallied a minuscule 1.17 ERA as the Vols made it to the Final 4 of the 2025 Women’s College World Series. In early March of this season, she suffered an arm strain during a game against Belmont but returned to play about two weeks later and spun a complete game one-hitter at Mississippi State. However, she got hit pretty hard in the two losses to the Gators and Ole Miss found success against her as well. She tossed a no-hitter against Kentucky on April 11, but most recently she was knocked out of the 1st inning against Duke, leaving the frame down 3-0 with no outs recorded.
Yes, Tennessee does have other pitchers on the roster. Erin Nuwer (14-1, 0.82 ERA) and Sage Mardjetko (9-1, 1.06 ERA) are both having exceptional campaigns and rank 2 – 3 in ERA on a national scale with only a Belmont pitcher ahead of them. Nuwer has four complete games but all have been run rule wins, which means she has yet to go more than 6.0 innings. Like Pickens, she also gave up 3 runs to Duke last week. Mardjetko has whiffed 120 batters while walking only 24 — an excellent ratio.
TL/DR: The Vols have the lowest team ERA in the nation, but they have had some letdowns since conference play began.
HIT THE BALL
Ella Dodge is hitting .317 and has hit 10 homers plus 11 doubles to go with 43 RBI. Since becoming a full-time starter, Alannah Leach is hitting .349 in SEC play. She has 11 homers and 7 against conference foes. Gabby Leach is at .310 overall with 9 dingers and 33 knocked in on the season.
Overall, Tennessee is middle of the road in the SEC on offense in most categories. One thing they excel at is stealing bases (50 of 59).
CATCH THE BALL
The Vols area meh fielding team (.980).
OWIE
Leadoff hitter and center fielder Sophia Knight was hitting .433 before an undisclosed illness/injury/suspension/other has kept her out of the lineup since April 3. No reports have been released regarding her availability this weekend, but the silence makes it seem doubtful that she plays.
HOT HEAD
Karen Weekly was hired as part of a husband-wife coaching team with her spouse Ralph in 2002. Following the 2021 season, he retired and she took over full duties. She has led the Lady Volunteers to two of the last three Women’s College World Series.
TEN CENT ANALYSIS
This series will definitely be tight one. Being in hostile territory late in April with all the vitriol that will likely be flying out of the mouths of orange checkerboard-wearing yahoos, it will be a huge test for the mettle toughness of this Crimson Tide team as they approach the post-season.
This is a tough series to predict but a sweep by the home team does not seem likely. Two wins by Bama would be okay, even one Tide win would not be devastating. However with the way the Crimson Tide has been pitching, a road sweep is certainly not out of the question.
