With tougher series on the horizon, it is important that the Crimson Tide bats keep churning out the hits and earn a sweep in Columbia.
TUESDAY: ALABAMA 4, ULM 1
I told y’all: Patrick Murphy gets all his ideas from RBR. 😉 Ambrey Taylor got the start at third base against ULM (17-15) and hit a 2 RBI triple in her first at bat that just missed leaving the park by about a foot. Ana Roman singled her in for a 3-0 lead in the 1st.
Taylor also had a walk, scored a run, and was flawless at the hot corner with a game-high four assists
on defense. If Murphy doesn’t start her Game 1 at Mizzou, we are storming Rhoads Stadium at sunset. Pass it along.
Alexis Pupillo – starting at catcher – hit a solo laser shot in the 3rd. But sadly that is all the offense the Tide could muster.
Pupillo had half of the Tide’s six hits. Audrey Vandagriff, Larissa Preuitt, and Gerritt Griggs each went 0-3.
Kaitlyn Pallozzi got the start and did not look great. She gave up 5 hits and an earned run with only one K in three innings. Vic Moten (11-1) struck out the side in the 4th and finished out the game allowing only a single and a walk with 6 strikeouts over the final 4.0 innings.
Former Alabama catcher Molly Fichtner is head coach of ULM and was honored before the game.
ACCOLADES
- For her dominant performance last weekend versus Arkansas, Jocelyn Briski is the SEC, D1Softball, and Softball America Pitcher of the Week.
RAT POISON
- Softball America 13 ↑ 8 ↑ 6 ↑ 4 ↔ 4 ↔ 4 ↔ 4
- D1Softball 14 ↑ 10 ↑ 9 ↑ 8 ↑ 5 ↔ 5 ↑ 4
- ESPN/USA Softball 16 ↑ 13 ↑ 9 ↑ 7 ↑ 6 ↔ 6 ↔ 6
- USAToday/NFCA 15 ↑ 10 ↑ 8 ↑ 5 ↑ 4 ↔ 4 ↔ 4
SCHEDULE
The Crimson Tide head back out on the road.
- Fri, Mar 20 at Missouri 5pm/6pm
- Sat, Mar 21 at Missouri 2pm/3pm
- Sun, Mar 22 at Missouri noon/1pm
HOW TO WATCH… ALLEGEDLY
Assume SECN+ streaming (ESPN+).
WEATHER
The forecast for Columbia looks pretty darn perfect with sunny skies and temperatures in the 80s.
MIZZOU (14-16)
The Tigers played in two different Clearwater tournaments and one invitational in Lake Charles, LA in February before finally having their home opener in Game 17. Thus far, they had big struggles losing to teams such as Penn State, South Alabama, Houston, ULL, and twice each to McNeese State and Miami (Ohio). On the bright side, they did top #25 Duke, plus FAU and Liberty who were ranked at the time of the match-ups. Mizzou also fell to #6 UCLA by just a run and just got swept at #7 Florida, but with two games being one-run results (one which was 11 innings) and the third at 5-2. In short, the Tigers have been known to get up for major opponents.
In addition to all the travel, Missouri oddly scheduled a double-header at Illinois on this past Wednesday – a destination which is not exactly down the street like Birmingham is to Tuscaloosa – of which they won both.
THROW THE BALL
Overall, pitching has not been great. Los Tigres’s ERA is 14th in the SEC at 3.51. The staff has given up a whopping 34 home runs in 30 games (do the math). MU has six players who can pitch, but mainly utilize three.
Marissa McCann (5-5) has emerged as the go-to hurler. She has a 3.36 ERA, though she had a complete game, 3-hit shutout at Illinois on Wednesday. She has allowed one run over the last 19.0 innings pitched and won three games in that span. Senior Cierra Harrison (5-4, 3.94 ERA) is the number two. Freshman Abby Carr has been the best pitcher on the staff (3-3, 2.28 ERA). Despite her record, she has only once given up more than two runs in an appearance all season.
* Of note, all of Mizzou’s pitcher are righties.
HIT THE BALL
The offense takes much of the blame for Mizzou’s poor record. The team batting average is .287, which is 14th in the SEC and around 154th in the nation. The Ozark Tigers are last or second to last in the league in runs scored, home runs, RBIs, slugging, on-base percentage, and so on… MU has only four players hitting over .290 and only five hitting over .268
All that said, Abby Hay is having a nice junior campaign. The catcher/1B leads the team in several offensive categories including a .364 BA, 32 hits, 9 doubles, 16 runs, and 21 RBI. She also has four round-trippers. Stefania Abruscato is right behind her at .348, 31 hits, and 20 RBI. Freshman Sidney Forrester has been a bright spot, hitting .326 with a team-high 9 dingers to go with 19 runners knocked in. Pitcher Abby Carr also DHs and has 5 homers with 25 RBI and a .268 BA.
CATCH THE BALL
Missouri is very efficient on defense with the nation’s fourth best fielding percentage of .986.
TEN CENT ANALYSIS
The Mizz record looks awful and the Tigers have some ugly losses. But they can get up for big games. They are 8-2 at home and have won their last seven in a row.
No disrespect to Molly Fichtner and ULM, but Alabama should have hammered the WarHawks. We’ve seen this movie before where the team disrespects an opponent and just goes through the motions. This Mizzou series is not a time for the Crimson Tide to get lazy and let the foot off the gas.
45 days ago, most Bama fans would be content with two wins in this match-up. However as of now, anything less then a sweep will be disappointing and doubts will creep in.
