Alabama Softball Wins an Ugly Series Against Missouri

March 15, 2026; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama batter Alexis Pupillo celebrates at second base after a double that drove home a run at Rhoads Stadium. Alabama defeated Arkansas 4-1 to claim the series. | Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Patrick Murphy and his delusional disciples wi

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What is the story about?

Patrick Murphy and his delusional disciples will celebrate a “series win”. But this felt like a setback against a team with a losing record.

GAME 1: ALABAMA 2, MISSOURI 1

Continuing a disturbing trend from Tuesday’s game against ULM, the Crimson Tide offense was a bit lackadaisical, outside of two swings. Solo home runs by Brooke Wells in the 1st and Marlie Giles two innings later were the sources of all the Bama scoring.

Outside of the two round-trippers, Alabama produced a double by Audrey Vandagriff and singles by Alexis Pupillo and Salen Hawkins.

Jocelyn Briski (11-0) was again incredible in the circle until an old ghost showed up at the end of the game. Over the previous two seasons, the Tide pitcher had an issue of rolling along with a lead before having a letdown in the waning moments of a game. She had not had that problem thus far this season until the 7th inning on Friday when up 2-0 with one out to go, she gave up a solo home run. To that point, the junior was riding a two-hit shutout with 5 Ks on an economical 80 pitches.

NOTES:

Bama left two runners on base in the 2nd and 3rd innings, and six overall. The Tide had runners on base in every inning but the 7th.
Vandagriff (1-4) struck out on three pitches to start the game, but later had a double.
Patrick Murphy lost a challenge at first base on a ground out.
No errors, no stolen bases for either team.

GAME 2: MISSOURI 5, ALABAMA 2,

The honeymoon is over. After a month and a half of dominating victories, the Alabama offense was lethargic for the third consecutive game. For the second straight game, all the Bama scoring came from two solo home runs.

Not bunting for once, Audrey Vandagriff opened the game with a solo shot.

Following a Brooke Wells strikeout, Alexis Pupillo hit her 11th home run of the season.

After those two big swats, Alabama figured two runs was good enough and went nappy time.

Vic Moten got the start in the circle and struggled with her control. In the 3rd inning, she beaned a Tiger and then gave up a single. The next batter hit a nubber to Moten’s right but it trickled off her glove and a run came in to score. Following a strike out, a wild pitch moved the runners up a station. At this point, Patrick Murphy’s Gut® pulled a classic out of his bag of tricks and called for an intentional walk to load the bases for Sophie Smith who is hitting .323 and is second on the team in RBIs. Her ground rule double gave Mizzy a 3-2 lead.

In the bottom of the 4th, a leadoff walk was erased by a double play on a liner to Mari Hubbard who doubled off the runner at first base. However, The Tigers notched another run on a solo home run.

Kaitlyn Pallozzi took over to start the 5th and retired the side. In the 6th, she gave up a triple and a single to close out the scoring.

NOTES:

Alabama left two runners on in the 5th and loaded the bases in the 7th but could not score. The Tide left eight runners on base.
Ambrey Taylor started at second base. She singled in the 2nd inning and struck out in the 4th. Following that inning, Jena Young replaced her on defense.
Mari Hubbard was 2 for 3 with a double as the starting third baseman.

GAME 3: ALABAMA 4, MISSOURI 3

Alabama got behind early when Jocelyn Briski gave up a leadoff single in the 2nd inning, followed by a two-run jack.

After a few innings of wet noodles, the Tide finally got things going in the top of the 4th when Ana Roman singled, Marlie Giles walked, and our new favorite player, Ambrey Taylor sent a Mizzou offering deep over the left field fence for a 3-2 advantage. What a genius!

Bama put two more runners on in the inning but could score no more. In the 5th, Roman added a solo homer.

Salen Hawkins saved the day in the bottom of the frame with a diving stop that surely would have scored a run.

Briski’s rocky day continued in the 6th when she gave up a solo four-bagger that shrank the Tide lead to 4-3. But she bounced back in the final inning with two strikeouts to end the game.

NOTES:

Briski (12-0) was not at her sharpest but got the complete game win. She allowed three earned runs on four hits and season-highs in walks (3) and home runs allowed (2) to go with six whiffs.
Roman was 2 for 4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Kristen White was called out on a stolen base attempt, but the call was overturned on a video challenge.
No errors, two stolen bases for Bama.

[SURGEON GENERAL WARNING: The section below is not all rainbows, lollipops, and unicorns. If we see an issue that we deem worth discussing, RBR is not going to shy away from it. That is the MO that this whole website is based on. If you want sunshine pumped up your nether regions, there are PLENTY of those people more than willing to provide that service. If you are easily triggered, stop reading now and play the above video on repeat. If you live in the real world, carry on my wayward son.]

SERIES NOTES

The Lollipop Rainbow Unicorn Brigade is not going to be happy with this slap of reality.

While the emergence and improvement of Briski is an exciting development, this team is starting to look less special. Outside of Wells and Pupillo, there is not enough consistency at the plate. The Tide has stranded too many players on base and where are the world-famous ‘Green Light Girls’? Moten and Pallozzi have come back down to earth, though they are just freshmen. It feels like the bad parts of ‘mudita’ are creeping in [For those of you new to RBR, the “bad parts” are players being okay with not succeeding at the plate because someone else will get that big 5-run home run and they can be happy for them. No reason to be determined to work hard and get better]. If the Crimson Tide was the special team we thought they were, they would have swept this series as most would expect Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma, or Florida to do.
A year ago, Vandagriff was on a torrid pace to set the Alabama record for stolen bases in a single season. She would finish fourth all-time with 50, but set the Bama record for a freshman. In this her sophomore year, she has only eight swiped bags after 31 games and has been thrown out three times. Her on-base percentage has dropped from .493 a season ago to .410, and slugging percentage has gone from .574 to .477. Her batting average has now dipped below .300 for the first time in her collegiate career. Whatever retooling Patrick Murphy and staff tried on her over the off-season is not working. Vandagriff is an immensely talented athlete and needs to forget this bunt/slap antiquated nonsense strategy and get back to being the exciting free-swinger she was in 2025.
Jena Young is another one struggling. The Iowa transfer started off the season with a bang but has slowly been having difficulties with her swing. A month ago on Feb. 24, her batting average was .367. Today, it is down to .274 and she got only one at bat this weekend. Since her time in crimson and white has been short, it is difficult to pinpoint what it is she is doing wrong without pouring over game film from the last three seasons [I ain’t doing that LOL]. Mari Hubbard (.286), Ambrey Taylor (.387), and Gerritt Griggs (.185) have gotten a few opportunities at second base, but none have Wally Pipp’d the starting two-bagger just yet. On the brightside, Young has played well defensively at second base with only three errors and none in SEC play.
Lauren Johnson is also struggling. Since March 6 in which she was hitting .459, she has 1 hit, 1 run, and 1 RBI in the last 13 at bats. She went 0 for 7 this weekend. Her BA now sits at .340.
Brooke Wells was 1 for 10 with a solo homer over the three game set. She struck out a team-high four times.
In 2025, Briski did not earn her 12th win until April 17, when she had 12 wins against 10 losses.
Missouri’s Abby Carr was impressive. The true freshman hit three home runs with four RBI and pitched relief in every game while giving up two hits and no runs.
Although there is a long way to go in the SEC docket, the Tide just finished their 31st overall game of the season. Including potential post-season games, this is right around the halfway mark of the season.