It is Year 30 for Alabama softball and hope springs eternal. Whatever your feelings are for the state of the program, it is still a “blue blood” of college softball. Even with only one National Championship,
opposing teams still have their “Super Bowl” when playing the Crimson Tide. Rhoads Stadium is still one of the premier playing grounds for the sport. And the Bama uniforms are always on the mark. All they need are elite players and top-notch coaches. Do they have those things?
LAST SEASON
Team29 had a fun group of players who had good chemistry and a great deal of energy. However, they lacked that dominating number one pitcher and suffered from a dearth of home run hitters.
That team finished with an overall record of 40-21 and an SEC record of 12-12. That second number left them in tenth place in the conference – a position Bama fans are not used to and don’t want to become used to. With Oklahoma and Texas joining the conference last year, the league is that much more difficult.
Jocelyn Briski was the lead pitcher and at times looked dominant, but was cursed by inconsistency. She tossed a team-high 166.0 innings and finished with a 17-13 record and a 2.99 ERA. All those numbers were way behind what Bama fans have come to expect after half a decade of Montana Fouts and one magical year from Kayla Beaver. Unfortunately, she had little help from the rest of the staff.
Kali Heivilin had a huge senior season with 15 home runs and 47 RBI, but she has run out of eligibility. Fellow graduate Brooke Ellestad was second in round-trippers with 8. Returning seniors Alexis Pupillo and Abby Duchscherer had 7 each. Bama tied for 11th in the conference in both homers (60) and doubles (77).
Despite the deficiencies, Alabama made it through the Tuscaloosa Regional. However, they were not so lucky in the Norman Super Regional where behemoth Oklahoma destroyed the Tide in two games.
PRE-SEC SEASON
.tg {border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0;} .tg td{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px; overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;} .tg th{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px; font-weight:normal;overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;} .tg .tg-lboi{border-color:inherit;text-align:left;vertical-align:middle} .tg .tg-21f3{border-color:inherit;color:#000000;font-weight:bold;text-align:left;vertical-align:top} .tg .tg-fymr{border-color:inherit;font-weight:bold;text-align:left;vertical-align:top} .tg .tg-0pky{border-color:inherit;text-align:left;vertical-align:top}| Date | TIME | VS | OPP | LOCATION | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu, Feb 5 | 2 p.m. CT | Neutral | Villanova | Atlanta, GA | Buzz Classic |
| Fri, Feb 6 | 12:30 p.m. CT | Neutral | East Carolina | Atlanta, GA | Buzz Classic |
| Fri, Feb 6 | 5 p.m. CT | Away | Georgia Tech | Atlanta, GA | Buzz Classic |
| Sat, Feb 7 | 12:30 p.m. CT | Neutral | Villanova | Atlanta, GA | Buzz Classic |
| Sat, Feb 7 | 3 p.m. CT | Away | Georgia Tech | Atlanta, GA | Buzz Classic |
| Fri, Feb 13 | 4 p.m. CT | Home | Purdue | Tuscaloosa, AL | 2026 Easton Bama Bash |
| Fri, Feb 13 | 6 p.m. CT | Home | Liberty | Tuscaloosa, AL | 2026 Easton Bama Bash |
| Sat, Feb 14 | 11 a.m. CT | Home | Liberty | Tuscaloosa, AL | 2026 Easton Bama Bash |
| Sat, Feb 14 | 1 p.m. CT | Home | Purdue | Tuscaloosa, AL | 2026 Easton Bama Bash |
| Sun, Feb 15 | 12:30 p.m. CT | Home | Georgia Southern | Tuscaloosa, AL | 2026 Easton Bama Bash |
| Tue, Feb 10 | 9 a.m. CT | Neutral | Elon | Tallahassee, FL | Dugout Club Classic |
| Fri, Feb 20 | 4:30 p.m. CT | Away | Florida State | Tallahassee, FL | Dugout Club Classic |
| Sat, Feb 21 | 2 p.m. CT | Away | Florida State | Tallahassee, FL | Dugout Club Classic |
| Sat, Feb 21 | 4:30 p.m. CT | Neutral | Elon | Tallahassee, FL | Dugout Club Classic |
| Sun, Feb 22 | 9 a.m. CT | Neutral | Dartmouth | Tallahassee, FL | Dugout Club Classic |
| Tue, Feb 24 | 4 p.m. CT | Home | UAB | Tuscaloosa, AL | Local cupcake |
| Fri, Feb 27 | 4 p.m. CT | Home | St. Thomas | Tuscaloosa, AL | 2026 T-Mobile Crimson Classic |
| Fri, Feb 27 | 6:30 p.m. CT | Home | USF | Tuscaloosa, AL | 2026 T-Mobile Crimson Classic |
| Sat, Feb 28 | 11 a.m. CT | Home | Kent State | Tuscaloosa, AL | 2026 T-Mobile Crimson Classic |
| Sat, Feb 28 | 1:30 p.m. CT | Home | USF | Tuscaloosa, AL | 2026 T-Mobile Crimson Classic |
| Sun, Mar 1 | 12 p.m. CT | Home | St. Thomas | Tuscaloosa, AL | 2026 T-Mobile Crimson Classic |
Buzz Classic: Bama starts out the season on the road in Atlanta in a tournament hosted by Georgia Tech. The Yeller Jackets are an improving program, having a winning record in three of the last four seasons and made the Regionals last season. However, they lost their top two pitchers in the off-season. Anything less than leaving the Georgia state capital 5-0 would be disappointing.
Bama Bash: Back home at Rhoads, the Tide begins the first of two home field invitationals. Purdue was one of the first four teams left out of the 2025 postseason tournament. Dot Richardson’s Liberty made it to the Super Regionals for the first time after becoming the first team to knock the No. 1 overall seed (Texas A&M) out of its own regional. The Flames have had some success against Alabama in recent seasons, including a 7-6 win over the Crimson Tide last season in Clearwater.
Dugout Club Classic in Tallahassee: Alabama and Florida State have a bit of a rivalry going, having faced each other several times in the last decade. The ‘Noles are ranked 7/7/8/8, led by two first team All-Americans.
Crimson Classic: Cupcake Classic is more like it.
SEC SEASON
After a few years off, Alabama gets some rival opponents back. The SEC schedule (3 games each) is as follows in chronological order:
- at Ole Miss – ranked No. 22/24/25/14 – final ranking by NFCA (?!?!?)
- vs Arkansas – No. 7/8/8/9
- at Missouri – unranked, rebuilding
- vs Texas – No. 1/1/2/1
- at Auburn – unranked, in shambles
- vs Kentucky – unranked, scuffling
- at Tennessee – No. 4/4/4/4
- vs South Carolina – unranked by three polls, #12 by NFCA (again I say – ?!?!?), but dangerous
In years past, all of these opponents would be ranked. However, the sport has grown exponentially with the ACC and Big Ten starting to catch up with the SEC, B12, and other west coast teams. The emergence of some non-Power programs like Boston U. and Liberty in combination with the emerging popularity of the sport have spread rosters thin and developed more athletes outside the warmer regions of the US.
Due to stupid Vanderbilt sponsoring bowling instead of softball, the SEC has 15 teams. Therefore, every team is tasked with coming up with a non-conference opponent to play in the middle of conference play. For the Crimson Tide, that foe will be North Dakota State who travels to Tuscaloosa in late March for a twofer. This move was clearly a move by Patrick Murphy in honor of senior Abby Duchscherer who hails from North Dakota and plans to play basketball for NDSU next season. In years past, Murphy has foolishly scheduled late season road trips to play teams near a senior’s hometown so everyone can visit that player’s mom and dad and get homesick. They are good-intention gestures, but they always turn out negative results mentally, physically, and on the scoreboards. It would not be surprising if Murphy had initially intended to travel to Fargo, but someone or something talked him out of it.
Bama also has their usual slate of midweek in-state cupcakes (UAB, Samford, Jacksonville State, UNA, South Alabama) sprinkled through out the schedule with five games in T-town and two in Birmingham. Fortunately, the formidable Troy Trojans are not in that grouping.
.tg {border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0;} .tg td{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px; overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;} .tg th{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px; font-weight:normal;overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;} .tg .tg-cly1{text-align:left;vertical-align:middle} .tg .tg-lboi{border-color:inherit;text-align:left;vertical-align:middle} .tg .tg-1wig{font-weight:bold;text-align:left;vertical-align:top} .tg .tg-vtz6{border-color:inherit;color:#060;text-align:left;vertical-align:top} .tg .tg-ubol{border-color:inherit;color:#F0F;font-weight:bold;text-align:left;vertical-align:top} .tg .tg-21f3{border-color:inherit;color:#000000;font-weight:bold;text-align:left;vertical-align:top} .tg .tg-fymr{border-color:inherit;font-weight:bold;text-align:left;vertical-align:top} .tg .tg-m1vw{border-color:inherit;color:#F0F;text-align:left;vertical-align:top} .tg .tg-r9n4{background-color:#090;border-color:inherit;text-align:left;vertical-align:middle} .tg .tg-ev4f{color:#F0F;text-align:left;vertical-align:top}| Date | TIME | VS | OPP | LOCATION |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, Mar 6 | TBA | Away | Ole Miss | Oxford, MS |
| Sat, Mar 7 | TBA | Away | Ole Miss | Oxford, MS |
| Sun, Mar 8 | TBA | Away | Ole Miss | Oxford, MS |
| Tue, Mar 10 | 6 pm CT | Home | Samford | Tuscaloosa, AL |
| Fri, Mar 13 | TBA | Home | Arkansas | Tuscaloosa, AL |
| Sat, Mar 14 | TBA | Home | Arkansas | Tuscaloosa, AL |
| Sun, Mar 15 | TBA | Home | Arkansas | Tuscaloosa, AL |
| Tue, Mar 17 | 2 pm CT | Home | ULM | Tuscaloosa, AL |
| Fri, Mar 20 | TBA | Away | Missouri | Columbia, MO |
| Sat, Mar 21 | TBA | Away | Missouri | Columbia, MO |
| Sun, Mar 22 | TBA | Away | Missouri | Columbia, MO |
| Wed, Mar 25 | 3:30 pm CT | Home | Jacksonville State | Tuscaloosa, AL |
| Wed, Mar 25 | 5 pm CT | Home | UNA | Tuscaloosa, AL |
| Sat, Mar 28 | TBA | Home | North Dakota State | Tuscaloosa, AL |
| Sun, Mar 29 | TBA | Home | North Dakota State | Tuscaloosa, AL |
| Thu, Apr 2 | TBA | Home | Texas | Tuscaloosa, AL |
| Fri, Apr 3 | TBA | Home | Texas | Tuscaloosa, AL |
| Sat, Apr 4 | TBA | Home | Texas | Tuscaloosa, AL |
| Tue, Apr 7 | 5 pm CT | Home | South Alabama | Tuscaloosa, AL |
| Fri, Apr 10 | TBA | Away | Auburn | Auburn, AL |
| Sat, Apr 11 | TBA | Away | Auburn | Auburn, AL |
| Sun, Apr 12 | TBA | Away | Auburn | Auburn, AL |
| Tue, Apr 14 | TBA | Away | Samford | Birmingham, AL |
| Fri, Apr 17 | TBA | Home | Kentucky | Tuscaloosa, AL |
| Sat, Apr 18 | TBA | Home | Kentucky | Tuscaloosa, AL |
| Sun, Apr 19 | TBA | Home | Kentucky | Tuscaloosa, AL |
| Tue, Apr 21 | 6 pm CT | Away | UAB | Birmingham, AL |
| Fri, Apr 24 | TBA | Away | Tennessee | Knoxville, TN |
| Sat, Apr 25 | TBA | Away | Tennessee | Knoxville, TN |
| Sun, Apr 26 | TBA | Away | Tennessee | Knoxville, TN |
| Thu, Apr 30 | TBA | Home | South Carolina | Tuscaloosa, AL |
| Fri, May 1 | TBA | Home | South Carolina | Tuscaloosa, AL |
| Sat, May 2 | TBA | Home | South Carolina | Tuscaloosa, AL |
POLLS 13/14/15/16
Alabama is ranked No. 13 in the by SoftballAmerica. D1 Softball feels 14 is more appropriate. USA Softball has the Crimson Tide at 16. The NFCA rounds it out with Bama at 15. Once again, the pollsters left the Sooners out of the top spot. Instead, the Texa$ and Texa$ Tech oil money-built teams are splitting the votes for the top two slots.
COACHES
No changes in this department. Patrick Murphy is back for his 28th season as head coach of the Crimson Tide. He is 1,317-396 (.769) overall. At some point, he will eclipse 500 SEC wins now that he is 498-202 (.711) in league play.
Also returning are slap coach Kayla Braud, pitching coach Lance McMahon, and Adam Arbour who does something. Ryan Iamurri is back again for another season in a support role. Another former Tide player, Jadyn Spencer, is back as well.
PLAYERS
GONE
Alabama lost seven players off of last year’s team. The good news is that only two of them were everyday starters (*). The bad news is that those two started in crucial hard-to-replace positions in the infield.
- 2B Kali Heivilin*, Sr. – Graduated
- 3B Brooke Ellestad*, Sr. – Graduated
- RHP Catelyn Riley, Sr. – Graduated
- RHP Emily Winstead, Sr. – Graduated
- UTIL Kendal Clark, Sr. – Graduated
- IF Kennedy Marceaux, Fr. – Transfer to ULL
- C Riley Valentine, Jr. – Transfer or retire?
Bama only lost one player to the portal. Unfortunately, Marceaux was a good hitter in 2025 who did not seem to get enough at bats in her freshman season. The Crimson Tide also lost their No. 2 pitcher (Riley) and second catcher (Valentine).
RETURNING PLAYERS
Team30 is chockful of seniors. Seven to be exact. They also have four juniors to help bring along the large freshmen class.
RETURNING HITTERS
- OF Audrey Vandagriff, So. – The brightest of bright spots for Alabama softball last year was the quick emergence of this Georgia native. It seemed to take Murphy a little longer to recognize the importance of inserting her into the leadoff role than it did most of us. In 2025, Vandagriff hit team-leading .392 with an on-base percentage of .493 and scored 51 runs. She also tied a program record of 50 stolen bases. For her efforts, she kept Murphy’s streak of All-Americans alive with second team honors. Softball America has named her one of five “SEC Player of the Year Candidates” for 2026.
- SS Salen Hawkins, Jr. – Outside of Vandagriff, Hawkins was a fan favorite for the RBR crew. She hit .309 and made some amazing game-saving plays with her glove.
- 1B/DH Abby Duchscherer, Sr. – “Duke” came on late in the season with some big hits that invokes hope that she might have a big senior season like Heivilin did last spring.
- OF Larissa Preuitt, Sr. – You can’t say this Murphy favorite does not have enough playing experience. She has played in 173 games over three seasons and was the only Tide player to participate in all 63 games in 2025. She started out strong last year with a .449 BA by the end of February, but tailed off from there and finished at .284. That said, Preuitt does have a positive disposition and will be expected to take on a leadership role in this her final season.
- OF Lauren Johnson, Jr. – The most underutilized player from last season kept a good attitude and came up with some big hits in big moments. Although she started only 30 games, Lo-Jo still produced 24 runs and 26 RBI. It is unclear why Murphy is hesitant to put her in the everyday lineup. Maybe his attitide will change this year.
- OF/DH Alexis Pupillo, Jr. – Big things were expected of the Northern Iowa transfer last year, but she mostly DH’d or pinch hit and recorded a .302 batting average. She slammed 7 homers and tallied 30 RBI. Pup participated in 53 of Alabama’s 63 games last spring with 45 starts.
- C Marlie Giles, Sr. – Nothing would be better for this team than to have a healthy Giles behind the plate. She has battled injuries and hasn’t seemed to have reached her peak performance.
- CF Kristen White, Sr. – White hit .314 last season as a bunt/slap hitter. The problem with that strategy is that there aren’t a lot of walks (3 in 2025) and extra base hits that help the on-base (.344) and slugging (.314) percentages. In three seasons, the Phenix City, AL native has yet to record an extra base hit.
- IF Mari Hubbard, So. – This Huntsvillian can play all four spots in the infield. She had only 38 at bats and hit .237.
- PR Kinley Pate, Sr. – Back again as the designated pinch-runner on the team, Pate scored 18 runs a year ago and was 4-4 in stolen bases. She also got hitched to a nice young man over the off-season.
RETURNING PITCHERS
- RHP Jocelyn Briski, Jr. – Briski was fraction away from having a 3.00 ERA last season and recorded a .246 opposing batting average. Being primarily a dropball pitcher, she is most effective when she can induce ground balls. Having a strong defense behind her adds to that success. However at times, she gets into trouble with her control and hands out too many free passes. For the second year in a row, she will be looked to as the number one.
- RHP Alea Johnson, Sr. – Last year, Alea would show some flashes of brilliance and then the next appearance she would fall apart. If she can find some consistency, she might find a bigger role. For now, she will work out of the bullpen.
- RHP Braya Hodges, So. – It appeared that this Dothan native would redshirt 2025. But then Murphy inserted her in the 14th game of the season in a 19-0 blowout against Drake. She finished with 16.2 innings pitched and a 4.20 ERA.
FRESHMEN
The Tide signed six freshmen.
- RHP/1B Kaitlyn Pallozzi, Wixom, MI (Detroit suburb) – Kaitlyn is a right-handed power pitcher who was one of the top 2025 pitching prospects in the country. She has great upside and will likely be thrust into the number two role.
- OF Ana Roman, Oviedo, FL (Orlando) – One of the top recruits for 2026 who hits from the left side.
- IF/OF Gerritt Griggs , Phenix City, AL – She has the ability to play six different spots on the field. She is one of Murphy’s green-light girls with great speed and athleticism. Griggs is also the quarterback (above) for the nation’s top high school flag football team!
- RHP Vic Moten, Daphne, AL – Another right-handed power pitcher.
- IF Ambrey Taylor, Jasper, AL – Utility infielder.
- C Holly Beth Brooks, Northport, AL – Excellent defensive catcher will provide depth behind Giles.
NEW TRANSFERS
Murphy picked up only two transfers but they appear to be some good ones.
- IF Jena Young Jr. (Iowa) – Once again, Murphy plucks a player out of his birth state of Iowa. Young started 99 games across two seasons for the Hawkeyes, earning back-to-back All-Big Ten First Team honors. This past season, she led the Hawkeyes with a .359 batting average, 56 hits, 43 runs scored, five triples, 34 walks and seven stolen bases while ranking second on the team with 10 doubles and 27 RBIs. As a freshman in 2024, she boasted a .373 batting average, including a .382 mark in conference play, recording a hit in all but 10 games including 15 multi-hit efforts.
- IF Brooke Wells So. (Houston) – Murphy pilfered the Cougars’ best player from 2025. Wells led Houston this past season with a .341 batting average, 47 hits, 10 home runs and 47 RBIs. She finished the year with an impressive on-base percentage of .478 and posted the highest slugging percentage (.645) by a freshman in program history.
They both have some nice numbers, but will it translate to SEC play?
PITCHING 10 CENT PREVIEW
THE GOOD
Murphy says that Jocelyn Briski has been working on her pitching velocity and he claims that it is reaching up to 71 and 72 mph at times. She has also been working on developing a better off-speed pitch.
THE BAD
After Briski, it’s an inconsistent Alea Johnson, and three green pitchers.
HITTING 10 CENT PREVIEW
THE GOOD
Vandagriff.
THE BAD
I was absolutely horrified when I came across this passage from Softball America:
“We sat down, and the first thing she (Vandagriff) told me was ‘I want to keep getting better, I don’t want to do this’ while doing the little rollercoaster ride (hand gesture). I said, ‘Awesome, what are we going to do about it?’” Murphy said. “She’s really been working on slapping. If she can drag bunt like an Alexis Mack or Kayla Braud, she might hit .600. Those two, if they drag bunted, it was a hit. Audrey is faster than both of them. She’s gotten stronger this fall, still has plenty of pop. She’s better defensively. If she can bunt at will and add the occasional home run, she’s going to be freak.”
Seriously, Murphy. What is wrong with you?
PROJECTED LINEUP
C Marlie Giles
1B Abby Duchscherer
2B Jena Young
SS Salen Hawkins
3B Brooke Wells
LF Lauren Johnson
CF Audrey Vandagriff
RF Larissa Preuitt
DP Alexis Pupillo
OVERALL
I suppose you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. With Murphy turning 60 last November, he is still adamant about playing the antiquated slap-ball. He claims to have eleven hitters who are “Green-Light Girls” (free to attempt to steal bases on their own judgement) on this year’s squad. But he made a similar claim last year and outside of Vandagriff, the Tide swiped only 63 bases.
It was also disappointing that for the second straight year, the staff was not able to go out and find a top-tier pitcher from the transfer portal. Unless Briski has made major strides over the off-season, it may be more of the same in 2026.
Even with Texas, Tennessee, and Arkansas on the schedule, overall the road is a bit smoother for the Crimson Tide this year. Florida State is the only ranked team Bama plays before SEC play kicks in.
Team29 finished the regular season 36-19. Team30 will likely be around 38-17 heading into the SEC Tournament. Winning that tourney is a big long shot, but they could win at least their opener. Maybe. A top 16 seed seems like a possibility followed by a trip to a Super Regional on the road. But the road probably ends there.
#RollTide #Team30
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