The second ranked Alabama softball team put up an inexcusable pathetic performance in College Station. The series was already a failure after losing Game 1 to Texas A&M. But then the Crimson Tide got run-ruled by the last place Aggies. This debacle is right up there with the men’s basketball team giving Georgia their one SEC win of the year.
GAME 1: TEXAS A&M 6, ALABAMA 4 - Faceplant I
Just when we thought Montana Fouts had righted the ship and got back to her old self, comes another Jekyll and Hyde performance. The fifth pitch that she threw in the game was deposited on the other side of the left center field wall for an early 1-0 deficit. She then struck out four of the next five batters she faced.
Patrick Murphy came out with yet another lineup card combination. The most notable change was Jenna Lord batting second behind Ashley Prange. The pair both singled in the third inning. An error loaded the bases for Kaylee Tow who singled in two. Megan Bloodworth followed suit with a two-run single of her own. However up 4-1, the Tide quickly traded their bats for wet noodles and slathered up their gloves with suntan lotion.
In the bottom of the inning, a Prange throwing error and a two out muff by Tow at first in which she dropped a good throw resulted in two Aggies runs.
Three fifth inning hits and a walk would give TAMU a 6-4 lead.
Alabama would record only two hits after the third. Ally Shipman, Bailey Dowling, Jenna Johnson, Kat Grill, and Dallis Goodnight all went hitless with no walks. Not a good way to start a series against a last place team.
GAME 2: TEXAS A&M 9, ALABAMA 1 (5 innings) - Faceplant II
It took only five innings for the SEC doormat to dispatch of the Crimson Tide. And it only took until the bottom of second inning of Game 2 for Lexi Kilfoyl to implode. After TAMU loaded the bases with one out, Kilfoyl gave up three consecutive singles followed by a three run homer to left field. It is hard to believe that this is the same pitcher who had a perfect game against Georgia just a few weeks ago. Alex Salter had to come in to get the last two outs.
Salter herself lasted until the fourth inning when she started to fall apart as well. A single, a walk, and a double plated an eighth run and Jaala Torrence was called from the bullpen.
It wasn’t until the fifth inning that Alabama recorded their second and last hit of the day when Jenna Lord singled in pinch-hitter Savannah Woodard who had walked three batters earlier.
Maybe Patrick Murphy was trying to light a fire when he started substituting: Abby Doerr for Ally Shipman, Woodard for Dallis Goodnight, and Jordan Stephens for Jenna Johnson. The ploy did not work out too well. After a two out walk, Aggie Makinzy Herzog hit a single to Stephens which was booted and allowed a ninth run and the walk-off run-rule victory for TAMU.
GAME 3: ALABAMA 4, TEXAS A&M 2
Alabama barely salvaged the series with a getaway game win on Sunday. Again Montana Fouts was not at her best and again the offense was meh. At least the Tide defense made only ONE error this game.
As the second batter of the game for Alabama, Jenna Lord put a charge into a ball and sent it over the left field wall and off the scoreboard for her second round-tripper of the season.
TAMU put together some singles to knot the score at 1-1 in the second frame. A Savannah Woodard walk and a Ashley Prange double put the Tide right back on top 2-1. A solo shot by Aggie tied it up again in the fourth. But Prange (the only consistent hitter over the last two weeks) took the lead right back with an absolute bomb OVER the scoreboard.
A sac fly RBI from Woodard in the sixth added an insurance run. The Tide loaded the bases in the seventh but could not produce a run. Bama left ten runners on base in innings three through seven.
Fouts (20-4) was not spectacular but good enough to earn her 20th win of the season while throwing 140 pitches. She allowed six hits and one earned run whilst walking a pair and whiffing eight Aggies.
NOTES
*** Lollipop unicorn rainbow chasers, stop reading here lest ye get your feelings hurt! ***
I’m going to get a lot of whiny hate with this one, but if you want sugar-coated B.S. shoved up your youknowwhat, there are plenty of sunshine pumpers out there to choose from.
- It bears repeating that Murphy made a colossal mistake by not signing a elite pitcher for 2022 (or 2023). I don’t want to hear the whining about how difficult it is to get such talent. Alabama is a destination college for softball. If you don’t believe that notion, just check out the attendance numbers for Bama road games.
- As we have seen from opponents all season, deep pitching staffs and freshmen hurlers in particular bring an energy of competition and a newness to a team. Have Fouts, Kilfoyl, and the coaching staff become complacent? Is it boredom and tedium?
- We have all talked about this in past seasons. It is way past time for a change in the coaching staff. I’m not talking about Murphy. It is time to encourage one or both of his assistants to seek head coaching positions. Both would be quite desirable. If this program wants to get back to the top of the mountain, something needs to change. If you need proof, just look across campus at the football offices.
- After a disastrous weekend, Bama (39-8, 14-7) has squandered a commanding lead in the SEC to Arkansas (35-8, 14-4) who swept #9 Florida this weekend. The Tide likely takes a big dip in the national rankings as well. Don’t be surprised if Virginia Tech, UCLA, Florida State, and Arkansas all leapfrog the Tide. Keep playing like this and they will see themselves on the road if they can get to a Super-Regional.
- Without pouring over schedules for the last 26 seasons, this is probably the first time Bama lost two regular season games in a row to an unranked team with a losing SEC record.
- Bama committed five errors in the three games. Tow muffed throws in both Games 2 and 3.
- Aubrey Barnhart started as designated hitter for Saturday’s fiasco and whiffed in two at bats. Mark that as an ‘L’ for The Gut®.
- On Sunday, Woodard earned her first SEC start since April 2. She was 0 for 1 with 2 walks, but scored a run and converted a sac fly into an RBI. It was a better performance than many of her teammates.
- Jenna Johnson pulled another 0-fer (0-7, no walks, 0 runs, 0 RBI, 2 K). She has one hit (vs. Alcorn) over her last 26 at bats. Her last SEC hit was against UGA on April 4. In that span, her batting average had plunged from .370 to .299.
- Also pulling 0-fers was once-catalyst Shipman (0-8, 1 BB, 0 runs, 0 RBI, 1 K), Doerr (0-2, 0 runs, 0 RBI, K), and Grill (0-3, 0 runs, 0 RBI, 1 K).
- The team batting average has dipped below .300 by one point. Team ERA is up to 2.30.
- Bloodworth extended her hitting streak to seven games and has reached base in eight straight games.
- Friday’s game set an attendance record for TAMU of 2,231 fans. It was topped on Saturday with a count of 2,455. Sunday’s crowd fell to 1,777.
WEEKEND MVPs
- LORD - 4 for 10 (.400), 2 RUNS, 2 RBI, 2B, HR, BB.
- PRANGE - 4 for 10 (.400), 2 RUNS, 2 RBI, 2B, HR, BB.
- BLOODWORTH - 3 for 5 (.600), 1 RUN, 2 RBI, 3 BB, HBP, 0 K.
UPCOMING ALABAMA SCHEDULE
Alabama will have a lot of time to think about the awful showing they had in Texas. They have one road game on Wednesday against WKU which was most likely put on the schedule to honor Kaylee Tow who hails from nearby Madisonville, Kentucky. Then it’s a week off to relearn how to hit and play defense.
- Wednesday, April 27 at Western Kentucky 4 p.m. CT
- Friday, May 6 vs. Missouri 6 p.m. CT
- Saturday, May 7 vs. Missouri 1 p.m. CT
- Sunday, May 8 vs. Missouri 1 p.m. CT
Comments
Gut Status:
[ ] Trusted
[X] Not trusted
By OatsAndHoes on 04.24.22 6:02pm
Here's my Gut after this weekend
Maybe The Gut needs some probiotics
By PiperTJ on 04.24.22 6:38pm
With That Headline
I was hoping Jimbo was caught on a wire paying players.
(Which he is)
By Crimson Cthulhu on 04.24.22 8:23pm
Nah, Jimbo's not paying them. He has people for that.
By CarrotTop4 on 04.26.22 3:16pm
I would argue it’s WORSE than losing to Georgia
They did it twice. And they got blown-the-fuck-out in one of them.
Alabama basketball was up by double-digits with 7:12 left against Georgia. They controlled 75% of the game before losing focus and UGA getting hot. It was a fluke, inexcusable loss.
Softball just got taken behind the woodshed and had their (wo)manhood stripped from them. In 66% of the series, there was not a debate as to who was playing better, coached better, and wanted to be there.
By Erik Evans on 04.24.22 9:00pm
Not having an elite pitcher signed for 2023
Is a problem. Murph better hit it out of the park in the portal. Which certainly could happen, but not a sure thing.
By Bamahoopsgump on 04.24.22 9:28pm
Well Montana says she is coming back (covid eligibility) and Lexi has another year (or 2) too.
I agree, tho we are thin at that position. Although I thought Salter came in and held things together for a while, in a hostile environment. She didn’t go to pieces in other words. Jaala too performed better than she has in SEC games.
The other problem is hitting, consistent hitting. What’s crazy is we are getting shut down offensively by pitchers who are not considered dangerous.
A hitting coach might be a nice addition to the team but, honestly CB, I don’t see Murph making changes unless he is ordered to. He was saying a couple of months ago that Habetz has had lots of offers (hmmm) but chooses to stay at Alabama.
By CJMaury on 04.24.22 9:57pm
It might actually be true--especially if you replace "offers" with "opportunities".
There are over 1,500 college softball programs. I imagine that Coach Habetz would turn her nose up at 99% of them.
D1 – 303
D2 – 282
D3 – 407
NAIA – 211
NJCAA – 349
NCCAA – 47
By dietcokeaddict on 04.24.22 10:42pm
Good research! I was thinking how despite 303 teams in D1 it seems like it is largely the same 64 teams that make regionals every year.
By CJMaury on 04.25.22 6:27am
Or maybe it’s not.
If he has to lean into an offense, take him out of his comfort zone, then that might be better for everyone.
By Erik Evans on 04.25.22 7:21am
Seems to me
like Murph should be signing at least one pitcher with every class. Without paying close attention, it appears that most other SEC schools go 6 deep in pitching (we may also go 6 deep but I wouldn’t be able to name #5 and #6 after Montana, Lexi, Torrence, and Salter).
By Gumpy McGumperson on 04.25.22 8:42am
There is nobody else after #4
Not even an emergency pitcher to my knowledge.
By CB969 on 04.25.22 2:52pm
No whiny hate here
In fact you may have gone too easy on Murph. It may not be to the point of chasing him out of Tuscaloosa with torches and pitchforks yet but something needs to happen to get his head out of his nether regions.
Getting caught off guard by teams who look less than Bama on paper has become a trend over the past few seasons. If that’s due to bad prep by the assistants then that’s on Murph too, because everything rises and falls on leadership and he’s the by god hall of famer and every SEC team is going to play their best game against Bama.
There’s no million dollar contracts waiting for these women when they graduate and the failure of leadership is a disservice to the work they put in and a waste of the talent they possess.
Now I’m gonna go try to find a unicorn to kick.
By wiseace615 on 04.24.22 9:55pm
Gross, the whole series was downright ugly. We better get it together or we can kiss the revenge ncaa’s goodbye before they start.
By George111480 on 04.25.22 7:06am
Hope this series is a wake up call...
for these girls. Can’t just roll those softballs into the stadium and expect a win. It is difficult to get a team up for an inferior opponent (ask CNO) but that is what the coach is paid for. It sounds like the hitting coach needs a change of venue….
By ATLTIDE on 04.25.22 8:03am
If by hitting coach
You mean Murph’s Gut, then someone get him some laxative pronto. The rest of the country is lapping us in the hitting department for how long now? Get with the times, Murph!
By CrimsonRon on 04.25.22 8:19am
Crazy to see Okie has 114 homers to Alabama’s 46. Arky has 82.
It is too bad Tow isn’t able to perform up to her previous standards. She has been an All American twice and won’t repeat this year. If players’ stats are down year to year, isn’t that on the coach to some extent? And is she now lackadaisical playing first?
Dowling still isn’t back to her early freshmen pre injury start. Shipman has fallen off, Jenna Johnson has lost her mojo. (Jenna was doing well batting 7th, then out of desperation to get runners on base Murph would move her up to 2 hole and she would flame out and he would have to drop her back to the bottom of order and she would get hits, then he’d move her up again and she would flail. Now I think she has lost confidence.)
According to CB’s favorite homer radio crew ‘Alabama is in a funk at the wrong time of the season and they say they want to get out of it but can’t.’
I agree CB on sometimes freshmenz pitchers bring an energy. Look at Okie phenom Jordy Bahl or Arkansas’ Chenise Delce who may win SEC pitcher of the year.
By CJMaury on 04.25.22 9:25am
This team seems to be full of inflated egos.
Now that the SEC regular season Championship has been flushed down the toilet (See Arkansas if you want to know what a focused team looks like. We’re lucky we didn’t have to play them this season), can this "Big Hat, No Cattle" team get focused on the game and not the drama? We’ll see. Roll Tide Anyway
By ROBERTUS on 04.25.22 11:20am
We need to realize, in the SEC, all the other teams HATE US and want to BEAT US, badly.
They are not going to lie down for us. You have to bring it every game. It’s the SEC. It is what it is.
By ROBERTUS on 04.25.22 2:35pm
It's obvious the softball team doesn't read RBR
otherwise they would have known not to take A&M lightly; they were warned!!
By Bamafan on 04.25.22 2:38pm
year 5 I sit here and say fire #thegut
By Ma Deuce on 04.25.22 3:01pm
I agree. All of the above concerns complaints and issues all ultimately lie at his feet.
And to be fair I said the same thing when Saban was moaning about a lack of leadership or focus. I said it comes down to the head coach’s responsibility.
Patty Gasso keeps her Sooner team focused. And her players improve year in and year out. They don’t stagnate and deteriorate.
Given Arkansas finishes the season with series against Miss State and South Carolina, the SEC regular season championship is likely theirs. Again.
By CJMaury on 04.25.22 3:50pm
The problem is that
before the season we were already polishing the trophy. All the preseason talk about Fouts has proven too much for her to handle.
Not sure if they can change this now, but this team does not have a spark. No trophies coming there way.
By 5026 on 04.26.22 12:13pm
I just can't believe we got Calzone'd again. <img src="//fonts.voxmedia.com/emoji/unicode/1f61e.png" alt=":disappointed:" class="emoji">
By CarrotTop4 on 04.26.22 3:24pm