Alabama Crimson Tide Softball

Facility upgrades in the SEC

2008-09-11T17:42:00.006-05:00

Been awhile since I've posted... hope everyone is having a good start to their fall.

As many of you know, some facility upgrades are taking place around the conference. Look at how close Arkansas is to having theirs completed... looks great.

LSU is also getting closer to finishing their stadium... it's structure is starting to come into place.

Wouldn't it be great if Pat Murphy gets the updates he's been asking for? It's clear that the SEC is the cream of the crop when it comes to softball facilities.

Quick personal note (and shameless plug): I'm currently finishing up my final six hours of school this semester and interning at the local TV station. I had the opportunity to anchor the sports block last month. If you want to take a look, here's the video.

Also, from what I understand, a decision has been made as to who the new radio announcer(s) will be for next year. Hopefully, they will be taking over the blog in earnest when the season starts up. When the Fall Brawl games come nearer, look for the announcement here as to who the new announcer(s) will be.

Shocker in Beijing: USA wins Silver, Japan Gold

2008-08-21T10:16:00.006-05:00

I honestly don't know anyone who could say they saw this coming. The United States Olympic team lost 3-1 in the Gold Medal game against Japan, a team they had beat in extra innings earlier.

Everyone is going to look for someone to blame here. That's natural. The U.S. was expected to win, they expected to win, and now someone or something is going to be blamed.

It's hard to blame the actual game play. Some days you just aren't going to hit, pitch or play defense well. Some days, unfortunately, these run together. It's a part of the game. However, there are controllables, and one of those things is the game-time decisions made by head coach Mike Candrea.

First, as a disclaimer, I think Candrea is a fine coach. I honestly haven't seen enough of his in-game decisions to make an educated, all encompassing judgment of him as a coach. As a recruiter at Arizona, he's golden. He built a winner, and now Arizona's recruiting takes care of itself. On Team USA, he manages a Dream Team. It's hard to judge in-game decisions when your players are the best of the best.

That being said, I didn't agree with his decision in the 6th inning. With the United States trailing Japan 2-1, Caitlin Lowe led off the inning with a single. Then, Candrea decided to bunt Mendoza. Ordinarily, trailing by a run in the late innings, that doesn't sound like a terrible move. However, with Crystal Bustos standing on deck, you knew what would happen next. After Mendoza layed down her bunt and was thrown out at first, Lowe moved to second and Bustos came to the plate. Predictably, and wisely, Japan issued an intentional walk to Bustos.

By bunting, Candrea effectively removed the bat from his best hitter. His most feared hitter. She hit a solo home run earlier in the game to give the United States their only run of the game. Ueno had shut down the U.S. lineup, and now, the only player which had gotten to her was being walked. To Kelly Kretschman's credit, she drew a walk to load the bases with one out. After that however, Duran popped to short, and Nuveman popped to second. Furthermore, I question why Nuveman was in the 7th spot in the order to begin with. She is probably the weakest hitter on the team at this point.

Does letting Mendoza swing away automatically change the outcome? Of course not. It does let your players do what they've been taught to do. Hit the ball, and win games. Often times, a coach can be his teams own worst enemy. This can most often happen when a coach is making the status-quo "smart move." It sounds smart on its face, and few will question it, but was it really the best decision? I don't think so. You knew by bunting Mendoza, they would intentionally walk Bustos. There was no question about that. For that reason, I wouldn't have bunted. Sometimes, by staying out of your player's ways, you let them win games. This may have been one of those instances.

It's sad that Team USA had to go out on a losing note. Softball will not be played in the 2012 London Olympics.

By the way, Kelly Kretschman, the former Bama great, was one of five U.S. players to lay her cleats on home plate after the game, the traditional signal of retiring from international play. Kretschman was quite the ambassador for Alabama softball, and her retiring marks a somber day for Bama fans. If I find a picture of this, I'll post it.

By the way, I don't think the U.S. losing this game will give the International Olympic Committee any more incentive to put softball back in the Olympics. One great team, and one good team does not equal a competitive and elite level of softball. It's a start, but you need more than two good teams on the international level to warrant a spot in the Olympics.

EDIT: It's been pointed out to me that Mendoza may have bunted on her own. That's entirely possible. If that's the case, my criticism of Candrea is minimized, but not entirely gone. Mendoza needs to know (if she made the decision on her own), what the bunt is doing. It's not only giving up an out, it's taking the bat out of the hands of your team's best hitter. If she doesn't know that, Candrea should let her know that.

Finally, to be very clear, Candrea was in a position I don't envy. Lose, and the whole world looks at every move you made. Win, and I don't blink. I'll admit that. I do believe it's a decision that could have been a bit better, however.

Finally, here are two pictures of Krestchman placing her cleats at home plate to retire from international play as I promised.

A few schedule notes

2008-08-16T10:16:00.002-05:00

Most of you reading this blog know about Ultimatecollegesoftball.com. They have many active users who engage in softball discussion daily, and they form the most active college softball forum on the internet. One of the users who often posts valuable information is "UMassFan," and he's posted the tournaments in 2009 he's found so far.

Here are the Alabama tournaments that can be found so far, and the teams participating in them:

2/6-2/7 South Alabama Classic-South Alabama, Alabama, Memphis

2/13-2/15 Bama Bash-Alabama, East Carolina, Notre Dame, Wisconsin

2/19-2/22 Palm Springs Classic-Oregon State, Nebraska, UMass, Long Island, Georgia Tech, Fresno State, Alabama, Cal Poly, Arizona State, BYU, Cal, CS Fullerton, Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, LMU, Maryland, Nevada, UNC, NC State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Tennessee, Tennessee Tech, Texas, UC Santa Barbara, UCLA, UNLV, Washington

2/27-3/1 NFCA Leadoff Classic-Nebraska, UMass, Long Island,Georgia Tech, Houston, Alabama, Southern Illinois, Hofstra, Mississippi State, LSU, Virginia Tech, DePaul, Florida State, Illinois State, Northwestern, Penn State, Ohio State, Georgia, Louisiana-Lafayette, Michigan, South Carolina

3/6-3/6 Easton SEC/Big 12/Pac 10 Challenge-Alabama, Baylor, Georgia, Washington

A few thoughts:

That's a lot of tournaments to participate in. Five tournaments, big or small, is a lot of tournaments. It gives the team an opportunity to play in a large amount of games, but at the same time, is a bit dangerous because of how many games that early in the season you play. On the plus side, by the time you get to conference play, the schedule seems easy. On the possible negative, Bama will be playing a lot of games early and risks burnout (although that rarely seems to happen.)
Bama will play in two big tournaments. The Palm Springs Classic and the NFCA Leadoff Classic. The Palm Springs Classic boasts a lot of elite teams like UCLA, Arizona State and Florida, and the NFCA always brings a strong crop of teams as well. The Leadoff Classic is always a dangerous scheduling decision, because of the risk of rain and lack of tarps in Columbus. That being said, it's nice to see this tournament back on the schedule. Alabama, a power in the southeast, should be a part of the biggest tournament in the south.
I love the idea of a SEC/Big 12/Pac 10 Challenge. NCAA Basketball is known for their ACC/Big 10 challenge, and I think the extension of that idea to softball is a great one. Take three power conferences (and the two best), matchup some teams, and let the bragging rights begin. The SEC will have Alabama and Georgia representing them, while Washington was tabbed as the PAC-10's rep and Baylor from the Big XII. It would have been great to see one more team from both the PAC-10 and Big XII, and maybe we'll see that in the future. I'm not quite sure what 2009's format will look like (it seems it will all be played on one day), but it should be a unique experience.
Patrick Murphy likes to take the Tide on the road in Alabama to give other small schools an attendance boost and an opportunity to see Bama away from Tuscaloosa, and he's doing it in a tournament format at South Alabama. Neat idea. Memphis and South Alabama shouldn't provide to much of a test for Bama, but that's the idea.

Meanwhile, I've caught a few innings here and there of the United States Olympic team. We all knew how good Team USA was, but I really thought some of the other countries would start to catch up. Not so much. I watched about half of the Venezuela vs. USA game, and found it interesting that Venezuela's roster was in large part filled out by JUCO athletes from Iowa, Alabama and other states, and those were their better athletes.

I, like everyone else, would prefer softball remain in the Olympics (it is being removed in 2012.) That being said, you can understand at least to an extent why it's being removed. It's not so much that Team USA is so dominant, it's more a case of the other teams simply don't perform at an elite level. I'll put it this way. I think Alabama's softball team would beat almost every team there, with the exception of Team USA, and maybe Canada, Australia and China. Honestly. Should I be able to say with such confidence that a college team will beat a national team? Therein lies the problem. Team USA has done everything right. They've got the best players in the world to play. The problem is the other countries don't have those players, and that's primarily because softball isn't as popular in other countries.

If softball is to return to the Olympics, the international popularity of the game must increase.

Incoming Freshmen

2008-08-03T00:07:00.003-05:00

As most people know, recruiting is an inexact science. Sometimes you get lucky and land an eventual All-American, sometimes you get role players, and other times, it just doesn't work out. If anyone has a good track record for recruiting, it's Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy. Since he took over the program in its third year his teams have made the NCAA tournament each year. Lately, it's been even better, with the school's first "Final Four" appearance in its history.

It's hard to preview freshmen because of varying levels of competition at the high school level. That being said, most players who are recruited at the high division one level are playing summer ball tournaments, and it's there that many coaches get their best glimpse of possible recruits.

Alabama has five incoming freshmen this coming year. They are:

Cassandra Reilly-Boccia, New York
Kendall Dawson, Florida
Jazlyn Lunceford (Tuscaloosa County)
Jennifer Fenton, Georgia
Olivia Gibson (Tuscaloosa Academy)

The five freshmen form a large incoming class. A few thoughts:

Two products from the Tuscaloosa area make up part of the class. Alabama has already had a good history of turning local products into great division one players. Mandy Burford recently graduated with a great resume, and Vestavia Hills graduate Whitney Larsen put together a fantastic freshman season last year. It's clear that the state of Alabama is able to produce high class softball players. Some may assume Alabama has to go far and wide to find recruits... that's not always the case.

This class has a little bit of everything. Reilly-Boccia is Alabama's first ever recruit from the state of New York, and she provides a power bat. Her swing will remind many of Charlotte Morgan's. In her senior year, she blasted eight home runs and slugged to the tune of .923. Gibson provides a great on-base threat. She nearly hit .600 last year for Tuscaloosa Academy. Dawson provides speed, and Lunceford had great all-around numbers last year for County High, batting .493 with six home runs, and perhaps most impressively, 21 doubles. That's an awful lot of doubles.

Power, speed, on-base. This signing class fits the perfect blueprint of Murphy-ball. Murphy has always liked girls who can get on base, hit the ball hard (and far) and can steal a base. This class has everything he wants, and perhaps more.

This class replaces what Alabama loses in Jordan Praytor, Dani Woods and Katie Johnson. Woods and Praytor both put up OBP's over .420 last year, and OBP is often the hardest area to fill. All of Murphy's recruits this year are more than capable of doing just that.

While no pitchers are included in this class, it's not a huge priority this year. Dunne and Morgan pitched about 75% of Alabama's innings last year, and it's not unreasonable to believe Morgan will take on an increased workload. On top of that, you have redshirt freshman Amanda Locke available to throw innings this year.

I'm aware of no publication which ranks classes nationally, so it's hard to say where Alabama's "ranks." However, this class completely answers Alabama's most pressing needs. It's easy to give Murphy and his staff an A+ for this class when it so perfectly meets the Tide's needs going forward. Now, all anyone can do is wait and watch for what happens. Needless to say, with the return of most players from last year, and the addition of the newcomers, Alabama will be favored to compete with Florida for the SEC title.

Significant rule change could take place in 2009

2008-07-24T11:52:00.005-05:00

Looks like Taryne Mowatt will be leaving her legacy on the NCAA Softball Rule book. Check out this proposed rule change from the NCAA Rules Committee.

From the article:

Next spring, the rules committee wants to see two nine-foot lines painted on the field, beginning within the outer edges of the pitching plate (rubber) that extend toward the inner edges of the batter's boxes.
The new lines will clearly mark the pitcher's lane that is already defined in the rulebook. If the change is approved, instead of an umpire making a judgment call as to whether a pitcher took too wide a stride while delivering the ball, it will be clearly defined.
The Playing Rules Oversight Panel will meet via conference call September 3 to consider the recommendation.
If the pitcher's foot is completely outside the line on her stride, the pitch is illegal. If the batter does not reach first base safely and all other base runners safely advance at least one base, then the offensive team would have the option of taking the results of the play or having the effect of the illegal pitch enforced.
When the offensive team elects to have the result of the illegal pitch, a ball is called on the batter and any base runners advance one base.

My thoughts? Good. It's about time the Softball Rules Committee tried to actually enforce the rules. It may not look all that aesthetically pleasing, but the intent is important here. Pitchers gain a ridiculous advantage when they slide their foot completely outside of the pitching lane, because when they do, the angle of the pitch changes significantly. I applaud the Rules Committee for making the umpires do their job.

I understand that umpires have a hard time watching both the pitcher's lane and calling balls and strikes... at least that's the most common excuse I've heard. Why you can't watch the foot of a pitcher before she throws is beyond me. You're not calling a ball or a strike when she releases the pitch after all.

This quote caught my eye: "This has been on our radar for a while," said Dee Abrahamson, NCAA secretary-rules editor for softball. "It will be a visual cue for the pitcher to know where she is allowed to step. It's better for the umpire because he or she has a visual aid to help with the rule."

Well, maybe it's been on your "radar" for awhile, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out which pitcher was breaking the rules on a game by game basis and getting away with it. It was on fans, coaches' and player's radar for most of last year, if not before. Remember Charlotte Morgan's long home run against Taryne Mowatt in the WCWS? She did that despite another no-call illegal pitch from Mowatt...

Abrahamson explains the advantage gained by hopping out of the lane nicely: "When you throw a curveball or a screwball, the more you can get your hips out of the way the more spin you can get on the ball. We've always said you have to go forward within the imaginary lines. Now, we're giving you a visual indication of where those lines are."

Again, it may not look all that nice on the field, but if it causes the rules to be enforced, I'm all for it. Maybe after a few years umpires will be able to make the call without the "training wheels" and they can remove the lines again. I for one, hope the rule change passes, at least for a year.

USA Softball Olympic announcers will call the games from New York

2008-07-21T22:55:00.005-05:00

This isn't unprecedented by any means, but it's still a little disheartening. According to the Chicago Tribune, softball is one of ten sports than NBC will not send commentators to Beijing for. Instead, the team including Joe Castellano and Michelle Smith will call the games from New York. In other words, they'll be watching on a series of television monitors and call the action from a studio instead of on location.

First off, kudos to NBC for hiring Castellano to do the play-by-play work. I've listened to him plenty of times, and one of his more popular gigs is his hosting of XM Radio's MLB Live - Late Edition. He's called softball before, calls the games well, and knows the sport. Smith adds a Olympic name to the booth, and is a logical choice. Some may not prefer her style of comparing everything in the game to her personal experience, but it's what NBC hire's her to do in some sense of the word.

Now, the part I don't like. Calling the games from New York is a tad silly in my opinion. Yes, it saves money. But my goodness, NBC is already sending over 2,000 staff members to Beijing. Are a few more commentators really going to kill the bottom line all that much? I suppose when you factor in flights, lodgings and maybe even food it can add up. However, it's just not genuine. If they're calling the games from New York, you might as well commentate the game yourself. They aren't there, they can't talk to the coaches and players before the game easily to gather information, and they won't be a part of that atmosphere. Just a bit dissapointing, especially given the fact that softball has a growing and loyal fanbase.

NBC's senior director of corporate communications, Brian Walker, claims that it's not a budget issue. He said, "This is part of a mandate from the IOC to reduce strain on the host city by bringing fewer people." Really? How is it that the commentators of your events are the most expendable? That seems a bit odd. And if that's truly the case, the IOC seriously needs to think about what they're saying to NBC. Their coverage is truly extensive, and if they are limiting that coverage by telling NBC they can't bring all their people, that's a bit silly.

What do you think?

2008-07-19T20:01:00.002-05:00

Found a website that is supposed to tell you how much your blog is worth... our blog returned the following results...

My blog is worth $2,822.70.
How much is your blog worth?

Almost $3,000? Wow. Wouldn't have guessed it. That's a testament to the amount of traffic you the readers have given the blog this year.

As most of you know, I will not be behind the microphone next year for Alabama softball. WVUA-FM is currently in the process of definitively creating a plan for who will be continuing the broadcasts next year. Be assured, Bama softball will still be on the air, it will simply be another play-by-play voice. Once I know something more definitive, I'll let you know here. I also assume they'll continue to update the blog, as I'll hand it over to them when the new season draws closer.

Softball Returns Soon

2008-07-16T13:13:00.004-05:00

When the Women's College World Series ends in June, it's often the start of a long off-season for softball fans. Yes, the National Pro Fastpitch league starts soon after, but let's be honest. Most fans of softball are more adamant about NCAA softball than they are NPF teams. For starters, there's only eight pro teams, as opposed to hundreds of D-1 teams at the local level. Furthermore, it's hard to follow the NPF given that only a few games are aired on the likes of FOX Sports.

However, it's always fun to watch the USA Olympic Team. Almost every player is remembered for fantastic collegiate careers, and they truly are the closest the United States has to a real "Dream Team" in the like of the old USA Basketball teams.

The United States schedule has been released. The bad part? Most games start around 11:00 PM central time. (Remember, the Olympics are located around the world this year in Beijing, China.) Here is the schedule as released by USA Softball. I've also included the TV coverage that I could find for it... I had to pull it from the master schedule, but I figured to have the softball games in a convenient spot would be easier for everyone.

Tuesday, August 12

USA vs. Venezuela - Noon Local - (12 a.m. EST) TV: CNBC and CNBC HD

Wednesday, August 13

USA vs. Australia – Noon Local - (12 a.m. EST) TV: CNBC and CNBC HD

Thursday, August 14

USA vs. Canada – Noon Local - (12 a.m. EST) TV: CNBC and CNBC HD

Friday, August 15

USA vs. Japan – Noon Local - (12 a.m. EST) TV: CNBC and CNBC HD

Saturday, August 16

USA vs. Chinese Taipei – Noon Local - (12 a.m. EST) TV: CNBC and CNBC HD

Sunday, August 17

USA vs. Netherlands – 7:30 p.m. Local - (7:30 a.m. EST) TV: MSNBC

Monday, August 18

USA vs. China - Noon Local - (12 a.m. EST) TV: CNBC and CNBC HD

Tuesday, August 19 – OFF DAY

Wednesday, August 20 - Playoffs

GM1: Seed 1 vs. Seed 2 – 9:30 a.m. Local - (9:30 p.m. EST)

GM2: Seed 3 vs. Seed 4 – Noon Local - (12 a.m. EST) TV: CNBC and CNBC HD

GM3: Loser of GM1 vs. Winner of GM2 – 5 p.m. Local (5 a.m. EST)

Thursday, August 21 – Grand Final Game – 6:30 p.m. - (6:30 a.m. EST) TV: USA and USA HD

A few thoughts:

You've got to love the Olympics. Even if you're not a softball fan, there's all kinds of sports to watch and follow. Remember above when I said I pulled the TV schedule from the master schedule? The .pdf file that NBC Sports released with their completele schedule this summer is 66 pages long. Want to see the whole schedule? Here it is. I wouldn't advise opening that page on a slow computer though... it may destroy it. Honestly, that file is HUGE.
Team USA will play seven games in seven days. That's a lot of games. While every team there has to go through it, that's a grueling stretch of games.
Don't expect the Olympics to be a cake walk for Team USA this year. While Team USA has won three straight gold medals, this is the last year softball will be included in the Summer Games. Everyone there wants to win the last one. Watch out for Australia, who has won silver and twice won bronze in the past, and Canada as well, who always seems to play the United States close. Team USA beat Canada 9-5 on June 7th, but trailed as late as the 6th inning.
The day before USA beat Canada 9-5, they barely beat Team NPF 10-8. Is the pitching a source of concern? Perhaps. Remember, Team USA is only carrying three pitchers this year. Cat Osterman is just two years removed from NCAA softball, and Monica Abbott is only a year removed. Finch has the most game experience, but she may not have the same stuff she did in her absolute prime. The offense will most likely score runs, but if the pitcher's run into trouble, their depth is limited. There's no Lisa Fernandez this year.
For those fans who want to watch even more softball, NBCOlymics.com is offering live streaming of EVERY Olympic softball game. Pretty cool.

Clint Myers: New baseball coach at ASU?

2008-06-13T19:57:00.004-05:00

Just a few weeks removed from Arizona State's first national championship in softball, speculation is rising that their head coach may be in line to take over the reigns of their beleaguered baseball program. East Valley Tribune columnist Scott Bordow seems to think it's a real possibility... here's his column.

Current ASU baseball coach Pat Murphy (that's not a typo, his name is indeed Pat Murphy) has come under fire this season for allegedly committing NCAA infractions for recruiting and also helping student-athletes commit academic fraud. An internal investigation has been ongoing this season by the athletic department at Arizona State.

Now, the latest oddities arose before Arizona State's Super Regional game against Fresno State. As starting lineups were being announced, two good friends on the team scuffled publicly on the field. ESPN's cameras were there to catch it all, and ESPN, along with everyone else watching, was dumbfounded. I myself caught the scuffle on Sportscenter, and the anchors understandably reported that it was a fight amongst teammates. (If you didn't see the video, check it out here.) Only later did Pat Murphy say, "It was fun. Most everyone around us knew it was a joke." OK, that's fine, except you aren't the only one at the stadium. There's another team on the opposite baseline who can't believe their eyes, and fans in the seats, your own fans in fact, that think they are seeing their team fall apart. Murphy went on to claim it was a tactic to try and loosen up the team... fighting, fake or not, loosens up the team? Good grief.

Needless to say, it's an embarrassing situation. Pat Murphy has had immense success at ASU, but he is quickly falling out of favor with the administration for lack of control over his program and his latest silly decision to stage or allow the "fake fight." Clint Myers on the other hand is at the top of his sport. Three years into his reign as the head of the ASU softball program, he's given them a national championship. He's led a team to a JUCO baseball national title before, and many think he could make the jump back to baseball if Murphy gets the hook.

Will it happen? Probably not. Murphy has three years left on his contract and almost $900,000 owed to him. But if it does, it would create a huge opening on the coaching market. What's more, there are rumors already flying that Mike Candrea may step aside at Arizona. It's a possibility that the national landscape of softball could change in one off-season due to coaching changes.

Video highlights and lookback

2008-06-11T19:58:00.001-05:00

WVUA-TV's John Huddleston did a nice piece wrapping up the season after Alabama's loss in the Women's College World Series. Here's the video...

Bama finishes as #4 team in country

2008-06-10T20:19:00.004-05:00

The final NFCA poll was released today, and Alabama came it at number four. Although Alabama didn't win the regular season conference title or tournament championship, I think many would agree that this was Alabama's best team ever. That bodes well for next year when 12 players return, including seven full-time starters and the top two pitchers. Here is the complete poll... nice to see someone give Jacksonville State some credit. I would have put them in my top 25 as well... Also, the USA Softball poll was released earlier and Alabama also pulled in the #4 spot.

RANK	TEAM	RECORD	TOTALS	LAST
1	Arizona State (30)	66-5	750	2
2	Texas A&M	57-10	716	4
3	Florida	70-5	691	1
4	Alabama	58-8	655	3
5	UCLA	51-9	620	5
6	Louisiana-Lafayette	52-15	587	16
7	Arizona	41-19	570	9
8	Virginia Tech	49-19	560	17
9	Michigan	52-8	444	6
10	Oklahoma	47-14	441	7
11	Stanford	49-15	430	8
12	Northwestern	40-16	425	11
13	Houston	54-11	415	10
14	Tennessee	50-16	270	14
15	Fresno State	54-13	262	12
16	California	43-27	254	24
17	Georgia	46-24	247	23
18	LSU	44-18	220	15
19	Missouri	47-17	188	NR
20	North Carolina	50-12-1	174	13
21	Nevada	44-18	172	20
22	DePaul	51-18	157	19
23	Long Beach State	40-17	140	18
24	San Diego State	44-17	93	21
25	UMass	42-12	87	22

Others Receiving Votes:

Washington 39, Mississippi State 35, Hawai’i 28, Central Florida 26, Iowa 23, BYU 11, Kent State 8, South Florida 3, Louisiana Tech 3, Oregon 2, Auburn 1, Winthrop 1, Hofstra 1, Jacksonville State 1

Dropped Out:

No. 25 Mississippi State

An open letter of farewell

2008-06-02T20:35:00.004-05:00

The last four years has been one of the most rewarding and memorable periods of my life. The Alabama softball program, from the coaches, players and fans, is a class act. Five years ago, the only thing I knew about softball was that my local high school's softball field was laid out back-to-back with the baseball field. Five years later, I feel like I know more about softball than I do anything else.

To the coaches, thanks for an amazing opportunity. Not many (if any) coaches would allow one of their student managers to also take the play-by-play roll in the broadcast booth. It takes an incredible amount of trust, but even more than that, goodwill to allow that occur. The coaching staff at Alabama is not only one of the best at recruiting and X and O's, but also at helping people. One of their most endearing qualities is their willingness to think of you before themselves. That takes self-sacrifice and an amazing heart. I'll never be able to repay all three of the coaches for the help they've given me.

To the players, thanks for representing your school with class. I've never been more proud to be a part of a program or organization as I have with Alabama softball. In winning and losing, our girls represented Alabama with class. When your an elite program like Alabama softball, you'll find yourself on ESPN with a nation-wide audience viewing. While I noticed multiple teams with girls who cursed, threw gloves and rolled their eyes, Alabama's girls not only avoided such behavior, they rose above. When a call went against Alabama, there was no moaning and screaming at the umpire. There were no arms thrown up in the air. Class, all the way around. It's a pleasure to call each girl on this team a friend.

To A.J. Daugherty, thanks for picking up all the extra work to allow me to chase a dream and call the games in the radio booth. I've received countless compliments from fans of the program and fans around the country on the radio broadcast, for which I'm thankful. However, my opportunity in the booth would never have been possible without my fellow manager. While I was having fun talking softball on the radio, A.J. was down in the bullpen almost every inning of every game. I can't imagine how many pitches he had to catch this year, and I appreciate him for doing it. He's never complained once about having to pick up more work to allow me to do what I think is fun. Every compliment I've ever received is in my opinion, shared with A.J. In A.J, I've found not only a great co-worker, but a great person and even better friend.

To the fans and parents of players, thanks for the compliments and support these past few years. It's my firm belief that as I depart, we've left in place one of the most listened to softball radio broadcasts in the country, if not the most. That's a testament to you the fan. I could list name after name after name of people I've met through this program who have had nothing but nice things to say. One of the biggest forms of flattery I've ever received are the many fans and parents of players that brought headsets to the games to listen to the broadcast while you watched. When you can see the game with your own eyes a mere feet away from the action, and still want to listen, it makes me feel more than humbled. Most of all, thanks for your support of this program. There are very few programs in the country that have the coaches that Alabama does, and the great people that follow the program give them all the motivation they'd ever need to make Alabama softball the success it has been.

And finally, a special thank you to my parents. Five years ago, my mom told me it was time to go chase my dream and get a job at the local radio station. What first turned out to be a Sunday Gospel DJ shift soon became a job as my high school's football and basketball play-by-play voice. That opened the door to Alabama. Without my parents help, understanding, and push I wouldn't be in the position I am today. Most importantly, I wouldn't be half the man I hope that I've become and am still becoming. Whenever I was in need, all I ever had to do was ask my parents for help, and no matter what it was, help came. My mom had to endure a kid 14 hours away from home, and then a sister who moved 4 hours away at another school in Kansas. For a set of parents that consumed themselves with helping their children in their careers and as people, that's a tough thing to accept. I can never say thank you enough, or in any way quantify every thing they've done for me. I can only imagine half the things they've done for me without telling me, and I appreciate it more than I can explain.

This will be one of my final posts on the blog (though I may still periodically make updates until the torch is passed to a new broadcaster.) The radio broadcasts will continue, and in the fall of 2008, we will usher in a new play-by-play voice.

I've made many friends throughout these last four years, and I would be remiss if I fell out of contact with them. I am always an e-mail away at NicHoch@gmail.com, and welcome any conversation.

To all the readers of the blog, thank you. When this started last fall, I never envisioned it becoming as popular as it is now. At the writing of this post, we have 58 active subscribers, and countless others who chose not to subscribe but read on a regular basis. That's amazing, and I can't thank you enough.

Thanks to everyone. You've all been amazing friends to me.

Roll Tide!
Nic Hoch

Alabama drops heart breaker to Arizona State

2008-05-30T17:32:00.002-05:00

First, I apologize for the lack of posts. The hotel the teams are being kept in does not offer free internet, so I've had no opportunity to post. (Hint, hint: NCAA, perhaps package that in your deal with the next hotel.)

Anyone reading this blog has undoubtedly seen the controversial call at the end of the game that helped lead ASU to a 3-1 victory. With the game tied 1-1, ASU ripped a ball down the third base line. Kelley Montalvo dove on the line, and the home plate umpire ruled it tipped her glove while it was extended directly above the foul line.

What do I think? Honestly, I think it was the wrong call. Am I biased? Of course I am, but again, I'll be frank. I think it was the wrong call. Kelley Montalvo said in the press conference that she didn't touch the ball and she confirmed that with me today. Will a player necessarily admit to touching it on such a close play? Maybe not, but consider... she knows the world was watching. A nationally televised audience can generally tell whether a player is telling the truth. She knew cameras would be on her play. Would she lie in the press conference when she knew camera's may confirm the opposite. I doubt it.

What about Arizona State head coach Clint Myers' statement? He said he was certain it touched her glove. Fine, but I'll go with the player who actually can feel the ball on her glove (or not feel) over the observer standing 10 feet to the left.

Here's what I'm surprised about: Why didn't home plate umpire Linda Hoover ask for a second opinion from the third base umpire? What's the harm in asking him, "That was close... do you think you had a better view?"

While the scenario certainly may have robbed Alabama of a chance to win the game in the bottom of the seventh, missed opportunities and strategic decisions also led to the loss. Alabama left eight runners on base throughout the game, and none was more important than the two left on in the first inning. Both Rogers and Praytor, Alabama's two fastest runners worked their way aboard on first and second, but Morgan, Montalvo and Woods struck out in succession to end the scoring threat. If Morgan had it to do all over again, maybe she tries to at the least push the ball to the right side of the infield to attempt to move the runners. Regardless, the fact that Alabama wasn't able to put the bat on the ball with their two quickest runners on base hurt.

The decision that will be discussed from this year to next was the call to intentionally walk Katie Cochran to lead off the 7th inning. It was the third time in the game Bama decided to walk her intentionally. Earlier in the game Bama walked her with the bases empty and also with a runner on first. Those decisions, while extreme, were understandable. The decision to walk her in the top of the seventh was undoubtedly a hard decision to make.

In the post-game conference, Murphy admitted that it was a debate in the dugout amongst the coaching staff. Would I have done it? No, but then again, I don't put myself on the line every game making those decisions. Give Murphy and the staff credit, they stuck to their plan, and showed some guts. I mentioned on the air during the walk that not only are you putting the tying run on base, you are also bringing the go-ahead run to the plate, which makes it that much easier to take the lead with one swing of the bat. While I understand the game-plan of, "Don't let Cochran beat you," sometimes, you can let her beat you by simply giving into her and giving her the free base. Through the first six innings, Kelsi Dunne was unable to complete any 1-2-3 frames. In other words, she always walked, hit a batter or allowed a base hit to at least one batter. You knew that as soon as Alabama would walk Cochran, Donnenwirth would bunt, and then ASU would have two chances to score. I don't like those odds with the 5-6 hitters in the order up.

When Murphy was asked if he would do it differently if the same situation was played out again, he said, "Probably." That doesn't surprise me. Remember, he said it was a debate in the dugout. He's the head coach, and he is classy enough to shoulder all responsibility because he makes the final call. His decision to walk Cochran doesn't modify my opinion that he is one of the best head coaches in the country. Every coach will make tactical errors that backfire. What separates Murphy from the a lot of coaches is his willingness to take a chance, and adjust based on the results of the decisions he makes.

It may sound odd, but last night, in a losing effort, I was as proud as I've ever been to be a part of Alabama softball in even the smallest way. Many teams, when faced with a call that may have completely robbed them of their best shot to win the game, would jump up and down, holler and throw their gloves. On a not so borderline call during Super Regional play, I saw one team get frustrated to the point of throwing gloves, hollering at the umpire, and unfortunately, the head coach went along with it, and not once did I see any discipline. Alabama was different. They looked disappointed, sure. Who wouldn't be? But they handled the situation with class. That starts at the top. If you have a head coach and coaching staff that allows that behavior, the players will undoubtedly follow. If you have a head coach that preaches about how to be a class act, they will respond as well. Patrick Murphy talked to the umpire, let her know he disagreed, and then proceeded to the circle to calm his team down and let them know there's nothing they could do about it after the fact. Win or lose, you can always be guaranteed a Patrick Murphy coached squad is going to represent their institution with class. That will be one of the things I miss most when it's all said and done... Alabama softball, from the coaches and players, are a classy bunch.

Random thoughts

UCLA knocked off Arizona 1-0 last night to setup Alabama's match-up with the Wildcats on Elimination Day. Here's my question: How is Taryne Mowatt not constantly called for an illegal pitch? She's clearly out of the pitcher's lane (the width of the rubber) when she releases the ball on nearly every pitch. She moves so far that her foot drags on the outside of the pitcher's circle on the first base side. Supposedly, umpire's were supposed to put an emphasis on illegal pitches this post-season. So why isn't Mowatt called? Is it because they are only looking for crow-hoppers? Is it because she's made a name for herself? Regardless, the umpiring crew missed the boat completely last night, and the entire country should have been able to see it for themselves on ESPN.
I'm currently sitting at press row watching ULL take on Texas A&M. They've already called ULL ace Ashley Brignac for two illegal pitches through the first inning. Let's see if they are consistent with Mowatt tomorrow afternoon... I'm not holding my breath.
To PAC-10 fans, Florida and Alabama's inability to win on Thursday may have furthered their belief the SEC is a weak conference. If that's true, that's a silly belief. If you are able to make your judgment of a conference based on two individual games, in which both teams held a lead late in the game, you're silly. Plain and simple.
Yesterday's opening round attendance for session one set a new record for an opening session at the WCWS. Here tonight, the stands are packed. The outfield bleachers are full, so are the sideline and backstop seats. Incredible. This sport is growing every single year.

WCWS game one for Alabama will be aired on 1420 AM

2008-05-29T16:48:00.001-05:00

Due to station upgrades at 90.7, Thursday's night's game will be aired on 1420 AM in Tuscaloosa. Those wanting to listen online can still listen at www.youcastr.com.

Bracket released

2008-05-25T21:47:00.006-05:00

Here is the full Women's College World Series bracket....

Alabama will play Arizona State at 6:00 PM central time. The game will be telecast on ESPN (HD).

In case you missed it, Tidesports.com as always puts together a nice little video highlighting Alabama's first win over Missouri to help send the Tide to the World Series. It's neat to see the young girls in the video... sometimes I don't think people realize the impact the team has on young girls. Here's the video...

Tincher... unreal

2008-05-25T16:04:00.003-05:00

Virginia Tech is on the verge of becoming the second unseeded team to make the WCWS. Why? Look no further than Angela Tincher. She now has 652 strikeouts, and counting. Unreal.

Crimson Tide into World Series; will play #6 Arizona State in Opening Round

2008-05-25T14:12:00.002-05:00

With their two game sweep of Missouri, Alabama moves on to the Women's College World Series for the fifth time in school history. They will take on #6 national seed Arizona State on Thursday in the opening round of the WCWS. Game time will not be released until all Super Regional games are completed, but I would wager a bet that ASU and Alabama form one of the prime time slots on Thursday night.

Quite honestly, Alabama could have run-ruled Missouri in their two wins this weekend. Missouri came in with a good middle of the order, and decent ace. In the end, they were completely over-matched. Errors, poor outfield arms and bad base running decisions made it impossible for Mizzou to compete. Those problems, combined with Alabama's effectiveness, led to a relatively easy weekend for the Tide.

Brittany Rogers is catching fire at the right time for Alabama. Going into the weekend, I predicted that as Rogers goes for Alabama, and Missouri leadoff hitter Rhea Taylor went, so too would their team's fortunes. Rogers, who was effective all weekend, helped to pace Alabama's offense and set the table. Taylor struggled until late in game two when the result was no longer in doubt, and also made three mistakes in center field.

The decision the Alabama coaching staff stressed over the most on Saturday was who to start. I think the decision to Charlotte Morgan was the right one. It obviously payed off, but even before we knew the results of the game, I agreed. Regardless of who you thought would be more effective between Dunne and Morgan, you needed to give Morgan the opportunity to receive some innings before the World Series. Alabama hasn't gotten this far using both Dunne and Morgan, not one or the other. To change that formula in the middle of a Super Regional round may not have been the best ingredient for success. Both Morgan and Dunne have been effective, and both will be needed to make the championship round of the WCWS. Morgan was fantastic through 4+ innings, and it was also nice to see Murphy able to use Owens in relief for 2.2 innings. You never know if Owens will be needed in the World Series, it's always possible. Remember, she's the only pitcher on Alabama's staff that has any WCWS experience.

Five teams have already punched their tickets to OKC. They are #1 Florida, #3 Alabama, #6 Arizona State, #7 Arizona, and Louisiana-Lafayette. Virginia Tech and #4 Michigan are currently playing a deciding game three, while UCLA leads their series with UGA 1-0 and Texas A&M is also just one game away.

Here is a printable bracket for those of you who have been looking for one.

As the week progresses, I will post a preview of Arizona State, and update you on Alabama's practices and travel. The Tide return to practice tomorrow afternoon, and will depart for Oklahoma City sometime on Tuesday.

First Super Regional game in the books

2008-05-23T15:33:00.003-05:00

Florida knocked of California earlier today by a score of 4-2 to take a 1-0 lead in their Super Regional. Florida is the nation's number one overall seed.

Four other regionals start tonight:

They are:

Missouri @ #3 Alabama
#11 Northwestern @ #6 Arizona State
#10 Oklahoma @ #7 Arizona
Louisiana-Lafayette @ #8 Houston

The winner of the Tuscaloosa Super Regional and Tempe Super Regional (Northwestern and ASU) will play against each other in the opening round of the Women's College World Series.

Interesting quote

2008-05-22T20:38:00.005-05:00

I was not able to attend the press conference today because of practice setup and tear down, but here was an interesting quote from Missouri head coach Ehren Earleywine:

"The truth of the matter is, Pat knows he has the better team. We're not going to try to pull any punches. They've been 1, 2 or 3 all year long, we haven't even been ranked. So we're playing on Chinese money here this weekend. The pressure's on Alabama. They're supposed to win two games in a row and they're supposed to do it decisively. There's no pressure on us."

When it was pointed out to him that not many coaches would say that, let alone in front of one of his own players, he said, "It is what it is. I figure honesty is always the best policy."

I'm not sure I've heard a coach say, straight up, "They know they have a better team than us." Admitting that is not something that happens often.

On one end of his statement, he's exactly right. Alabama, on paper, has the better team, and the pressure is on the Crimson Tide. On the other end, that's a surprising thing to say about one's own team. Obviously, coaches have their own feelings one way or another about their team. They generally don't publicly acknowledge any negative feelings. Interesting comments.

Here's the full press conference if you'd like to listen to Earleywine's comments...

Edit: Reader "Imc" asked what improvements are in store for the Alabama Softball Complex as mentioned on ESPN2's broadcast. Currently, they are in the very early stages of clubhouse expansion, the building of an indoor hitting facility and increased capacity numbers (possible seats in the outfield.) As I said, these plans are in the blueprint stage (a few of these plans and sketches have been given to the softball staff.) The next stage, and most important stage, is fund raising. I'd expect a press release and big fund drive in the near future.

Alabama was one of the first teams to dedicate a lot of money to build a state of the art softball stadium. It still is one of the finest in the country. However, teams like Arkansas and LSU will move into new, beautiful stadium's next year. Tennessee has already moved into their new state of the art stadium. While Alabama's stadium is still nice, you have to keep up. Recruits are constantly looking at what programs will put forth top notch facilities to train their athletes in. Most schools in the SEC already have indoor hitting facilities (even schools with sub-par facilities in general), yet Alabama's "indoor facility" is tucked away in the tennis facility and is not terribly befitting of a top-tier program.

Hopefully, within the next few years, we'll begin to see some important updates and improvements.

Alabama and Mizzou start tomorrow (Preview part 2)

2008-05-22T17:19:00.009-05:00

Tomorrow Alabama gets their chance to make last year's Super Regional loss to Washington nothing but a distant memory. All week players and coaches have been answering an onslaught of questions, many of them centered around one issue: "How will this team respond to last year's exit in the Super Regional round?"

To be honest, the circumstances surrounding this year's Super Regional are much different than last years. For starters, Alabama will stay home in Tuscaloosa to take on the Tigers, as opposed to traveling across the country to Seattle to take on an eventual WCWS semifinal participant in Washington. Call it jet lag, call it home field advantage, call it whatever you want... but when the team can sleep in their own beds, it can only help. Next, Alabama won't be facing Danielle Lawrie. The Canadian Olympian wasn't perfect against Alabama, but her competitive fire helped fuel and keep the Huskies on top of Alabama in their two game sweep last year. Missouri has a decent pitching staff, but they don't have a Danielle Lawrie in the wings.

Missouri is a battle tested team that had to make three come from behind wins to sweep through the Iowa City Regional last weekend. In the championship round against the Iowa Hawkeyes, they entered the 7th trailing 4-3, but walked off with a 5-4 win. Needless to say, if Alabama jumps on top, they need to realize Missouri is not a team that will roll over and concede. This team wants a World Series berth like any other team in college softball's Sweet 16. Missouri's Iowa City Regional championship was the first regional title for Missouri in 14 years. Needless to say, the team doesn't want the ride to end now.

Three year's ago, Missouri handed Alabama a 6-1 loss in Tuscaloosa. I'm certain the players that remain on both teams recall that event. Sure, it wasn't in the postseason, and Bama's fan base wasn't what it is now back then, but Bama has always been tough at home under Patrick Murphy. Two players in Mizzou's starting lineup that day remain, Jen Bruck and Amanda Renth. Mizzou head coach Ehren Earleywine is also familiar with Alabama. He's in his second year with Missouri, and before that, spent five years at Georgia Tech. In fact, his Yellow Jacket squad payed a visit to Tuscaloosa in the 2006 regionals. The Crimson Tide won twice against them, 8-5 and 7-2, of which the final score clinched Bama's regional title.

Deciding factor:
I'm not a person that generally likes to say, "If (A) happens, this team will win, and if (B) happens, the other team will win." However, because these two teams are similar, it's hard to avoid the phrase altogether. Rhea Taylor and Brittany Rogers, both centerfielder's for their respective teams, form a dangerous top of the order for both squads. Rogers gets on-base for Alabama at a .502 clip, Taylor at .433. Alabama fans may be shocked to hear someone has more stolen bases than Brittany, but Taylor is an astounding 57-60 on steal attempts this season, Brittany is 55-60. If one is kept off the bases, the other team will give themselves a breather before facing the heart of each team's lineup. The opposite could be said if each of those players get on base regularly.

Rogers was unreal for Alabama last weekend. She hit .800 (8-10), complete with an inside the park home run. When she got on base, Bama rarely failed to bring her around.

Random notes

This is Alabama's second go-around hosting a Super Regional. The Tide swept #7 Stanford by scores of 4-1 and 8-7 (8) in 2006 to clinch their fourth College World Series appearance.
This will be the second time Alabama plays a Big XII opponent in a Super Regional. Alabama knocked off Texas A&M twice in College Station in 2005 to advance to the WCWS.
Alabama currently has 5 players with an OPS (on-base plus slugging %) of 1.000 or above: Charlotte Morgan (1.324), Kelley Montalvo (1.236), Dani Woods (1.096), Lauren Parker (1.065) and Brittany Rogers (1.040). To put that in perspective, the all time best OPS put up by a major league hitter was Barry Bonds in 2004, when he posted an OPS of (1.4217). Babe Ruth's 1.3818 in 1920 is second all time. In other words, these girls can hit.

The pregame show will start at 6:15 central time on 90.7 FM in Tuscaloosa, or on www.rolltide.com and www.YouCastr.com. Periodically, we have experienced trouble with YouCastr. We suggest trying there first, because the audio quality is best, but if at any time that is not available, the link on RollTide.com or on the right side of the blog rarely fails.

Report: Softball athletes amongst those who work nearly 40 hour work weeks

2008-05-20T18:24:00.004-05:00

Here's an interesting article from USA Today.

NCAA rules demand that college coaches can only require up to 20 hours a week of student-athletes time for practice, weights and other activities outside of games. Softball is amongst a few sports that players reported approaching a 37 1/2 hour work week. The survey asked softball players (and athletes from other sports) to report how much time they put into their sports on any given week. Softball came in with an average of 37.1 hours per week.

So what can we take from this? Well, number one, it confirms what most people already assume... collegiate athletics take up a large amount of time and can be stressful. However, the 20 hours per week rule generally applies to practices, and not games. I'm almost certain that when players responded to the survey, they included game time. So, are coaches breaking the rules at ridiculous levels? I doubt it, but I also won't pretend that some coaches don't go over the limit.

Let's not sugar coat the issue. Student-athletes put in an incredible amount of time on and off the field for practice, weights, running programs, games and schoolwork. While I'm not an advocate of paying student-athletes, I certainly understand the merits of the argument. The NCAA reaps profits (especially from high profile sports), and coaches require the student-athletes who bring in that money to perform many hours a week. Why shouldn't student-athletes feel some sense of entitlement? Now, that being said, many receive full ride (or partial) scholarships for their hard work. No athlete should ever feel sorry for receiving a scholarship, and no coach should make them feel responsible for "taking up a scholarship." Student-athletes are not just "lucky" free-riders. The work hard and long hours to earn it.

On average, athletes claimed they spent 35-40 hours a week on academics. I'm a bit skeptical here. Yes, athletes, like students, put in a lot of time on school work. But do I believe they spend 40 hours a week on sports and 40 hours studying? No. Don't get me wrong, some student-athletes do. I know of a few myself. That doesn't mean the overwhelming majority are absolutely killing themselves studying every week. However, some certainly are. Some coaches require study hall hours, and this pushes the average up. But again, I would imagine a great deal of athletes over-report time commitments in this area. No one wants to respond and make themselves seem as though they aren't holding up on the academic side of things. I'm a poor example, because I don't put in the extra time necessary for weights and running programs that players go through, but I know I didn't put in near that amount of time with academics, and my GPA hasn't suffered all that much. I would imagine if you pressed athletes, they may admit to something similar.

Now, it's entirely possible that this includes actual class time, which would probably average out to around 15 hours per week (most students I know take around that every semester.) That would mean that if students reported 35 hours of school work, 15 were spent in actual class while 20 were spent studying. That's much more reasonable. This is most likely the case, and I haven't seen the actual study, just the article. Again, it's clear that student-athletes spend a lot of time on athletics and school work, and often times, are much more time constrained than typical students.

I could be completely wrong... what do you all think?

Missouri Preview (Part One)

2008-05-20T11:32:00.003-05:00

Missouri (47-15) will bring their high powered offensive attack into Tuscaloosa this coming weekend for a Super Regional showdown with Alabama... today we preview the matchup.

Hitting:
The Tigers have a balance of high average hitters and power hitters. Rhea Taylor and Andee Allen both have high OBP's with low power numbers, while bruisers Amanda Renth, Lindsey Ubrun and Jen Bruck have 20, 16, and 14 home run's respectively. That's a very formidable top and middle of the order. Alabama's 1-5 hitters seem to be pretty set at this point. So are the Tiger's. While Allen may not have the home run numbers, her slugging percentage is still above average because of her team-leading 15 doubles.

Don't be surprised when Missouri comes to town and tries to tear the cover off the ball. They are a good hitting team. That being said, Alabama's offense is simply terrific down to the bottom of the order. Back-to back-to back home runs from 7-8-9 spot says it all.
Advantage: Alabama

Pitching:
Junior Stacy Delaney appears to be receiving the most work in postseason play. On the year she is 20-3, with a 1.85 ERA. She has 174 K in 174.1 IP, effectively giving her one per inning or seven per game. Alabama can find some definite relief in the fact that she has given up 16 home runs, and opponents are still hitting .215 off of her. While the .215 mark is not terrible, in college softball, the upper echelon of pitcher's routinely keep opponent's under the Mendoza Line.

The Tigers could also use senior Jen Bruck, but her numbers are far less impressive. She is 17-9 with a 2.71 ERA. Her strikeout numbers are not as lofty as Delaney's are. She has struck out 100 in just under 150 IP. She has also given up 15 home runs.

Most likely, as Delaney goes, so do the Tiger's hopes of a World Series berth. Delaney won two of the three Tiger wins in the Iowa City Regional, and picked up a save in the other game. In the first round against Iowa, Delaney went the distance against talented Brittany Weil of Iowa. She pitched all 8 innings and only gave up two earned runs. She did give up eight hits, and only struck out two however. She picked up that pace a bit on Sunday when she struck out five Hawkeyes, but it may be a sign that as the level of competition increases, her numbers decline.

The edge in this department still goes to Alabama. Kelsi Dunne appears to be on a roll. The freshman is allowing opponents an average of just .156, and her 247 strikeouts in 186.1 IP are impressive. Kelsi proved this past weekend she can pitch effectively on consecutive days, and she may be called upon to do it again this weekend.

Advantage: Alabama

More analysis will come later...

Alabama will host Missouri in Super Regionals

2008-05-18T23:07:00.002-05:00

College softball's version of the Sweet 16 is set, and Alabama will be one of the eight host schools. The Crimson Tide swept through regional play this past week with three wins over Tennessee-Chattanooga and Jacksonville State.

Game times are as follows:

Friday, May 23 @ 6:30 PM
Saturday, May 24 @ 2:00 PM
Saturday, May 24 @ 4:30 (If necessary)

Bama will host the Missouri Tigers. Missouri knocked off the host team Iowa Hawkeyes in the Iowa City regional championship. We'll preview the matchup later this week.

What a surreal feeling on Saturday night. Three home runs in a row from your 7-8-9 hitters is simply unbelievable. The 5th inning alone proved why Alabama is amongst a handful of teams favored to win the national championship this year. When the bottom third of your lineup is the driving force to propel your team to a comeback win, you've got a special team.

Kelsi Dunne also impressed on consecutive days. If Bama advances to the World Series, it will be more than helpful to have Dunne available at full strength for consecutive days and games. I heard somebody make a comparison this week with Dunne that is very appropriate... she reminds me of Kristen Schmidt, the former LSU standout pitcher who nearly singlehandedly took the Tigers through the World Series in 2004. She's not overpowering with speed, but her movement and pinpoint control make her one of the nation's best. It's amazing that Bama will still have three more years from her after this year...

Lauren Parker, welcome back. The Tide junior collected her first hit since a three hit performance against LSU on April 6th, and it started Alabama's rally in the bottom of the 5th. Parker has had to fight through a season long battle with injuries, and she rewarded Patrick Murphy with her starting roll in Saturday's game with a home run and a double. I asked Murph what he would do with Parker in the lineup, and he indicated that the decision wouldn't be made until the week of practice was over. At this point, the top five in the lineup have been incredible. I don't think you can drop Montalvo after a rough game here or there. She's been Bama's most consistent on-base threat all year. Ultimately, I think we'll see Lauren hold steady somewhere in the 6-7-8 part of the lineup. If she was at full strength, she would be in the heart of the order. As it is, it's a luxury to have her at the bottom part of the order.

Bama returns to practice tomorrow at 6:30. I'll post a preview of Missouri later this week.

Tomorrow I'll touch on a few of the Super Regionals that will take place around the country.

By the way, there will be no televised games in Tuscaloosa this coming weekend. I've been told six of the eight Super Regionals will be on TV, but unfortunately, Bama's will not. As always, the radio pre-game show will begin 15 minutes before first pitch.

Games pushed back ONE hour

2008-05-15T14:46:00.001-05:00

Game times have been moved back ONE hour from their original start times... Florida State and Jacksonville State will begin at 5:00 PM (CT) and the Bama vs. UTC game will begin at approximately 7:30 PM (CT).

Pregame will now begin at 7:15 on the radio.

Rain continues to fall in Tuscaloosa

2008-05-15T10:09:00.002-05:00

The good news is, the Alabama Softball Complex has a state of the art drainage system in the outfield. However, if it continues to rain all afternoon, it's still impossible to play. The tarp is on the field now, but it won't be pulled until the rain subsides.

Again, if any game time changes are made, they will be posted here.

Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar | Hurricane Center

Rain, rain go away

2008-05-15T08:37:00.002-05:00

I was awoken in the middle of the night around 4:00 AM to a steady rain, and it's been raining ever since (it's now 8:37 AM). If there are any changes to the game schedule, I'll post them ASAP here.

Couple of things from Tidesports.com today... they've bumped up their coverage for Regionals... here's Patrick Murphy and Charlotte Morgan's press conference comments from yesterday.

Tommy Deas has a great article posted about Tide All-American junior Brittany Rogers. Here it is...

All-Region teams announced

2008-05-14T20:20:00.004-05:00

The NFCA All-Region teams were announced today, and Alabama had five players make the South Region teams. Charlotte Morgan, Brittany Rogers, and Kelsi Dunne all made the first team. Kelley Montalvo and Ashley Holcombe made the second team. Montalvo, in any other year, would deserve to make the first team. The problem was Tonya Callahan made the first team as a third baseman.

All players that make the All-Region teams are eligible to be named All-Americans later in the year.

For the full list of players that made each team, click here.

Practice day from the Complex

2008-05-14T16:22:00.005-05:00

Alabama is just a few minutes outside of its official practice in Tuscaloosa... Jacksonville State and UT-Chattanooga both practiced before. In an odd move, Florida State elected to pass on their scheduled practice time. Apparently, many of the girls are in summer school, and the coaching staff wanted the team to stay in class an additional day. Tuscaloosa is one of two regionals which gets underway Thursday, the rest begin Friday.

When postseason play comes to Tuscaloosa, the Tuscaloosa News rolls out the red carpet. Their coverage is fantastic, and Tommy Deas follows the sport religiously. Here's his latest article, focusing primarily on Tide sophomore Charlotte Morgan. Most likely you've heard me mention from time to time that Morgan has been playing through a stress fracture on top of her right foot. Needless to say, it hasn't held her back. If you live in Tuscaloosa, make sure to pick up a copy of the Tuscaloosa News tomorrow. Deas gave me a sneak peak of the "Gameday" spread, and it looks fantastic. If not, you can always check out Tommy's latest at Tidesports.com.

Each of the coaches took part in a press conference earlier this afternoon. The press conferences are usually pretty standard stuff. No coach is going to give away secrets at this point. Why would they? The funniest bit of the day came from UTC head coach Frank Reed. At one point he was asked about how he intends to prepare for Kelsi Dunne, Charlotte Morgan and Chrissy Owens. His answer? "Well, there's one I'd prefer to see..." After a gentle nudge from a reporter, he added, "But I'm not going to tell you that." He said all this with a grin, but it's an interesting question. Who would you rather see? Dunne or Morgan? They've both been fantastic, and they complement each other well. One uses rise balls as out pitches, the other uses drop balls. Makes for an interesting topic...

More to come later, thanks for reading today...

Edit, 4:33 PM: If you plan on coming to the games and like to sit in right field in your own lawn chairs, plan on something a bit different. You do have to pay to sit out there this weekend. There are bleachers set up, but you can also bring a lawn chair if you prefer your own seat.

UT-Chattanooga Preview

2008-05-14T11:00:00.003-05:00

The Lady Mocs are not a weak #4 seed. They come in with a record of 41-20 (13-5), and are winners of both the regular season and Southern conference tournament. They are making their sixth appearance in the NCAA Tournament, and their first since 2004. They have played in the Tuscaloosa Regional twice before, with appearances in 2001 and 2003.

The first number that will stick out to people are their home runs. The Lady Mochs set a new school record with 49 HR's this season. However, their top home run hitter Katie Blevins is rumored to be unavailable for postseason play. If Blevins is ineligible or unavailable, that's a quick 13 you can subtract from their season total. That being said, Blevins was never a high on-base thread, with a mark barely above .350. In other words, it was often everything or nothing. Junior Laci Upchurch will be called upon to fill the power void. She has hit nine home runs and has drawn 20 walks.

In the pitcher's circle, sophomore right-hander Brooke Loudermilk will most likely draw the start against Alabama. She is 18-7 this year with a 1.67 ERA. In 188.1 IP, she has struck out 239. She completed half of the 30 games she started this year, and has also recorded five saves.
UTC is a decent fielding team as well. They have only made 45 errors this year for a fielding percentage of .975. Their weak point may behind the plate. Sophomore Lynleigh Hurndon will most likely do the catching, and teams have stolen regularly off of her. In 27 attempts against her, opponents have only been caught five times. Don't be surprised if Murphy attempts to push the issue on the bases early.

Chattanooga helped clinch their automatic bid to the tournament by beating the Southern conference's two seed, Georgia Southern, in comeback fashion. After trailing 2-0, freshman Michelle Fuzzard came up with the game-winning hit in the bottom of the seventh. The Mocs would then go on to win the second game 10-1 to clinch the Southern championship. They scored 9 runs in the 5th inning alone.

NCAA Practice day begins tomorrow

2008-05-13T23:08:00.002-05:00

The Tuscaloosa Regional is one of two that start on Thursday. The other 14 regionals will begin on Friday. This means that tomorrow will be the NCAA practice day. Alabama will have an hour and twenty minutes to practice, along with every other team in the regional.

Tidesports.com has a new video posted with short interviews from Jordan Praytor and Ashley Holcombe...

Holcombe is not only a great defensive catcher (she made the SEC All-Defensive team), she is also a fantastic leader. It's easy to assume that the seniors on the team must be the leaders of the team. While many of them are, there are other leaders that arise in different classes, and junior Ashley Holcombe is a prime example. She pushes her teammates during practice, but also is there to pick others up when needed. When this year's seniors graduate, Ashley Holcombe and Brittany Rogers will assume an even greater leadership role. Needless to say, the team will be left in good hands.

On Wednesday, I will post a preview of the region's four seed, Chattanooga.

Regional setup, by geography

2008-05-12T08:10:00.002-05:00

Alan Reifman took the time to make maps displaying where teams had to travel this year to regionals... check out his latest post at http://collegesoftball.blogspot.com

It's the year of the SEC... Bama collects #3 national seed

2008-05-11T22:23:00.008-05:00

Alabama pulled in it's highest ranking ever for NCAA regional play tonight. The Tide was awarded the #3 seed for the tournament. For the casual fan who may not understand how the regional system works, here's a quick synopsis:

Alabama's #3 seed would equate to one of the four #1 seeds in the NCAA basketball tournament. In NCAA basketball, there are 64 teams put into four, 16 team brackets. In NCAA softball, there are sixteen, four team brackets (or, as they are called, regionals.) There are sixteen nationally "seeded" teams, and the rest are "unseeded" teams who are assigned a seed within their individual regions.

Alabama will play the Tuscaloosa regional's #4 seed, Tennessee-Chattanooga on Thursday at 6:30 (CT). If they were to win that game, they would play the winner of the #2 and #3 game, which is Florida State and Jacksonville State.

Selection Committee rewards Alabama, SEC for tough schedules and powerful conference
For the last few years, there have been many complaints from SEC teams about their seeding. Last year, Bama missed out on a top eight seed, which would have nearly guaranteed them a super regional, and felt as if they were snubbed. That didn't happen this year. In fact, the selection committee seems to have made up for past "snubs." Eight SEC teams made the 64-team tournament (#1 Florida, #3 Alabama, #9 LSU, #13 Tennessee, #15 Georgia, Mississippi State, Auburn, and Arkansas.)

I was surprised by three things.

Georgia received the #15 overall national seed: Nothing against the Bulldogs, but I was shocked when they came up on the Selection Show. Perhaps last week's upset win over Alabama helped them...
Arkansas made the tournament: I thought Jamie Pinkerton's squad would miss out on the "Big Dance," but they slid in. Congrats to Pinkerton and his team. I've said before he's a class act, and it's great to see him succeeding. However, I am surprised that they made the NCAA tournament despite missing the SEC Tournament. For the SEC to receive eight bids speaks of what the selection committee thinks of the SEC this year.
Arizona State captured the #6 seed after being atop the polls for most the year: Let me be frank. What surprises me is that the selection committee penalized Arizona State for a weak non-conference schedule. In the past, they certainly would have done that to an SEC team, but I assumed they may be more forgiving of a PAC-10 school. To the committee's credit, they were consistent. Last year it was the SEC who failed to play a tough non-conference schedule, this year, it was the PAC-10. Many SEC schools decided to travel and increase their strength of schedule, and as usual, the PAC-10 schools stayed home for the most part. We may see that change next year.

Here is the link to the full bracket...

Initial thoughts
While I don't like making full blown predictions, here are a couple things that caught my eye...

Alabama has one of the more favorable paths to the World Series. They avoided pairings with teams like Northwestern, DePaul or Virginia Tech; all of whom have dominant pitchers. Iowa has Brittany Weil and Long Beach State has the talented freshman Brooke Turner, but I still don't put them on the same level as some of the nation's best. Long Beach State, the #14 national seed in the Iowa City regional, is one of the weaker national seeds selected. It's entirely possible the Hawkeyes make it out of that regional (after all, they get to host.) We could have an Iowa vs. Alabama super regional match-up.
#6 Arizona State and #11 Northwestern make up one of the more intriguing Super Regional possibilities. Northwestern has made two consecutive WCWS appearances, and are two years removed from an appearance in the Championship round. Arizona State was ranked #1 for much of the season in both national polls, and have one of the best pitching/hitting tandems in softball in Burkhart and Cochran. A Burkhart vs. Delaney matchup would be a fun pitching showdown.
#13 seed Tennessee may get to host, but they drew one of the toughest two seeds in the tournament. Angela Tincher and Virginia Tech will give UT all they can handle this weekend.
While Houston is a very good team, #9 seed LSU has to feel good about their chances of making the World Series. Alabama and Florida will be favored to make appearances in the WCWS, but LSU is definitely the SEC's best shot to get three teams.
Florida, unsurprisingly, pulled in the #1 national seed. Georgia Tech, a team Alabama dispatched of easily earlier this year, is perhaps the toughest #4 seed in the tournament. The Yellow Jackets started the season 10-21, but won 20 of their last 27 games to make the tournament. Florida, while happy to receive the #1 overall seed, has reason to complain about receiving a tough #4 seed.
Alabama, if they make the Tuscaloosa regional championship game, will be on national TV. ESPN2 will be broadcasting the Saturday games from Tuscaloosa.

Here is the full schedule for the Tuscaloosa regional...

Thursday, May 15

Florida State vs. Jacksonville State, 4 p.m. (Game 1)

Alabama vs. Chattanooga, 6:30 p.m. (Game 2)

Friday, May 16

Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 2:30 p.m. (Game 3)

Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 5 p.m. (Game 4)

Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 7:30 p.m. (Game 5)

Saturday, May 17

Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5, 7:30 (Game 6) – ESPN2/ESPN360.com

(if necessary) Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6, 9:30 p.m. (Game 7)

ESPN.com columnist Graham Hays has his breakdown of the bracket posted here... As always, he does a great job of picking out possible surprises, and he goes a bit deeper than I have here tonight.

That's it for now... Alabama will begin practice tomorrow in preparation for the regional, and I'll give updates through the week. I will also post previews of the other three teams in Alabama's regional. Should be a fun tournament...

Bubble teams: Breathe easier

2008-05-11T16:37:00.000-05:00

Bubble teams caught a break early this afternoon... the #10 seed in the Big XII tournament, Nebraska, finally lost in the title game to Texas A&M... Arkansas is amongst the teams that had to have Nebraska lose to have a shot at making the tournament.

Bama awaits regional fate after Championship loss to Florida

2008-05-10T21:49:00.001-05:00

For the second time this year, Alabama fell to Florida. Also for the second time, Florida senior Mary Ratliff hit a late grand slam to propel the Gators to the win.

First, hats off to Florida. What an incredible run. You don't go 62-2 by accident. Their two losses this year came by scores of 2-1 and 1-0. They have lost two games by a combined two runs. That's incredible. Are they unbeatable? Absolutely not. They have one of the best pitcher's in the country in Stacey Nelson, and their offense has a flare for the dramatic. Nelson is fun to watch. She goes right after hitters. While she didn't strike out an awful lot today, she hit her spots with ease. Her undoing in Tuscaloosa earlier this year was seven walks in game one, but today, her pinpoint control was her savior. It's amazing she's only a junior. I'm not sure I've seen a player progress from year to year any better than she has. She has only gotten better, and in a big way, each year she's played for Florida.

Bama fans in attendance or watching on TV (or even listening to our radio broadcast) may complain about some missed strike a calls in the bottom of the 6th. Do I think the calls were missed and helped extend the inning? My honest answer is: yes. Do I think that means anything now? No. Florida took advantage of the opportunity yet again, and they deserve the credit. Certainly, the umpires may have played a factor in the championship game, but if Bama had scored more often earlier it wouldn't have been as big of an issue. It's not as though Bama hasn't benefited from breaks this year... when Bama traveled to Chicago to play Northwestern, the Wildcats seemed to the Tide on the ropes. Instead, an error on an easy ball by Tammy Williams at short helped to extend the inning, and eventually helped lead to a Bama win. While the situations are slightly different, Bama didn't exactly deserve to win that game anymore than Northwestern did. My point is that while umpires may have played a factor, that doesn't excuse the loss, or diminish Florida's win.

Alabama had three players make the all-tournament team. Kelsi Dunne, Charlotte Morgan and Whitney Larsen all made the team. The freshmen on that list catch my eye the most. Dunne was great save for one inning, and Larsen's ability to elevate mer play in big game's earned her a spot on the team. Larsen belted a solo home run against LSU in a big spot on Friday, and in the championship game she made a fantastic diving play and also continued to hit the ball. If Lauren Parker is available for regional play and can be slotted into the bottom of the order near Larsen, that gives Alabama one of the best bottom three in the country.

As a final thought, Alabama has a great chance to go very deep in postseason play this year. Very deep. There have been losses this year, and the only constant I've noticed so far is that Alabama from time to time has difficulty hitting an elite pitcher. Becca Heteniak of DePaul nearly no-hit Alabama, and Nelson yielded only one run today, and one run in her loss to Alabama earlier this year. Lauren Delaney of Northwestern held Bama down for much of the game, but Bama fought through in the end. Keep in mind, there are very few teams that actually have a lot of success against elite level pitching. In fact, I feel almost silly pointing it out. But it is a trend. If Bama faces an average pitcher with average numbers, you expect Bama to score anywhere from 5-10 runs. If it's an elite pitcher, you hope you scratch out a couple and Kelsi Dunne out duels her opponent. What's that mean exactly? Not much, but it would be nice to avoid those dominant type pitchers as much as possible (as I'm sure every team waiting for their pairing's Sunday night are saying.)

Bama awaits fate for regional play

I'm not a bracketologist, and I don't pretend to be. In the past, I think the selection committee has been hesitant to place SEC teams amongst its top national seeds. I don't think they have an excuse this year to place Florida and Alabama out of the top five. Florida should be the number one team, bar none. It would be a crime if Florida is not given the top spot. A 62-2 record and 27-1 mark in SEC play is just too good for anyone to keep them out of that spot. If the Gators don't bring home the #1 seed, there should be riots in Gainsville.

Alabama is in a slightly different spot. They lost three games in the last two weeks, but that doesn't mean their body of work before this should be forgotten. A six loss year, and a neck and neck race with Florida all the way through the regular season should be more than enough to give Alabama a top eight seed. At the lowest, Alabama should pull in a #6 seed. That's a worst case scenario in my opinion. I think Bama should be in the top four. Florida, Arizona State, Alabama, and Texas A&M would be my four as of right now. Arizona State made a case for the #1 seed, but Florida did too much to surrender that spot to the Sun Devils.

As far as teams Alabama may bring to a Tuscaloosa regional, Jacksonville State and Mississippi Valley State seem like prime suspects. Both won their conference tournaments and receive automatic bids into the NCAA tournament. The #2 seed is always a mystery, but the three and four seeds will certainly be teams that are in driving distance, and those two squads fill that description easily.

As far as SEC totals go, I expect seven SEC teams to receive bids: Florida, Alabama, LSU, Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi State and Auburn should all be in. The top four should host a regional. Arkansas has a good overall record and decent RPI, but their lackluster conference record and absence at the SEC tournament dooms their hopes in my opinion. That's too bad. I'm a fan of Jamie Pinkerton and what he's doing with that program, but I doubt this will be the year they receive a call.

That's as bold as I'm willing to be with any tournament projections. I've been shocked before by the selection committee, and my biggest hope this year is that they recognize Florida as the #1 overall seed and Bama as a top four seed. Anything less would be highly suspect in my opinion.

Quote of the Day

2008-05-09T10:37:00.003-05:00

Tide junior outfielder Brittany Rogers:

On getting the hit that won the game…

“Thank you, Jesus! Honestly, that was really what was going through my head.”

The #7 and #8 seeds played the top two seeds to combined scores of 2-0 yesterday. Mississippi State will by all accounts make the NCAA Regional tournament, while Ole Miss finished below .500 and is not eligible for postseason play.

The last two games have certainly been tight for Alabama's offense. The Tide scored only twice against Georgia on Sunday, and with their 1-0 win against Mississippi State yesterday, the Tide have hit a season low for runs scored in consecutive games. Is it cause for concern? Slightly, I suppose. You can't pretend that it doesn't concern you a bit. Alabama takes on the #3 seed and host team LSU tonight. Last night the stands were packed with LSU faithful, and with a Bama vs. Tiger matchup, you can bet the fans will be fired up tonight...

Alabama pulls in multiple awards at SEC Banquet

2008-05-07T22:17:00.002-05:00

Alabama was honored with multiple awards Wednesday night, including seven all-conference selections. Kelsi Dunne was also awarded the SEC Freshman of the Year Award, and Jordan Praytor collected SEC Scholar-Athlete of the year honors. Here's Alabama's breakdown for the all-conference teams...

1st team
Kelsi Dunne
Charlotte Morgan
Brittany Rogers
Kelley Montalvo

2nd team
Ashley Holcombe
Jordan Praytor
Dani Woods

For the first time this year, the SEC named an All-Defensive team. Alabama had three players recognized; Ashley Holcombe (C), Kelley Montalvo (3B) and Brittany Rogers (OF).

While the idea of an All-Defensive team is nice, I'm not a big fan of it. It's not terribly hard to judge who deserves the honors offensively. There are plenty of numbers to quantify exactly how well a player performed. Defense is a completely different story. Sure, you can look at numbers like errors and fielding percentage, but those are terribly inefficient ways to judge a fielder. It doesn't take into account player's range. Softball doesn't have the vast resources that Major League Baseball does, and because of it, some of the newer, more thorough stats (i.e. UZR "zone factor").

So what's my point? It's difficult to actually quantify who is best at their given position defensively in softball. Alabama shortstop Kellie Eubanks had 11 errors this season and a seemingly mediocre .925 fielding percentage. Meanwhile, Tennessee shortstop Kenora Posey committed 8 errors and came in with a .959 fielding percentage. Not surprisingly, Posey won the shortstop All-Defensive team spot. Taking nothing away from Posey (she's a fine shortstop), I would bet that most coaches, when asked, would grant that Eubanks gets to more balls than most shortstops and has a stronger arm than most, if not all shortstops in the SEC. Eubanks had 83 attempts, Posey 84, but Tennessee played in 5 more games than Alabama as well. While those numbers don't prove Eubanks' range allowed her to get to more balls, it certainly would make sense and probably helps to explain that fact.

In my opinion, Eubanks probably deserved the award. She most likely got to more balls and took away more hits than Posey, effectively erasing her three extra errors compared to Posey, and most likely went beyond her in saving baserunners. In our traditional understanding of defense, errors and fielding percentage mean everything. But who is a better shortstop? The one who makes 10 errors in a year but gets to 15 more balls than her competition, or the shortstop who doesn't get to 15 of those balls but makes 7 errors? Obviously, choice one is the better shortstop because in the end, she's keeping more people off base.

However, with all that being said, Montalvo and Holcombe won their respective positions for defensive honors, and they were well deserved. Montalvo has amazing range to the hole and line, and Holcombe's arm is unrivaled in the SEC. If it was my team to make, Holcombe would be 1st team all-conference on the the strength of her defense alone. The position of catcher is a defensive intense position, and a player that excels at it like Holcombe does probably should have gotten that recognition. Either way, Holcombe has earned herself quite the reputation around the SEC.

If Alabama had one gripe outside of Eubanks' omission, it would be Whitney Larsen's absence from the All-Freshman team. She batted .282 with 7 HR's this year, and in conference she batted .310 with 3 HR's. She had a great year, but certainly, someone had to be left off in a very talented conference this year.

Quite honestly, I doubt player's beat themselves up over missing an award. They certainly shouldn't, nor should coaches or fans. It means next to nothing. Awards are great for fans and family to see, but anyone associated with a team only hurts it by complaining about the awards. Coaches have a few hours to vote, and the next day, the awards are announced. Mistakes are going to be made. Last year, Charlotte Morgan should have won SEC Freshman of the Year honors by all accounts, but she was passed over. But here's the question... who cares? That doesn't wipe away what Morgan did that year. Furthermore, her missing the SEC Player of the Year award in favor of Tonya Callahan also means nothing. She still has had an amazing year, and the numbers bear that out. No sense beating yourself or others up over something as arbitrary as a voted on award. Complaining does no good.

#2 seed Alabama takes on the #7 seed Mississippi State at 5:00 on Thursday night. The pre-game show begins at 4:45. Mandy Burford and myself will breakdown the matchup and call all the balls and strikes...

Florida claims SEC title, Bama 2nd, Tournament bracket set

2008-05-04T17:00:00.005-05:00

Florida clinched the SEC regular season title with a 5-3 win over Tennessee today. They finish at 27-1 in the conference, which is the best record ever recorded in conference by any team. That's simply an incredible record. Hats off to Tim Walton and the Gators. That's a marvelous season.

The SEC Tournament bracket is set, and will begin on Thursday, May 8th. Alabama, the #2 seed, will play #7 seed Mississippi State in the first round. Here is how the pairings play out...

1. Florida vs. 8. Ole Miss
4. Tennessee vs. 5. Georgia

2. Bama vs. 7. Mississippi State
3. LSU vs. 6. Auburn

The good news is Alabama is 9-0 against teams on their side of the bracket. Then again, they've lost two of their last four games. Is it the way Alabama hoped to break into post season play? Of course not. Let's be realistic for a moment though. Alabama has had a ridiculous amount of injuries and ailments befall their players this year, and to go through the conference with a 25-3 mark is impressive. Bama hopes to have Dani Woods available again for the SEC Tournament, and it's even possible we'll see Lauren Parker if Alabama makes it deep into the post season. She made a surprising appearance as a pinch runner on Saturday.

It's surprising Alabama struggled the way they did against Christie Hamilton on Sunday. They beat her up for 17 runs (15 earned) on Saturday, but could only muster two runs off of her the next day when Charlotte Morgan hit her two run home run. Funny how one day a girl can be blasted, and the next, she pulls off an ace-like performance. That's happened twice to Alabama this year. In Bama's first SEC series of the year, they beat up Meghan Rhodes in her first game, but she won the third game after Alabama run ruled them twice the day before. Is that cause for concern? I don't think so. Certainly, you'd like to be able to shut the door, but three losses in 28 conference games is nothing to fret about. In fact, it's a bit silly.

The hitting wasn't the only weak spot on Sunday. The pitching wasn't overly sharp. Morgan allowed three runs, although only one was earned. The home runs surrendered to Wiggans and Wood led to Morgan's demise. Charlotte is not a strikeout pitcher, and that's not a secret. That makes it incredibly important for her to keep the ball down. If you pitch to contact, your margin for error is very small. For the most part, she's been very good for Alabama, but recently has left a few pitches up and opposing teams have made her pay for it.

Does that mean Kelsi Dunne has reclaimed the hold on the staff ace position? Maybe. In my opinion, she's still Bama's best pitcher hands down. Her strikeout numbers alone speak to her ability. Once she finds a way to limit the walks and hit batters, she'll be nearly unhittable. Remember, she's a freshman, and she's experienced a few growing pains.

Rain forecast for today

2008-05-03T11:12:00.002-05:00

The good news first: The rain seems to be nearly out of the Knoxville area, so Tennessee and Florida should get their games in today.

The bad news: The rain hasn't yet reached Athens, and we could be in for a heavy rain. I'm no meteorologist, but this map speaks for itself.

I'll keep you up to date should we happen to be delayed. It appears that we should be OK to start the game on time, but that rain will creep in while the game is in progress.

View from the pressbox

There was some light rain earlier, and because of it, the tarp is on the field. That should be coming off shortly...

Praytor named to SEC Community Service team

2008-05-02T13:57:00.004-05:00

Alabama senior Jordan Praytor has been named to the SEC Community Service team. I've brought up before what a good person she is, and this award is well deserved. Here's the rolltide.com press release... There is still time to vote for Jordan in the Lowe's Senior CLASS award voting... she has moved up into third place after a slow start. You can help push her up the leader board here...

Alabama pitching coach Vann Stuedeman is more than proud of her sister's latest accomplishment. Her sister Les is the head coach at the University of Alabama-Huntsville. She was awarded the Gulf South Conference coach of the year award for the fourth time in her career. UAH has been #1 for much of the year, and just recently reclaimed the top spot in the polls again. Here is the official release...

I'm sure most of you reading the blog don't need much of a reminder, but here's what's at stake this weekend:
Florida controls their own destiny, and can clinch the outright SEC regular season title with a sweep of #13 Tennessee. Should they lose one game, Alabama could conceivably share the conference title with Florida, but they will have to sweep Georgia. If Tennessee somehow manages to steal two games from Florida, and Alabama sweeps Georgia, they would win the conference outright. Alabama is one game back in the loss column, with their only two losses coming to Florida and Tennessee. The Gators only loss came to Alabama in early March, and now they get their shot at Tennessee. Let the scoreboard watching commence...

Here's the other SEC games on tap for this weekend...
LSU @ South Carolina (South Carolina must win series to make SEC Tournament.)
Mississippi State @ Arkansas
Kentucky @ Auburn
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Random note: Technology is great, isn't it? The team is currently on their way to Athens, and on the bus ride over, I'm able to post to the blog thanks to my fellow manager AJ's wireless aircard.

Bama featured by Graham Hays

2008-05-01T18:18:00.003-05:00

From time to time I've posted items written by Graham Hays, ESPN.com's only regular softball columnist. He does a terrific job, and I finally had a chance to meet him in person in Chicago a few days ago. He was on hand to watch Alabama take on Northwestern and DePaul, and caught up with Murphy and a few of the girls. Here's his article...

Hays describes Alabama as a "Moneyball" type of a team... Here's a few notes about his article and Alabama:

The first misnomer often attributed to Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland A's, is that all he wants to do is walk. That was never the case. It was finding the talent that other general manager's were under-valuing, and exploiting it to benefit his franchise. At the same time, he was able to isolate areas where people over-payed. The "Moneyball" theory (as it's become known), is more fully explained through sabermetrics. The term is derived from SABR (Society for American Baseball Research.) Bill James (the founder of sabermetrics) defined it as, "the search for objective knowledge about baseball." Obviously, many of the theories and new statistics that have been thought up focus on baseball, but most apply to softball.

As a basic overview, traditional statistics like batting average and RBI are considered outdated and nearly useless by sabermetric analysts. Instead, statistics like on-base percentage and slugging percentage are much more helpful in showing a player's true worth and skill. Sabermetrics also puts a premium on outs, and thus, sacrifice bunts should be used only in the rarest of circumstances (near the end of a game, when you are tied, and need one run for instance.) In most other cases, bunting is seen as a tool used entirely too often. You may have heard me say more than once on the radio broadcasts, "I'm not a fan of bunting in most situations." My subscription to sabermetric theory explains why.

I've given you a very basic overview of sabermetrics, and for those interested, there are plenty of books to help explain the new, and in my opinion, better way of understanding baseball and softball. "Moneyball" is a start, but is only a basic overview of sabermetric principles. Sabermetrics molds math and baseball/softball together, helping those who use their principles to make more well informed decisions.

Many people disagree with the theory altogether, which is fine. In the end, I don't see them winning out. Already, national telecasts use statistics like on-base percentage and slugging percentage much more regularly than they used to. Just a few year's ago, a hitter's line would look like this:

.300/29/102... this lineup shows the player's batting average, home runs, and RBI.

Today, they look more like this:

.432/.512./.944... this lineup shows the player's on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS (on-base + slugging).

In other words, sabermetrics is already being used... some of their more complicated formulas are harder to implement. Traditional analysts find it easy to drag their feet when it comes to something they don't understand, as is the case with anything.

So what exactly does Alabama do, and not do, that falls in line with a sabermetric line of thinking? For starters, as Hays mentioned, Alabama walks, a lot. Bama has drawn 213 walks in their first 51 games, an astounding number. Their team OBP is .447. That lies at the heart of sabermetric (or Moneyball, as it's become known to the layman) theory. Outs are the most precious commodity in softball, and if your batters are getting on base at a .447 clip, that means almost one of every two batters is on base. You're avoiding the outs much better than the common team.

In general, sabermaticians would generally frown on steal attempts. Alabama steals a lot. A typical fan may view this as anti-sabermetric, but in actuality, that's not the case. Alabama steals bases with an 88% success rate. Many studies by sabermetric proponents suggest you must steal at least 70-80% to actually help your run production, a number that Alabama easily clears. So, in all fairness, sabermetric proponents would find Alabama as an exception to the norm when it comes to stealing bases. If you can steal with their type of success, there isn't much of a problem.

If you're looking for a good read, and don't know much about the sabermetric movement, I would suggest "Moneyball." I read the book a year and a half ago, and read it in three days. It changed the way I thought about baseball and softball. Anyone who wants to better understand why Bama is indeed so successful need look no further than the sabermetric principles explained in "Moneyball." Other books, such as "Baseball Between the Numbers: Why Everything you Know about the Game is Wrong" are also great tools to learning more about sabermetrics. If you end up reading "Moneyball," I would suggest that you don't stop there. "Moneyball" lays the basic information at your feet for other works which are truly groundbreaking.

Alabama's final SEC series of the year takes place in Athens, Georgia this weekend when they take on the Bulldogs. Full coverage will be available on rolltide.com, and youcastr.com. The pregame show begins 15 minutes before first pitch.

Last chance for Auburn to help Bama

2008-04-27T12:28:00.008-05:00

Auburn and Florida finish their 3-game series today. Auburn already trails 5-1 in the bottom of the first. Again, no sign of Anna Thompson. Maybe there's more to the story than I know about, but Thompson hasn't yet pitched an inning in this series. Lauren Schmalz again got the start... if Thompson is healthy, I really can't understand the logic of not even using her to this point in the weekend. This point in the season is not a good time to have a question as to who your ace is...

Edit, 12:33: Well, Schmalz is already out, but still no sign of Thompson. They brought in Bunner.

Edit, 12:53: 7-1 now, and UF has two runners in scoring position. Bunner isn't doing any better than Schmalz.

Edit, 1:33: 10-1 Florida now... Day is in. Thompson has to be hurt... or something.

Edit, 1:46: According to a poster at ultimatecollegesoftball.com, Thompson may have some inflammation in her throwing shoulder... that makes sense then.

SEC Update

2008-04-26T21:42:00.003-05:00

Florida continued to inch closer to the SEC regular season championship today. The Gators beat Auburn 3-1 and 7-2 this afternoon. Florida lowered their magic number to three, meaning that with a combination of three Florida wins or Alabama losses, they will clinch at least a share of the conference title.

The biggest mover today was Ole Miss. After an 0-15 start to their conference slate, the Rebels have won 8 of their last 12 to move to 8-19. They have moved out of the cellar in the SEC West, and are now percentage points behind the last spot in the SEC Tournament. Eight teams make the SEC Tourney, and the Rebs are now hopeful that they can get some help from South Carolina's opponents. A loss tomorrow would make it nearly impossible for Ole Miss to make the tournament, but a win keeps that hope alive. Either way, it's been a remarkable comeback for Ole Miss.

If the SEC Tournament started today, here would be the seeds and matchups...

#1 Florida vs. #8 South Carolina
#4 LSU vs. #5 Mississippi State
#3 Tennessee vs. #6 Georgia
#2 Alabama vs. #7 Auburn

The top six teams as of today have clinched a berth in the tournament, with only South Carolina in real danger of losing their bid. Auburn could clinch with a win tomorrow or a South Carolina loss. Kentucky is the only team that is mathematically eliminated from the tournament. Arkansas, while alive, has a long haul to make the tournament.

Amateur Bracketology
If the NCAA Regional, 64-team tournament were to start today, I see six "locks." Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, LSU, Georgia and Mississippi State have solid spots in the tournament. The top three should also host a regional. Auburn is currently "On the Bubble." The Tigers have a decent overall record (34-18), but their conference record sits under .500. If I had to make a guess, Auburn is in as of today. They have two quality wins against Mississippi State and Tennessee, and also took one game from Georgia. South Carolina, even if they hold on to their SEC #8 seed, will most likely miss the tournament. They are in a tough situation now, with an overall record of 20-23. They must attain at least a .500 record to have a shot to make the tournament, but even then, I highly doubt they get a bid. That's too bad... South Carolina was a surprise Super Regional participant last year.

SEC schedule and other games this weekend

2008-04-26T09:55:00.014-05:00

With no Alabama softball, some fans still need their weekly softball dosage. Here's your cure...

SEC Games this weekend (All are 3-game sets)
Auburn @ #3 Florida
Georgia @ Kentucky
South Carolina @ Ole Miss
Arkansas @ #15 LSU
#13 Tennessee @ Mississippi State

Other big games
UCLA @ Stanford
North Carolina @ Virginia Tech

The SWAC tournament is currently in progress. That means by tomorrow, we will have our first automatic bid into the NCAA Regional Tournament. Alcorn State, Mississippi Valley State, Alabama A&M and Southern are all still alive in the tourney. Best guess: The Delta Devils win, and they'll appear in a Tuscaloosa regional as the four seed. One down, 63 to go after tomorrow.

The Florida/Auburn doubleheader starts at 12:00 (CST) today. The gametracker link can be found here...

Audio can be found here.

For once, Bama nation can claim to be Auburn fans.

Edit, 2:05 PM:
The first game between Florida and Auburn has gone final. The Gators won 3-1. Anna Thompson did not pitch game one for Auburn. My best guess is that Auburn head coach Tina Deese decided to save her for game two. It's almost as if she conceded game one to Stacey Nelson. Most likely we'll see Brombacher vs. Thompson in game two.

Edit, 2:39 PM:
Nevermind, Brittany Day gets the start for Auburn. I can't pretend to understand that. Day is a decent pitcher, but Thompson is still a better all around pitcher. She's a good strikeout pitcher. Perhaps Deese and company feel Thompson has been leaving too many pitches up. She's given up 13 HR's this year.

Edit, 3:00 PM:
Auburn's on the board first in game two. An error from Gardiner at first for Florida results in an unearned run. Auburn up 1-0 in the bottom of the 2nd...

Edit, 3:09:
Well that didn't take long. Florida's taken the lead 2-1 in the bottom of the 2nd.

Edit, 3:15:
Anyone wondering why I questioned the start of Brittany Day? Auburn now trails 5-1, and Day was finally just pulled for Bunner. I understand that you may want to take just one of three in this series if you're Auburn, but how does saving Thompson for a game three against Nelson make any sense?

Random tidbits

2008-04-25T13:49:00.003-05:00

Alabama doesn't play until next Tuesday when they take on a pair of top 25 teams in DePaul and Northwestern. Alabama is familiar with both teams from their history against each squad in the Women's College World Series. Alabama faced off against Northwestern in the opening round of the 2006 WCWS and lost a 6-5 decision in 10 innings. Northwestern would go on to finish as National Runner-Up to eventual champion Arizona. Alabama's only two wins in the Series have come through DePaul, the last of which was in 2005, a 2-1 Bama win in the first loser's bracket game. Northwestern is currently ranked #12 in the country with a 28-10 record and a 13-1 mark in Big 10 play, which ties them atop the Big 10 standings with Michigan. DePaul is ranked #23 with a 36-14 record. They have won their last five games, and are currently third in the Big East behind South Florida and UConn with a 9-5 mark.

The Big 10 Network was in attendance for Northwestern's game against Illinois earlier this year. Here are their video highlights...

If you haven't had a chance to read this article, give it a look. It's about Lisa Fernandez, who for years was the face and icon of softball. She recently left her cleats in the pitchers circle where it all started at UCLA.

Let the scoreboard watching begin

2008-04-24T20:45:00.003-05:00

Alabama made it look routine last night with a pair of victories. First, the Crimson Tide knocked off Birmingham Southern 9-1 and then beat Samford 7-1 in the nightcap. Alabama is now on a 25-game win streak, which ties the second longest streak in team history (2007).

Patrick Murphy used a different lineup in game one, and it worked just fine. Whitney Larsen jumped into the lead off role and passed the test with flying colors. She went 3-4, complete with a two-run home run. Larsen also displayed her versatility again, playing three different positions (centerfield, shortstop, and first base) through the two games. When Alabama runs into a slew of injuries like it has this season, Larsen becomes that much more important. She couldn't have come to the team at a better time. She now has seven home runs on the season. Her versatility is saving Alabama a lot of trouble at the moment.

Jessica Smith also returned from the sidelines after a long recovery period from her ACL and MCL tears. In her first at bat, she laced a hard single off the glove of the shortstop. Her swing looks to be in mid-season form, and her bat and legs give Murphy an extra option in games where needs a pinch hitter or runner. Smith is a hard worker, and as Murph said on the pre-game show, she's one of the nicest people on the team. She is quiet for the most part, but is the classic example of a team player. I can't recall a time where I've seen her look down on her luck. She does what she can, whether it's cheering for her teammates, or swinging the bat.

Alabama has their first weekend off of the season, and most of the girls will head home to spend some time with their families. In the life of major leaguers, a single off day will give them time to fly home and spend time with their families. In college softball, with no salaries and daily classes, many players haven't been home since Christmas. It's a welcome change to the schedule, and I'm sure the families are happy to see their girls.

For the fans, this is a great chance to start the scoreboard watching. Alabama has just three games left in their SEC slate against Georgia next weekend, but Florida has six games remaining. The Gators are still one game up in the conference standings by way of the loss column. Florida will play host to Auburn for three games this weekend, and then next week will travel to Knoxville, Tennessee to take on the Lady Vols. Tennessee is certainly the favorite of UF's opponent's to steal a game, but Auburn could get one good performance from Anna Thompson and make Tide country very happy. Remember, if Alabama and Florida tie for the conference championship, they are co-champions. So, if Alabama sweeps Georgia in Athens next week and Florida loses just one of their next six, Alabama would have their second conference title in three years.

Alabama widens lead in NFCA Top 25 Poll; Kelsi Dunne SEC Pitcher of the Week

2008-04-22T12:22:00.002-05:00

Here is this weeks latest NFCA Top 25 poll... for the second week in a row, Alabama is ranked #1, and this week they widened their points lead.

RANK	TEAM	RECORD	TOTALS	LAST
1	Alabama (17)	44-3	736	1
2	Arizona State (7)	48-3	715	2
3	Florida (6)	51-2	705	3
4	UCLA	38-5	646	5
5	Texas A&M	42-7	629	4
6	Michigan	41-4	618	6
7	Stanford	40-8	550	7
8	Oklahoma	37-11	525	8
9	Houston	40-7	455	9
10	Fresno State	42-8	454	12
11	Arizona	29-14	447	10
12	Northwestern	28-10	427	13
13	Tennessee	43-9	409	11
14	North Carolina	45-8-1	378	15
15	LSU	34-14	307	14
16	Louisiana-Lafayette	34-10	292	17
17	Long Beach State	33-12	285	16
18	Virginia Tech	38-12	252	19
19	San Diego State	35-13	171	24
20	Nevada	32-14	116	NR
21	California	36-18	101	23
22	Washington	25-16-1	93	22
23	DePaul	32-14	84	20
24	Hawai'i	31-14	79	18
25	Iowa	32-14	76	25

Others Receiving Votes:

Mississippi State 46, UMass 37, Georgia 30, Creighton 22, Auburn 16, Missouri 16, South Florida 15, Central Florida 9, BYU 8, Hofstra 1

Dropped Out:

No. 21 Georgia

Kelsi Dunne won the SEC Pitcher of the Week award, and deservedly so. In 13 innings of work, she allowed just three hits, and struck out twenty. Along with Charlotte Morgan and Chrissy Owens, she pitched two complete game shutouts to form a big part of Alabama's record five straight shutouts of opponents. Here is the release from rolltide.com

Mandy Burford featured in Anniston Star

2008-04-21T09:42:00.005-05:00

I've had many comments about how fans are enjoying the commentary of Mandy Burford in the booth this season. I couldn't agree more. Her insight is invaluable, and her comments refreshing. Creg Stephenson of the Anniston Star featured Mandy in his latest column today. Here's the link...

Here's Tommy Deas' latest roundup of Bama's Sunday game...

Tide earn 5th consecutive shutout, sweep South Carolina

2008-04-21T09:25:00.005-05:00

Five games, five shutouts. Alabama's pitching staff has been unreal as of late. They have not allowed a run since April 13th, a game which they won 4-2 over Auburn. The five game streak is the first of its kind for Alabama. The Tide shut out their opponents four games in a row in 1999, but never before has it occurred five times in a row.

It's nice for the pitching staff to have such a great week. Often times, the pitching staff gets overlooked at Alabama because of the offensive prowess of Patrick Murphy coached teams. The tandem of Kelsi Dunne and Charlotte Morgan have been dynamite lately, and Murphy decided to throw Owens, who is now typically a lock-down reliever, into the mix Sunday afternoon. She responded by striking out nine and allowing just three hits. As I look around the country at other pitching rotations, I'm hard pressed to find one that is as balanced as Alabama's. When the postseason rolls around in less than a month, the Tide may very well have one of the freshest pitching staffs in all of softball. That's a valuable asset when going up against tired aces on other teams. Does that mean a team like Florida who rides the arm of Stacey Nelson can't go deep in the postseason? Absolutely not. It does give Alabama an added weapon however.

Brittany Rogers stole her 134th stolen base as a member of the Crimson Tide on Sunday, surpassing the school record set by Kelly Kretschman. The record had been standing since 2001, and is the first major offensive category to be claimed by someone other than Kretschman. What's most impressive? Rogers is just a junior. She could easily end up with 190 or more by the end of her career at Alabama. 200 steals is not a bad goal at this point. Just as the pitching is sometimes overlooked, Rogers can be overlooked too because of the incredible power numbers Alabama has. Rogers knows how to set the table. Her on-base-percentage is an even .500, which means she's getting on base every other time she comes to the plate. While I don't have the stats to back it up, I'd also be willing to bet that Rogers reaches on more errors than most players in the country. Because of her speed, fielders hurry their throws or foot work to try and counteract her quickness. A single or walk is as good as a double with Rogers, as is evident by her 134 career stolen bases and her 48-53 mark this year.

State of the SEC
It's still a two team race to the finish. Alabama and Florida have both clinched their respective divisions, but Florida maintains a one game lead in the loss column over Alabama for the overall lead. Their lone loss in conference play came to Alabama when the two teams split their games in early March. It's nearly a crime Bama and Florida were not able to play three games, and had to settle for just a doubleheader. Alabama's only other loss in conference play came at the hands of Tennessee. Florida still has to take on the Lady Vol's in Knoxville for a three game series, and may be Bama's best chance to get some help. Who would have thought that Alabama fans would be cheering so heavily for Auburn and Tennessee in the last two weekends of the year? Sometimes your greatest foes can be your greatest friends.

Alabama wraps up their conference slate with a three game set against Georgia in Athens beginning on May 3rd. The Bulldogs (37-19, 10-12) have lost eight of their last ten.

Alabama beats USC 8-0... twice

2008-04-19T22:06:00.003-05:00

Four the fourth consecutive game, Alabama (43-3, 22-2) shutout the opposition. Kelsi Dunne and Charlotte Morgan have combined for two wins each and four consecutive shutouts. That's quite an accomplishment. With the shutout today, Morgan improved her ERA to 0.93. She's been the team leader for a few weeks, but with an ERA under 1.00, she won't be sneaking up on people anymore. Dunne's ERA has fallen all the way to 1.36. The offense was terrific, but the fact that Alabama's pitching staff has been lights out lately has stolen the show. The four shutouts in a row mark the first time Alabama has turned the trick since 1999.

Is there a secret to Morgan's success? Perhaps not a secret, but there are some definite trends that are helping her. In 67.2 IP, she has walked just 10. She is also Bama's most efficient pitcher. In the five inning shutout today, Morgan threw just 44 pitches, 34 of those for strikes. She retired the last nine she faced. When Morgan's on a roll, she's nearly unhittable.

Jordan Praytor got things started in game one with a two run home run in the first inning. As I've said many time on the air, if you let a team like South Carolina hang around, their confidence level rises. A two run lead after two batters gives them the complete opposite feeling. While it's an elementary concept, the fact that Alabama scored early in both games led to a demoralizing start for the Gamecocks.

Most of Alabama's hitters are on a roll in SEC play. As a freshman, Whitney Larsen continues to get better each week. She is batting .333 in conference play (5th on the team). After struggling early in the year batting with runners in scoring position, Whitney has had a fantastic last couple of games against Arkansas and South Carolina. Furthermore, her defense has come a long way in a hurry at second base. Patrick Murphy has said time and time again that Whitney is his most versatile player. In fact, at the awards banquet on Friday, she was named "The most likely to play all nine positions in one college softball game." Other than appearing in the pitcher's circle, I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen some day. She learns incredibly fast, which makes moving her around the diamond an easy decision. She made a terrific diving grab up the middle, and repeated the trick in shallow right field on the foul line. Her energy, along with her versatility, make her a valuable part of this team. Anyone who follows the team over the next four years is going to have a hard time not calling Whitney one of their favorites.

With Lauren Parker currently on the shelf, one spot in the offensive lineup opens up. When Murphy decided to move Larsen into the second base role, it opened up right field to be played by Katie Johnson in games that Charlotte Morgan pitches. However, Katie is currently hitting .107 (3-28) in conference play. Murphy decided to give Alex Blewitt a chance as well, but her conference batting average is .091 (1-11). If one of the two suddenly starts to hit, they will earn themselves a starting spot for Morgan pitched games. It may only take one game, because neither has had that breakout game yet. As of right now, Alabama has eight great hitters in the lineup. They're still waiting for the ninth to emerge, and there's still plenty of season to figure it out. Remember, Parker may be available later, but as she recovers and rests, Johnson and Blewitt will get plenty of chances.

First pitch tomorrow between Alabama and South Carolina is at 1:30, and the pregame show starts at 1:15. For those listening on the internet, if you generally listen on rolltide.com, I suggest giving www.youcastr.com a try. It has our best audio quality, and you can partake in the interactive broadcast if you wish.

Bama clinches Western division title

2008-04-18T21:48:00.002-05:00

With two wins on Thursday night against Arkansas, Alabama clinched the SEC Western division title. It was the earliest that Alabama has ever clinched the division, with a full eight games remaining on their schedule.

The story of the night was pitching for Alabama. Kelsi Dunne threw a complete game shutout, and so did Charlotte Morgan (though she through a 6-inning, lightning shorted one.) It's amazing to see how far the pitching has come this year. Alabama will always be known for it's offense, and that's not a bad thing. However, the pitching staff continues to gain respect. In Alabama's last eight games, the pitching staff has only yielded six earned runs. Sure, Auburn is a light hitting ball club, but in a rivalry series on their turf, you can throw those numbers out the window. Two of those games were against LSU, a good hitting team, and two more were against Arkansas (a team with 59 home runs.) The duo of Kelsi Dunne and Charlotte Morgan have given Alabama one of top pitching tandems in the SEC, and Chrissy Owens out of the bullpen gives Patrick Murphy a unique option that few softball coaches employ.

Kellie Eubanks continues to come through in clutch spots for Alabama. She hit a three run home run with Bama leading only 1-0 in the 7th inning of game one to lock down the win. This marks three consecutive series where Eubanks has hit a home run in the 6th, 7th, or 8th inning in important situations. She is a prime example of what hard work can do for you. As most of Alabama's players are, Eubanks came to Alabama as an accomplished high school softball player. When injuries slowed her in her first year at Alabama, it took awhile for her to get her swing back. She has always been adept at drawing walks and pushing her on-base percentage up, but she's again found the power swing. The junior is batting .302 with seven home runs. She's in better shape than she's ever been, and is a perfect 7-7 on the base paths this year. Earlier it was Ashley Holcombe holding up the bottom of the lineup; recently it's been Eubanks. The combination of the two make Bama's lower half of the order scary.

Tomorrow marks the opening of a three game set with South Carolina (20-18, 7-10). The Gamecocks are not a team that can be taken lightly. Though not known for their hitting, they have one of the best pitchers in the conference in Melissa Hendon. She nearly no-hit Alabama last year until Lauren Parker hit a solo home run to give Bama the 1-0 win. Offense certainly forms USC's weak point. As a team they are hitting just .245 (similar to Auburn's numbers from a week ago.) Alabama has hit 55 home runs as a team. South Carolina.... just 10. That is a major difference. While I still expect Morgan and Dunne to get the majority of innings, this would be a great series to rest one or the other if Murphy feels they need it. Chrissy Owens should have little problem getting the ball by USC's hitters with her speed. To further quantify the lack of offense from USC, they have scored just 103 runs in 38 games. Alabama, in 44 games, has scored 323.

Career watch: Brittany Rogers, in her junior season, is just 3 stolen bases away from tying Kelly Kretschman's career mark at Alabama. Bold prediction (or not so bold): Rogers breaks the record this weekend.

Remember to continue to vote for Jordan Praytor for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. You can go to www.seniorclassaward.com to vote for Praytor until May 16th.

Lowe's Senior CLASS Award

2008-04-17T13:42:00.005-05:00

If you haven't already done so, there's still time to vote for Alabama DP/OF Jordan Praytor for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. You can do so by going here...

Praytor is one of ten finalists selected from the original list of 30. There are four primary categories on which candidates are judged: Classroom, community, character, and competition. Anyone that knows Jordan on a personal level knows that she exemplifies all of these things.

You can vote once per day all the way up to May 9th. I've voted about five times myself... she currently stands on 5% of the ballots... time to bump her up!

Weather forecast for tonight
According to accuweather.com, here are the probabilities of rain tonight in Fayetteville.
4-7 pm: 22%
7-10 pm: 50%

Weather.com is a bit more optimistic. They list only a 30% chance of rain through game time... 5:00 temps are expected to be at 67 degrees.

Bama preps for Arkansas, SEC scores

2008-04-17T00:20:00.018-05:00

Here's the SEC scores from Wednesday...

Ole Miss 1, Tennessee 0
Tennessee 6, Ole Miss 2
Georgia 3, Auburn 2
Auburn 2, Georgia 1
Florida 6, Florida State 1
Florida 14, Florida State 4 (5 inn)
Ohio State 6, Kentucky 3
Kentucky 16, Ohio State 0 (5 inn)
LSU 10, Nicholls State 2 (6 inn)

What's gotten into Ole Miss? After starting 0-15 in SEC play, the Rebels have won four of their last seven conference contests. They took two from LSU and split with Tennessee today. Who would have guessed that just a few weeks ago?

Kentucky loses by three and then wins by sixteen. Guess you can say they don't quit after losing the first one...

Auburn is one of Alabama's best remaining hopes to steal a game from Florida down the stretch. As amazing as the Gators have been, the Tigers will have to play a perfect game in Gainsville to take one. They split with Georgia tonight. Anna Thompson seemed to settle back in... she struck out nine and allowed just two hits.

Bama practices in Fayetteville
Alabama took a charter flight directly in to Fayetteville this afternoon, and after a short 1:30 flight, the team hopped on a bus and practiced for about an hour. (By the way, somebody buy me a private jet, please. After flying on commercial airlines, I've scientifically concluded getting on and off in a matter of seconds and hopping on a bus is much more convenient.)

Arkansas provides Alabama with an intriguing doubleheader slate. Both teams have powerful offenses. Alabama has hit 54 home runs as a team this year, and Arkansas has blasted 59. They are just 5-12 in SEC play, but just last week they split a doubleheader with #8 Oklahoma. The Razorbacks are one of the most improved teams in the conference, with an overall record of 32-19. Despite their sub-par conference record, I firmly believe Arkansas is a bubble team to make the 64-team NCAA Regional Field. It's a very thin bubble right now, but based on the strength of some big non-conference wins (Oklahoma, Iowa, 2 wins vs. Creighton, 3 wins vs. Oklahoma State) they have a real shot. They've already beaten Tennessee once in three tries, but nothing would bolster their postseason resume more than an upset win over #1 Alabama.

Arkansas head coach Jamie Pinkerton, one of NCAA softball's true good guy coaches, summed up his team's momentum coming into the two games. He said in the official www.ladybacks.com release,

"We're playing well right now. We're clicking and on any given day anyone can beat anyone. That's the kind of attitude that we have to take into Thursday. We have an opportunity to play the number one team in the nation on our field. The margin of error is very thin."

He also had some nice things to say about Patrick Murphy,

"I would be remiss without saying that we're trying to build a program like that (Alabama.) I've watched him when I was at Tulsa, and I've talked to him quite a bit and how he runs his program..."

He added with a smile, "He's not as revealing with his information now."

Alabama has won 17 games in a row in the all-time series with Arkansas, and leads the all-time series 32-7. With two wins tomorrow, Bama would clinch the SEC West. However, don't expect tomorrow to be a cake walk. Pinkerton and his team are well aware of what a win like this would do not only for their SEC tournament hopes, but a possible NCAA tournament bid as well.

Bogle Park
Arkansas is currently in the process of constructing a new field that should be open in time for the 2009 season. The current field, Lady'Back Yard, is not terribly impressive. No bleacher back seats, sunken dugouts that look more like bomb shelters, and a patched up outfield wall don't give the fans in attendance a great atmosphere. Credit Arkansas with the foresight to change all that.

Bogle Park is aiming to be one of the state of the art softball facilities in the country next year when construction is complete. They will have state of the art amenities, including two skyboxes. Jamie Pinkerton will soon have one of the best softball facilities in the country to try and recruit high school athletes to come play at... expect Arkansas to be fighting for supremacy in the West with Bama and LSU within the next five years. The combination of Pinkerton and the new facilities will be a big help.

I apologize for the quality, but I was able to snap this photo as we passed the construction after practice this evening. Below it is the artist's rendition of the finished project... very impressive.

One thing I will mention is that Arkansas goes above and beyond with their facilities in every sport. I refer to Arkansas's baseball stadium as the Cathedral of college baseball stadiums. If you have a chance, check out their stadium here... it's better than most AAA-ball parks. I had the chance to watch Alabama play Arkansas in Baum Stadium a couple years ago... it's a fantastic atmosphere for college baseball. Want to know how proud Arkansas is of it's facilities? The pride speaks for itself when the University has its own website solely for facilities.

Check out this video from Tidesports.com from Liberty Park on Tuesday. They were in attendance for the USA vs. Bama game with countless other media outlets... who knew Rick Larsen and Terry Woods were such great interviews? Maybe they need to join us in the radio booth. Guess we know where Whitney and Dani get it from...

By the way, an interviewee in the video says Montalvo has not made an error this season... he's almost right. She has made one.

Pregame starts at 4:45 PM on WVUA-FM, 90.7 in Tuscaloosa and on www.YouCastr.com.

Alabama no-hit by Team USA

2008-04-16T10:17:00.003-05:00

Team USA knocked off the newly anointed #1 team in the country last night 7-0. The story was the pitching for Team USA. Monica Abbott, Jennie Finch and Cat Osterman combined to no-hit the Tide. A flashy play by Caitlin Lowe in center field early in the game preserved the no-hitter. Lowe crashed through the temporary fence to rob Kelley Montalvo of a home run.

Despite being no-hit by Team USA and losing 7-0, there are some major positives to take from the game last night. For starters, Charlotte Morgan proved her amazing performances of late in conference play are no fluke. She struck out some of the most dangerous hitters in Team USA's lineup, including the four and five hole hitters Crystl Bustos and Kelly Kretschman. Morgan's bread and butter may not be the strikeout, but as pitching coach Vann Stuedeman and Morgan continue to learn her strengths, those numbers will climb. She fooled Bustos twice with changeups, and struck her out looking with one at the knees. Her ability to mix and match pitches, and hardly ever miss down the middle of the plate is her key to success. I've been saying for weeks now that Morgan is making a case for herself to be called the "staff ace." I think I'm ready to say that.

Morgan being as good as she has been is great for Alabama's program for two big reasons.

The combination of Morgan-Dunne in the starting rotation is one of the best in the country, and Owens out of the bullpen makes the pitching staff very good. Many teams in NCAA softball don't look at their pitching in a two-starter, one reliever scenario, but Patrick Murphy can do just that if he wishes. Morgan and Dunne don't throw as hard as Owens, but they spin the ball and hit the corners. Owens compliments them perfectly by coming into games late and throwing gas right past the hitters.
At the beginning of the season, there may have been some worries about the departure of Owens and what that would spell for Alabama's future in 2009 and beyond. While losing Owens isn't easy, it's much more manageable with the emergence of Morgan in the rotation. Next year Allison Moore will be a senior, and she'll have a chance to step into the role vacated by Owens. Bama will still lose a lot offensively with the graduation of Dani Woods and Jordan Praytor, but the incoming recruits should be able to fill their spots adequately.

Kelsi Dunne also looked good last night save for the one laser beam home run hit by Jessica Mendoza. Going toe-to-toe with the world's best lineup as a freshman is a tough task, and Dunne looked as calm as ever. Her demeanor will help her to push Bama deep into postseason play this year.

Alabama has Arkansas up next for a doubleheader this Thursday. They fly out of Tuscaloosa later this afternoon and will take on the Razorbacks in another important SEC set. The last time Bama played a mid-week SEC doubleheader was when they squared off against the Florida Gators (they split the series with a 1-0 win and 8-4 loss.) More to come later...

IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING GAME TIME

2008-04-15T15:32:00.002-05:00

I have been reporting the game time for Alabama vs. Team USA is 6:00 tonight. That time is listed both on USASoftball.com and Rolltide.com. However, that time is incorrect. The correct time is 6:30. I apologize for the confusion. Pregame will now begin at 6:15 (CST).

#1 College Softball Team vs. The World's Greatest

2008-04-15T11:37:00.006-05:00

Tonight the nation's new #1 team, Alabama, travels to Vestavia Hills to take on the USA National Team at Liberty Park. The game begins at 6:00 PM, and the pregame show begins at 5:45. Radio audio will be available on WVUA-FM, 90.7 and also on the web at www.YouCastr.com.

Tommy Deas has a nice preview focusing on the Crimson Tide's lone Olympian, Kelly Kretschman. Check it out here...

Alabama is the new top ranked team in the country this week after Arizona State fell to Washington 3-0 last week. The Crimson Tide are ranked #1 for the third time this year in the NFCA poll. Alabama moved up one spot in the USA Softball/ESPN.com poll to #2, behind only Arizona State.

Any doubt that the United States National Team is the best team in the world? There shouldn't be after you look at these numbers... They have outscored their opponents 246-9 so far. Save for one blemish, they have been incredible as always.

Alabama sweeps Auburn, runs win streak to eighteen games

2008-04-14T15:00:00.003-05:00

It's now been over a month since Alabama lost a game. That's impressive enough. The Crimson Tide have rattled off 18 straight wins. The last loss came at the hands of the Florida Gators on March 12. Since then Alabama has swept three game sets with Mississippi State, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss and Auburn. When a team rattles off that many wins in a row, you expect it to be outside of conference play. Alabama has been racing through the SEC... the only problem is that Florida has been too.

Alabama's Dani Woods had a banner weekend. Starting with her home run on Thursday against Troy, Woods blasted 4 home runs, and two were hit in the final 4-2 win over Auburn on Sunday. I've mentioned before that Dani Woods sometimes flies under the radar because she quietly gets on base game after game, but there was nothing quiet about what she did this week. Her home run on Thursday put Bama up 3-0 early, and on Sunday, her home runs gave Bama the lead after trailing and then gave them a run of insurance late. Auburn sophomore Anna Thompson allowed all three home runs to Woods. At one point, it looked like Thompson would pitch around Woods, but then probably caught a glance at Charlotte Morgan standing on deck. Woods and Morgan made up a frightening middle of the order for Alabama.

Kelsi Dunne had an interesting outing on Saturday. While she struck out a career high 15 batters, she walked four batter and hit four batters. However, it was a gutsy performance. During Alabama's Friday practice, Dunne felt more than under the weather. Then on Saturday, on the bus ride over to Jane B. Moore Field, she still wasn't sure if she would be able to pitch. It became a game time decision, and ultimately Dunne was inserted in the lineup. Was she perfect? No. But striking out 15 and picking up a win when your feeling like she did on Saturday is impressive.

Charlotte Morgan continues to hit and pitch well. With her pitching continuing to improve, that gives Murphy the option of using Chrissy Owens almost exclusively in a relief role through the later stages of the season. With Dunne and Morgan anchoring the rotation, and Owens taking the role of closer, it will be hard for any team to adjust to the change in speed and spin. Owens picked up her fifth save of the season on Sunday when she came into the game in the final inning with a runner on base and the tying run at the plate. She looked nearly unhittable, and her speed was incredible. When Owens can go out and throw gas for one inning, she is one of the most dangerous pitchers in softball.

Alabama is taking the day off today and will take on the USA Olympic team tomorrow in Birmingham at Liberty Park. Some may say, "How can you take the day off before playing the best team in the world?" The answer is simple: Alabama had a long week of games, and those games actually meant something to their season. Monday is Alabama's typical off day, and to change the routine now would do nothing more than add additional pressure for an exhibition game. Would beating the world's best team be important? Absolutely, but a win or loss against the Olympic team does nothing to help or hinder seeding in the postseason, or help Alabama towards a conference championship. Patrick Murphy phrased it best to his team on the way back from Auburn, "We're going to approach this game as we are helping Team USA prepare for the Olympics." That's the best way to put it. If you win, you give them a wake-up call. If you lose, you lost to the best team on the planet, but you gave them a great fight. Either way, it's a great learning experience for Alabama. Win or lose, it will be a great night for softball in the state of Alabama.

When Bama takes on Team USA tomorrow it's very possible the Crimson Tide will be ranked #1 in the country. Arizona State lost to Washington this weekend, which leaves the possibility open that Alabama will return to the top spot as they did earlier this year. That would setup a contest between the countries top ranked NCAA softball team against the best softball team in the world. Dramatic setup, yes?

As many of you have undoubtedly heard, the game is sold out. If you were unable to get tickets, don't worry, we will have radio coverage as always. You can take part in the historic game at 5:45 when the link goes active on www.YouCastr.com.

Starting lineups from Auburn, game one

2008-04-12T12:20:00.003-05:00

View from the pressbox at Jane B. Moore Field (1,500) in Auburn

Starting lineups

Alabama starting lineup
CF- Brittany Rogers
DP- Jordan Praytor
LF- Dani Woods
1B- Charlotte Morgan
C- Ashley Holcombe
2B- Lauren Parker
3B- Kelly Montalvo
SS- Kellie Eubanks
RF- Whitney Larsen
-------------------------
RHP - Kelsi Dunne (15-3, 1.49 ERA)

Tide crushes Troy, preps for Auburn

2008-04-11T11:14:00.004-05:00

Alabama pitchers Kelsi Dunne and Chrissy Owens combined to allow just one hit, and the first five batters of the game for Alabama reached base, as the Crimson Tide cruised to an 11-0 victory last night. A record crowd of 1,025 saw it at Troy.

Dani Woods hit her sixth home run of the season, a three run blast over the center field wall to set the tone early. Dunne and Owens made it look easy in the circle, and save for a few walks, had Troy off balance the entire game. The mid-week innings will help the two tune up for this weekend. The two of them pitched in game one against LSU last weekend, but did not pitch again the rest of the weekend.

Here's the official release from rolltide.com.

Alabama practices tonight in Auburn at 6:00, and then will take on the Tigers in a doubleheader starting tomorrow at 1:00 PM.

Time to head out for lunch... I'll try to add more analysis later.

Rogers and Morgan named Top 25 Finalists for National POY

2008-04-09T17:59:00.006-05:00

Alabama is one of six schools in the country to have multiple finalists for the USA National Player of the Year Award. Junior Brittany Rogers and sophomore Charlotte Morgan have both been placed on the top 25 watch list. At the beginning of each season, the list starts at 50 players. Lauren Parker and Chrissy Owens were also both part of the Top 50 watch list, but missed the cut for the trimmed list.

Rogers leads the nation in stolen bases (40), and is fifth in batting average (.472). Morgan has been hot in SEC play, and leads the SEC in RBI (48), has hit 10 home runs, and leads the team in ERA (1.10) while maintaining a perfect record in the circle (9-0).

Here is the full list of players...

The list will again be trimmed down to 10 players on May 7th, and on May 21st, will be cut to the final three. The winner will be announced at the opening ceremonies of the Women's College World Series.

Games of note tonight

Arizona and Arizona State square off tonight in a very important PAC-10 battle.

In SEC play, LSU knocked off Kentucky in game one by a score of 13-2 (they scored 11 runs in inning number six), and they are currently leading the Wildcats 4-2 in game two. That game is in the bottom of the 5th.

Texas A&M takes on Texas tonight in a Big XII rivalry affair.

The Auburn Tigers (Alabama's next conference opponent), have a midweek tune-up game at Georgia State tonight. Could be an interesting game... Georgia State has played well at home this year.

Bama softball active in the community

2008-04-09T12:09:00.005-05:00

In the heat of the season, sometimes I rattle off stats and accomplishments and forget to point out the truly important things in life. Alabama softball, from the coaches to the players, are some of the most giving people I know. A few coaches and players recently helped out at the HEAR Center in Alabama, and it made quite an impact. Check out this great blog post from Cochlear Kids...

It's events like these that make you very proud to be even a small part of Alabama softball.

New RPI released

2008-04-09T10:03:00.003-05:00

The latest RPI rankings are out, and Alabama again is #2 behind Florida. The Tide's strength of schedule is currently ranked #5, where as Florida has the 2nd toughest schedule. Even after LSU was swept by Alabama this weekend, they come in at #5 in the RPI. Their SOS is #1 thanks in large part to playing Florida and Alabama on back-to-back weekends.

The full list can be found here.

EDIT: Alabama's Thursday night game with Troy has been moved back an hour to 7:30... this was done so more players could attend Thursday classes.

Audio updates

2008-04-08T17:02:00.003-05:00

I promised some audio updates, and the upload service seems to be working again, so here are a few more interviews...

Charlotte Morgan pulled in national player of the week honors on Tuesday, and deservedly so. Here she is after the first two games on Saturday...
boomp3.com

Lauren Parker hit her first home run this weekend since the Tennessee series in early March. It couldn't have come at a bigger time. With the Tide trailing 6-4 in the bottom of the ninth, her home run tied up game one and forced a decisive tenth inning. Here's Lauren...
boomp3.com

Kellie Eubanks may be over looked this weekend because of Morgan's unreal performance, but she shouldn't be. The Tide junior hit a three run home run in the bottom of the 6th in game one to pull Bama to within one... here's the highlight of her home run...
boomp3.com

Finally, Brent Magnuson, the host of Tide Talk Live, had me on as a guest last night to talk softball. Tide Talk Live airs every Monday night from 7-8 PM on WVUA-FM. Here's the softball segment with Brent and myself...
boomp3.com

SEC Overall Standings Race

2008-04-08T13:07:00.004-05:00

In previous posts, I've listed the standings by division. As we have now crossed the half-way point, I'll start compiling the overall SEC standings on a regular basis. Here are the standings as they look now in regards to the SEC Regular Season title race...

1. Florida (15-1)
2. Alabama (15-2)
3. Tennessee (10-6)
4. LSU (8-6)
5. Georgia (8-6)
6. Auburn (9-7)
7. South Carolina (7-7)
8. Mississippi State (6-10)
------------------------------
9. Kentucky (3-11)
10. Arkansas (2-12)
11. Ole Miss (1-16)

*Note: LSU swept Georgia, and thus holds the tiebreaker for seeding in the SEC Tournament over them if the season ended today.

The top eight teams in the conference make the SEC Tournament that will be played in Baton Rouge. It appears as though the eight teams are reasonably well set at this point. I don't foresee Kentucky, Arkansas, or Ole Miss making a serious run, though if I had to pick a team who could make it interesting, it would be Arkansas (they split a doubleheader with #7 Oklahoma yesterday.)

The conference title race seems to be down to Florida and Alabama, with just one game separating the two in the loss column. Here's a look at what each team has remaining for their conference slates:

Florida: 3 games at Georgia, 3 games vs. Kentucky, 3 games vs. Auburn, and 3 games at Tennessee
Alabama: 3 games at Auburn, 2 games at Arkansas, 3 games at Georgia, 3 games vs. South Carolina

Neither schedule is a slouch. Georgia can steal a game from either team, as can Auburn. The Tennessee series could be the defining series for where Florida and Alabama end up in the race. That series takes place in Knoxville, and is Florida's last series of the year. Either way, don't expect this thing to get any clearer before the final weekend of play.

Morgan named National Player of the Week

2008-04-08T12:51:00.004-05:00

Charlotte Morgan was named the NFCA/Louisville Slugger and USA Softball National Player of the Week today. Here's the link to the article from the NFCA.

Alabama also remained at the number two spot in the NFCA polls this week. This marks the 6th straight week Alabama has in been in the two spot. They have not been ranked below #4 yet this year, and were ranked twice for two consecutive weeks earlier this year.

Praytor comments

2008-04-08T10:04:00.004-05:00

boomp3.com

I plan on posting a few more interviews later... unfortunately my upload service has been acting quirky the past few days, so the others are not yet ready. Jordan Praytor's comments are above...

The turnout this weekend was incredible, as seen by this photo from Tidesports.com. 2,461 fans were in attendance on Saturday, which set a new school record. Sunday's attendance nearly matched it. Over 2,200 fans showed up for the finale.

Video highlights, courtesy of Tidesports.com

2008-04-07T18:53:00.002-05:00

There were a lot of fantastic plays this weekend, and Tidesports.com has a great highlight montage of game one (the 9-8 Alabama 10 inning victory). Unfortuantely, they missed Morgan's walk-off, but you can see Quinlan Duhon's home run robbing grab of Charlotte Morgan's deep drive to left, Ashley Holcombe's terrific grabbing catch on the ball on top of the dugout, and a lot more....

Charlotte Morgan named SEC Player of the Week

2008-04-07T15:13:00.005-05:00

The Southeastern Conference announced the inevitable today. Charlotte Morgan pulled in SEC Player of the Week honors for her unbelievable performance this past weekend against LSU. The official release from the SEC can be found here.

Miss Charlotte Morgan's walk-off home run? Here's the radio highlight. You get bonus points if you can understand every word. (I wouldn't advise listening with your speakers too loud...)
boomp3.com

The full broadcast of games one and two can be found here.

Interviews from the weekend to be posted later...

Bama sweeps LSU

2008-04-07T11:47:00.004-05:00

For just the second time in team history, Alabama swept LSU. The first time they turned the trick was in 2005 in Baton Rouge.

Let's take a brief look at the series as a whole. This marks the third consecutive series in which Alabama has scored over 20 runs in the three game set. They scored a school record 34 runs against Kentucky, 24 against Ole Miss, and this weekend they scored 25 against LSU. That type of offensive production in a nine game span is incredible. You may have thought that the inflated runs against Ole Miss and Kentucky are a product of inferior competition. The LSU performance this weekend proves it wasn't.

Game one of the series was one of the best games I've ever seen played. With Alabama trailing LSU 4-0 entering the bottom of the 6th inning, Kellie Eubanks belted a three run home run to bring Bama to within one. Eubanks would then come to the plate again in the bottom of the 7th with the bases loaded and take a pitch off of her leg to bring home the tying run and force extra innings. LSU would score two in top of the 9th, but Lauren Parker answered in the bottom half with a two run shot of her own (her first home run since March 3rd against Tennessee.) LSU would score twice again in the 10th, but Charlotte Morgan capped Alabama's incredible comeback with a three run, walk-off home run.

It's not often you see a comeback of that magnitude, and you see it happen three times in one game even less. The heart of this ball club is incredible. As Charlotte Morgan told Tommy Deas in the Tuscaloosa News, "I had no doubt we were going to win it. Not even a little. Honestly." I believe her. This team has a knack for never giving up. The team could be down by eight runs going into the later stages of the game, and you'd still think Bama had a good shot to win. That's how good their offense is, and their character as a team.

In my opinion, Tide sophomore Charlotte Morgan should be a shoe in for national player of the week. She went 5-10 with two home runs (one was a walk-off), three doubles, and six RBI. She also collected the final two wins of the series, giving up just one run in 12 innings on two completely game performances. If that doesn't spell player of the week, I don't know what does. Morgan is a "pitch-to-contact" pitcher. She struck out eight in eleven innings this weekend, but the real story is how well she makes the ball move. She's primarily a drop ball pitcher, and the spin causes opposing players to pound the ball into the ground. When the ball stays in the infield, Bama's fundamentally sound defense takes over. There aren't many pitchers in softball, or baseball for that matter, who can pitch to contact and be successful. Morgan breaks that mold. She now leads Alabama in earned run average at 1.10. It's very possible she will see her innings continue to climb. It's hard not to continue to give her a shot when she's pitching this well.

It was nice to see Kellie Eubanks have a good weekend as well. The junior hails from Louisiana, so any opportunity to beat the team in her own back yard is something special to her. Kellie almost single handedly started and capped the first Alabama rally in game one, and then combined with Lauren Parker in game three to hit back-to-back two RBI doubles to give Bama a quick lead on which they'd never look back. Eubanks has always had superior range at short, and when she's hitting, the bottom of Bama's order is just as formidable as the top.

Quote of the week, LSU head coach Yvette Girouard:

A lot of credit to Alabama. They're a very dangerous offensive team. They've always refused to lose. That's kind of a mark of their program.

Alabama set to take on LSU

2008-04-04T17:50:00.006-05:00

Alabama (32-3, 12-2) will play host to LSU (29-7, 8-3) this weekend in a critical three-game SEC series. LSU leads the all-time series with Alabama 29-20, and have won four of the last six. The last time LSU traveled to Tuscaloosa in 2006 they took two of three, yet Alabama would go on to win the SEC Regular Season Championship.

One of the story lines that always resurfaces when LSU takes on the Tide is the relationship between head coaches Yvette Girouard and Patrick Murphy. Murphy worked as an assistant under Girouard at Louisiana-Lafayette (though the school went by a different name at the time.) I'm positive there's a lot of mutual respect between the two coaches. They have both built up two of the most successful programs in the country, and are always the heavyweights in the SEC West. In the 11-year history of the conference, only twice have the two teams not finished 1-2 in the conference. Girouard may have provided some poster board material for Alabama this weekend. She told Jerit Roser of the The Daily Reveille, "We've always played well at Alabama, so I'm hoping that trend continues." I doubt she was trying to incite anything, but there's an element of pride that goes into protecting your home field, and you can be sure that Alabama remembers 2006. LSU has taken 11 of 18 from Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

LSU will enter the game a game back in the loss column from Alabama, while Bama sits just one game back from Florida in the overall standings. A bit surprisingly, LSU took their undefeated conference record into Gainsville last weekend and got swept. The last time the Tigers were swept in a SEC series was in 2005 when Alabama swept them in Baton Rouge. Not only were they swept, they were outscored 15-1 in the three games. That's shocking. Florida has already proven they're a very good team. However, for some reason or another, LSU had an awful weekend. In game three, LSU ace Dani Hofer pitched just a third of an inning, and gave up two hits, a walk and was charged for three earned runs. If Alabama can get to Hofer, their chances are good. Cody Trahan is LSU's second starter, and while decent, doesn't have near the numbers that Hofer does. Her numbers look very similar to what Chrissy Owens' are for Alabama.

Offensively, LSU is hitting .282 as a team, with 29 HR and they've stolen 78 bases in 85 tries. Senior second baseman Shannon Stein is leading the team with a .379 batting average, while senior catcher Killian Roessner leads the team with her 11 home runs. Lead-off hitter Dee Dee Henderson is murder when she's on the base paths; she's swiped 25 bases in 28 tries this year. However, her OBP is just .387, so it is possible to get her out. She's walked just 8 times this year.

On paper, Alabama has a much better offensive team, and the pitching is nearly a wash. Game one will most likely give us a Dunne vs. Hofer match-up.

The pre-game show starts at 12:45 PM tomorrow, and the first pitch is slated for 1:00 PM. If you haven't yet joined us on YouCastr.com for the interactive broadcast, I'd like to again extend the invitation. Even if you don't register and take part in the live chat with other listeners, the audio quality is far superior to that of our normal web feed.

There was rain in the area today, but that has since subsided and the rain projected over night should clear out by the early afternoon hours tomorrow. Projected temperatures for first pitch tomorrow currently sit at 64 degrees.

Question: What's your favorite NCAA softball stadium to watch a game in?

2008-04-04T11:54:00.002-05:00

This post is inspired by a thread I just noticed over at Ultimatecollegesoftball.com...

What stadium is your favorite place to watch a college softball game? It can be for reasons of facilities, atmosphere, weather, anything you'd like. Leave a comment in the comments section and I'll try to compile the answers in a later post on the blog. (Yes, you're allowed to be biased. The Alabama Softball Complex can be used as your answer, but if you use that answer, branch out and give your second choice as well.)

Nic's favorites
You have to start with the Alabama Softball Complex. The atmosphere is second to none in the SEC in my opinion, on a week in and week out basis. Yes, Tennessee and LSU get good fan support as well, but what the Complex offers is a consistent fan showing. Even against winless Ole Miss last weekend, Bama still had one of their best crowd showings of the year. Now just imagine what it will be like for LSU.

In addition to the atmosphere, the facilities are fantastic. The new wall and scoreboard are great, and for a broadcaster or media person's purposes, the press box is one of the best in the nation. Some places I've traveled too I've called the game from the top row of bleachers or on ground level. The press box comfortably sits two radio teams, a TV squad, and more than enough seating for the paper press.

Around the SEC, I'm a fan of Georgia, Florida, and Auburn's softball parks. All have great press boxes (which, believe it or not, helps tremendously when you call a game... being airborne as opposed to field level, and blocked from the wind helps a lot), good seating for fans, and can provide a nice atmosphere given the right day. Georgia's park is unique because the grandstand seats are more elevated than most places. Florida's fan base does a nice job of supporting their team, and Auburn's park just feels right.

I could say Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, but that's a bit of a cop out. The atmosphere will always be good at the Women's College World Series. In some of Alabama's non-conference travels, Washington is worth a note because of their atmosphere, and Texas A&M's fans can be downright rabid.

Alright, it's your turn. Where are your favorite places to watch a softball game, and why?

Birmingham Southern added to schedule

2008-04-03T11:57:00.002-05:00

Patrick Murphy announced today that Birmingham-Southern has agreed to be added to Alabama's schedule later this year on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Crimson Tide were originally slated to play just Samford, but now Birmingham Southern will form the first game of a doubleheader with Alabama. The Panthers will play Alabama starting at 4:15 PM, with the second game slated to begin around 6:30.

Former Alabama All-American pitcher/designated player Stephanie VanBrakle is an assistant coach for Birmingham Southern. It will be a neat homecoming for VanBrakle. She is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished players at Alabama, and is the all-time strikeouts leader at the Capstone.

I had the opportunity to catch up with Steph earlier this year when she was down for a few games. She sounded thrilled to be where she is, and is enjoying coaching the Panthers. Mandy Burford, my color partner in the booth, has also been helping out VanBrakle and Birmingham Southern periodically as a volunteer coach, primarily helping the outfielders. Birmingham Southern currently holds a 23-15 record.

Alabama knocks off Samford, begins preperations for LSU

2008-04-03T11:07:00.006-05:00

Alabama (32-3) knocked off Samford (12-20) 4-0 last evening in Birmingham. For the second year in a row, quite a few fans showed up. 712 showed up, which was an overflow crowd. (Bulldog Park officially holds only 300.) While midweek trips to other schools in the state of Alabama may not be the most glamorous trips for the Tide softball team, they give fans outside the area of Tuscaloosa a great opportunity to see the team. Around Tuscaloosa, you come to know names and faces, but it's obvious that outside of Tuscaloosa new Bama fans show up to see the softball team. It's a nice tool to help build the fan base.

The story of the night was Chrissy Owens. After getting rocked last Saturday against Ole Miss (6 ER, 1.1 IP), Owens rebounded with one of the finest outings of her career. Chrissy came within one strike of collecting just the second perfect game in Alabama history. Aaren Fisher hit a double just underneath the outstretched arm of Brittany Rogers, who tried to cut off the would-be double by diving in the left centerfield gap. Owens struck out 8, and threw just 85 pitches on a very economical evening.

Sometimes a pitcher simply gets lucky when they are nearing a no-hitter or perfect game. That wasn't the case with Owens last night. Chrissy was hitting her spot with pin-point accuracy. The riseball was on, and she used it often as her strikeout pitch. I'm not sure I've ever seen her throw with the accuracy she did last night. Her performance last night comes as a relief to fans and the coaching staff alike. Patrick Murphy and his staff know they can't go through the rest of the season riding just the arm of freshman Kelsi Dunne, and Owens proved with this outing that she's still a force to be reckoned with. Her ERA, after a brief trip above 2.00, is now down to 1.92.

Alabama collected eight hits as a team, and scored just four runs (they average 7.5 per game, 3rd in the country). Two of Alabama's hottest hitter's continued their pace; Charlotte Morgan and Ashley Holcombe formed half of Bama's hit total as they each collected two hits. As I've said on the radio broadcasts, to have Holcombe playing her position so well defensively, and similarly anchoring the bottom third of the order, makes her one of this team's most valuable players. One through nine, Alabama has one of the best lineups in college softball, but Holcombe has been the force which drives the bottom part of the order. She can hit for power, and similarly, is apt at laying down a sacrifice bunt in a necessary spot. She knows how to hit to all fields, and has grown mentally through her years at Alabama as well. As with any player, a hitting slump can play heavy on an athlete's mind. Holcombe has come to a point where she realizes slumps will happen, and doesn't let it bother her. Her incredible play in the field this year, as well as being one of the team's biggest leaders as a junior, contribute to her being looked at as a key cog to this team's lineup.

This weekend LSU comes to Tuscaloosa for one of the top series' in the country this week. LSU comes in trailing Alabama in the SEC West by one game in the loss column after they were swept at the hands of Florida last weekend. I will have a preview posted tomorrow looking into the big series...

Alabama (31-3) at Samford (12-19)

2008-04-02T17:08:00.007-05:00

Alabama takes on Samford in Birmingham tonight for a 6:30 (CT) affair. Tonight marks the second time Alabama plays in Birmingham this season. The pre-game radio show begins at 6:15 PM, and can be found on 90.7-FM in Tuscaloosa or on the web at www.youcastr.com or at http://broadcastmonsters.com/Alabama/alabama.asx

Starting Lineups
Alabama
Rogers-CF
Praytor-DP
Parker-2B
Morgan-1B
Woods-LF
Montalvo-3B
Holcombe-C
Eubanks-SS
Larsen-RF
-------------
Owens RHP 9-0, 2.14 ERA, 65 K, 65.1 IP

Samford
Owens-LF
Metcalf-CF
Fisher-C
Barrs-P
E. Deaux-RF
England-3B
Harmon-2B
T. Deaux- DP
Jordan-SS
Lawrence-1B
--------------
Barrs RHP 2-4, 3.20 ERA, 13 K, 35 IP

View from the Pressbox
Again tonight, it's not a pressbox, but here is my view from field level. Samford has a beautiful, albeit small campus. Last year the parking deck outside the outfield wall was packed with standing room only fans. 1,051 fans attended last year's Alabama-Samford game in Birmingham.

Bama sweeps Ole Miss, now 1st place in SEC West

2008-03-31T14:20:00.006-05:00

After a rough start in the first game of the series, Alabama made it look routine in the final two games with identical 8-0 victories over Ole Miss. Alabama backed up their 34-run performance against Kentucky last weekend with 24 runs this weekend.

While Kentucky and Ole Miss form two of the weaker opponents on Alabama's schedule this year, the shear amount of runs scored speaks loudly about what their offense is capable of. Shockingly, Lauren Parker hasn't hit a home run since March 8th when she blasted a 3-run home run against Tennessee. However, since that point about everyone else has. Charlotte Morgan has hit five home runs in her last five conference games. Jordan Praytor is now batting .312 after seeing her average dip down to .203 before last weekend. The senior hit her second home run of the year in game three of the series, a solo shot over the right-center field fence. She was 6-10 on the week with six runs scored, two stolen bases, and two doubles. With her in the two-hole at full strength, the lineup receives a huge boost.

Kelsi Dunne stands a great chance to receive Freshmen of the Week honors for Alabama. She currently is in the midst of a 13-inning no-hit streak. Beginning with her work against UAB last week, Dunne has struck out 27 batters in that span. She pitched 5.1 innings of no-hit ball in game one of the series to collect the win, and then tossed the 13th no-hitter in school history on Sunday to clinch Bama's series sweep. Her ERA has now fallen to a team leading 1.27, and opponents are hitting just .138 off of her this season. The only negative statistic one can find with Dunne is the amount of home runs that she has given up; five so far. In fact, the entire staff has given up 12 so far this year, far too many in pitching coach Vann Stuedeman's eyes. Remember, just a couple years ago, Bama gave up only two home runs all year.

Current SEC Standings
West
Alabama 12-2
LSU 8-3
Auburn 9-5
Mississippi State 4-7
Arkansas 2-12
Ole Miss 0-14

East
Florida 12-1
Georgia 8-3
Tennessee 7-6
South Carolina 5-7
Kentucky 1-8

Alabama's toughest remaining SEC opponent is LSU. The Tigers travel to Tuscaloosa this coming weekend for a 3-game set that could go a long way to deciding who wins the West, and the SEC as a whole. Bama will also have a tough test against Georgia (8-3 SEC) on the road later this season. There is still plenty of time to catch the Gators, who have games remaining against Tennessee, Auburn, and Georgia. Obviously, it's entirely to early to start calling the conference for Florida, Alabama or any other team at this point.

Forget what I said earlier about no YouCastr. YouCastr WILL be available for the Samford game. After some tests with our in studio equipment, we are able to run it through the phone line, so the interactive broadcast will still be available for Wednesday's broadcast.

Bama lineup for game 3 vs. Ole Miss

2008-03-30T13:00:00.000-05:00

Rogers CF
Praytor DP
Woods LF
Parker 2B
Morgan 1B
Montalvo 3B
Holcombe C
Eubanks SS
Johnson RF
-----------
Dunne RHP (13-2, 1.33 ERA)

Alabama and Ole Miss called off until tomorrow

2008-03-29T18:28:00.002-05:00

Alabama won game one today 8-6, before the second game was postponed due to rain and lightning. The game will resume at noon tomorrow, which is 1:30 earlier than the game was originally scheduled for tomorrow.

The game will be available on 90.7 FM in Tuscaloosa and on the web at www.YouCastr.com. If any more updates are given, you can find them here.

Weather forecast for Alabama vs. Ole Miss

2008-03-29T08:40:00.002-05:00

As of right now, rain is being forecast for Tuscaloosa with a 60% certainty today. However, according to accuweather.com, the amount of rain fall most likely is just .19 inches. So, should the rain come, we may have a slight rain delay, but it shouldn't be anything that can rain out the action. A high of 76 is projected, and temperatures are expected to be around 70 degrees for first pitch. Here is the 3-hour rain percentage chances:

11am-2pm: 20%
2pm-5pm: 50%
5pm-8pm: 52%

IMPORTANT REMINDER: Those wanting to listen to the doubleheader today should use the website www.youcastr.com. The normal weblink will be available only for game one today, because gymnastics will take over the air waves at 3:00 PM (Central time.) The SEC Gymnastics meet is this weekend, and in good faith, I have decided to cede the airwaves to them at this time. This means that game one of the Alabama-Ole Miss doubleheader will be on the radio, but game two will only be broadcast on the web. Both games can be found at the same link at www.YouCastr.com. Once the pregame show starts, a link will appear under the "Live" section at YouCastr. If there are any questions, please feel free to e-mail me at wvuasports@gmail.com.

Team USA Olympic Roster Set: Kelly Kretschman in, Lisa Fernandez out

2008-03-28T16:39:00.005-05:00

For those who follow the Olympic side of softball, just a few days after their upset loss to Virginia Tech, their final roster has been announced. For the second straight Olympic go-around, Kelly Kretschman (Alabama, 2001) has made the team. The full roster can be found here.

The team is made up of 15 players, with three alternates. Of the three alternates, the biggest "surprise" is Lisa Fernandez. She had been a mainstay in the defense and offensive lineup since 1996 in Atlanta, and has helped lead the US Team to gold medals each time. However, age comes into play with everyone. Fernandez is now 37 years old, and she has been replaced by recent college graduates Monica Abbott (Tennessee, 2007) and Cat Osterman (Texas, 2006). The oldest pitcher on the three person staff will be Jennie Finch, who graduated from Arizona in 2002. If I had to make an early guess, Osterman will pick up the majority of innings, while Abbott and Finch back her up. That being said, I could easily see myself making the wrong call here. All are very good pitchers, although I'd go with a combination of Osterman and Abbott as starters and Finch as a reliever. No matter what, it's still a very formidable staff. To many, it's a sad day to see Fernandez go, and I'm sure the decision to make her an alternate was a tough one for head coach Mike Candrea and his staff.

Kretschman will actually be one of the older players on the team. The only player to graduate from college earlier than her is outfielder Laura Berg (1998). She'll be playing an important leadership role to a team mostly made up of graduates within the last five years.

Alabama will play the United States Olympic Team on April 15th in Birmingham. There will be no TV coverage for this game as there has been for other trips on their pre-Beijing tour, but we will have radio coverage as normal.

Florida is one, Alabama two in RPI

2008-03-28T12:01:00.004-05:00

Not surprisingly, Florida and Alabama pull in one-two in the latest RPI numbers released. Here are the full ratings.

I have a busy day ahead, but here are some quick thoughts before I have to run:

Don't get to caught up in these ratings just yet. Alabama currently has the 4th hardest schedule to date. That may change when the PAC-10 enters conference play this weekend. The Tide has already played Florida and Tennessee, and both teams, due to their high winning percentage, bolster Bama's SOS. Once PAC-10 teams start playing each other, their SOS's will also start to rise.
Long Beach State currently has the most to gain in these ratings. They come in at #6. Playing in the Big West doesn't often help your SOS, but State has played a very competitive non-conference schedule, and has kept their season afloat. They currently have the #1 rated SOS in the country.
Of the teams in the top 10 in RPI, Stanford may have the most to prove. They currently pull in with a 31-2 record, but their SOS is only 73rd.
Where's #1 Arizona State? Although they're record is 34-2 and they are receiving a lot of attention in the national polls, ASU has played a very weak schedule. Their SOS is 148th, their RPI sits at #20. Arizona State will have to prove that once they play in the strong PAC-10 that their record can hold up. Do I think it can? Sure. They've got one of the best hitters and pitchers in the country.
Even Kentucky places decently on the RPI list right now despite a 13-13 record. Alabama swept Kentucky in dominating form last week, but remember, a loss is a loss and a win is a win to the RPI ratings. Run differential means nothing. The Wildcats have played the countries 2nd toughest schedule so far (they've played Tennessee and Alabama for starters) and come in at 30th.
One team that has really opened eyes this year is Florida Gulf Coast. They are playing for the first time at the division one level, and currently hold a 36-8 record. However, their RPI is currently standing at #48. Their SOS is just 173rd, and it's not likely to get much better in the Atlantic Sun. If I were on the selection committee, at this point, it would be hard to put them in. They don't have a real quality win yet, and their SOS is just too low at this time.

Important Programming Note for Saturday's Broadcasts

If you are planning on listening to the broadcasts of Alabama vs. Ole Miss on Saturday, please follow these instructions. The first game will be on the actual airwaves, but due to the SEC Gymnastics Tournament starting at 3:00 tomorrow, the second game will be an INTERNET ONLY broadcast. You can listen to the internet only webcast at www.youcastr.com. Then, look under the live section for Alabama Softball vs. Ole Miss.

Team USA loses to #24 Virginia Tech

2008-03-26T21:37:00.011-05:00

Well I certainly didn't see this coming... Team USA lost their first softball game of their Bound for Beijing Tour tonight, by a score of 1-0. Virginia Tech's starting pitcher, Angela Tincher, threw a no-hitter versus softball's Dream Team. You read that right. Tincher threw a no-hitter against the best softball team in the world. That's quite a way to back up your performance from last week. On Tuesday, Tincher pulled in USA Softball National Player of the Week honors. I'd say this caps that.

Virginia Tech came into the game with a 24-9 regular season record. If you expected a team to knock off the national team, you'd expect it to be an Arizona, Alabama, or some other highly ranked team. Virginia Tech just opened a lot of eyes tonight.

For what it's worth, Tincher is one of the best pitchers in the country, if not the best. She currently has a 0.49 ERA with 282 K in 138.1 IP. Those are some scary good numbers. If Virginia Tech could hit, they'd be a legitimate threat in postseason play. As a team, they're hitting just .244 with 6 HR through 32 games. That won't cut it, regardless of how good Tincher is.

When Alabama's players hear this, I'd imagine they'd be chomping at the bit for their April 15 game with Team USA.

Congratulations to Virginia Tech. That's quite an accomplishment. I'll be interested to see if this propels the Hokies to a deep postseason run.

UPDATE: ESPN.com has a story up on their front page about the game. Some fun facts from the game according to the article... the loss for Team USA ended a 185 game win streak in pre-Olympic exhibitions. During that span, Team USA outscored opponents 1, 475-24. The lone run didn't put much of a damper on that mark, did it?

Alabama pulls off season sweep of UAB

2008-03-25T23:09:00.005-05:00

Alabama made it look routine in an 8-1 victory of UAB Tuesday night. Kelsi Dunne (12-3) picked up the win, struck out 10, and a new-look offense performed more than ably. Patrick Murphy decided to give many of the role players a chance in the game. Alex Blewitt started the game as the cleanup hitting designated player, and Catherine Dozier got another start at second base. Whitney Larsen also manned the center field position while Brittany Rogers got the night off.

Murphy said one of the reasons for the lineup was that the players who got a start tonight deserved a chance. They play hard in practice, and push their teammates to be better players. It also helps to see players in different roles. Larsen not only batted in the lead off spot, but also played center field. In the unfortunate event that Rogers would go down with an injury, who would take her place? Larsen now at least has some playing time at all outfield positions.

After 12 home runs against Kentucky over the weekend, Alabama didn't hit any out tonight. They didn't need it however. They worked the count, took walks (Ashley Holcombe drew four walks in four plate appearances), and came up with situational hitting. They left the bases loaded in the last two innings, but they also found timely hitting from Kelly Montalvo (who was on base each time she came to the plate) and Jordan Praytor. It's great to see Praytor back in the swing of things. She is now eight of her last eleven, and I'm willing to say the slump is over. In a matter of four games, Praytor has upped her batting average from .203 to .286. Her OBP was never bad, and now sits at .433. Praytor is a walking example of how a season can turn around in a hurry.

As I pointed out in an earlier post, Praytor is a great example for young softball players. I've never seen her pout about being in a slump. Instead, even though she went without a hit from March 1 until March 21, she would often tell me, "You know, the other year I started a hitting streak at this ballpark," or "Nic, hope you haven't given up on me. After all, this week is the anniversary of my SEC Player of the Week award." She's always looking for the positives. I think that helps her tremendously, and is something all young players should strive for.

Montalvo's two hits pushed her ahead of Lauren Parker for second on the team in batting average. She's now batting .417, seven points higher than Parker. I asked Murphy in the post game show if he felt Monty was a player who seems to get better every year. He indicated that she had made a decision in the off season to become even better than she already was. I think she's following through on that personal promise.

As evident in the rolltide.com press release, the one complaint Murphy had was that his team didn't put the game away.

"We had the bases loaded twice and had five or six other opportunities, and we couldn't close the door on them."

He's right. Bama had their chances, but then again, it's important to consider the lineup differences and at the same time realize the Tide still scored eight runs. If you're complaining about the offense and it still scratched out eight runs, you're not in too bad of shape.

New rankings released

Bama stayed in the same spot in both major polls this week. The NFCA poll again slates Alabama at #2, the USA Softball poll has Bama at #3. Tide fans may have a legitimate gripe that Arizona State didn't fall in the NFCA poll after losing to unranked Florida State last week, especially after Alabama was penalized for falling to a team in the top 25 (Washington) and then taking three of five from Top 5 Florida and Tennessee.

However, be careful what you wish for. If you ask me, being two and three in the polls is a blessing in disguise. Let someone else have that bullseye.

Don't look now, but UCLA claimed the top spot in the USA Softball poll this week. After a rough last year after the retirement of a legendary coach, they seem to be on their way back. There are very few "dominate" pitchers in NCAA softball this year, but Jelly Selden may be one of the best. What makes UCLA special is the fact that it's not just her, the entire staff has been tremendous. UCLA and Arizona State will have quite the race in the PAC-10. Stanford can play the role of spoiler, but I'm not sure their pitching staff ranks as highly as the Bruins and Sun Devils.

Charlotte Morgan named SEC Player of the Week

2008-03-24T21:09:00.006-05:00

I know you're all surprised at this.... just kidding.

Charlotte Morgan has been named the SEC Player of the Week, and deservedly so. The Moreno Valley, California product went 7-10 against Kentucky with four home runs. She hit two home runs in each of the final two games of the series. She drove in 12 (11 on day two), and now leads Alabama in HR (7), RBI (37) and doubles (10).

Here is the press release from rolltide.com

While Morgan deserves the award and was appropriately awarded, Whitney Larsen also had a terrific weekend but didn't receive any recognition. If it was up to me, she would have been the recipient of the Freshman of the Week award. Larsen went 6-11 against the Wildcats, with two home runs, two doubles, and six RBI. It's hard not to be excited about Larsen playing as a freshman in right field for Alabama. She is a great bottom of the order bat, and once she learns to walk a bit more (she has six so far), she'll be even more dangerous. She's hit six home runs so far this season, five doubles, and her slugging percentage is just a shade under .600 (fifth on the team.)

Courtney Nesbit (Mississippi State) was the winner of the Freshmen of the Week award. She was 6-10 with five walks and five RBI. So why do I think Larsen deserved the award over Nesbit? Simple. Whitney had four extra base hits. Nesbit had one (her first extra base hit of the season.) I certainly don't want to take anything away from Nesbit, but sometimes I feel as though they don't want to give two awards to the same team in any given week. That's ashame for the girl who's left out, and this week, it's Larsen.

My (mythical) Top 25 vote

2008-03-23T17:44:00.005-05:00

Happy Easter to everyone!

I don't do this often, but given that it's a slow day with nothing more to do than watch the NCAA basketball tournament, I figured I'd fill out my top 25 teams.

1. Alabama (27-3)

2. Arizona State (34-2)

3. Florida (35-2)

4. UCLA (26-3)

5. Michigan (25-3)

6. Stanford (31-2)

7. LSU (27-4)

8. Texas A&M (31-6)

9. Fresno State (30-5)

10. Houston (28-4)

11. Oklahoma (27-8)

12. Tennessee (28-5)

13. Arizona (21-8)

14. North Carolina (27-6-1)

15. Ohio State (21-6)

16. Hawaii (24-10)

17. Georgia (30-8)

18. Long Beach State (24-9)

19. San Diego State (27-10)

20. Baylor (18-8)

21. DePaul (19-9)

22. Northwestern (13-9)

23. Auburn (27-7)

24. Missouri (30-7)

25. California (29-10)

Next 5 out: Washington (21-9-1), Mississippi State (26-9), Kansas (23-8), Virginia Tech (23-9), Iowa State (20-11)

Let's be honest. There is a ton of parity in college softball this year. At this point, it's fairly easy to pick your top five or six teams. You can mix and match them, and feel comfortable with those teams in the top five. Arizona State lost to Florida State 3-2, which is why they drop to #2 in my poll. After that, things get confusing.

Arizona looked like they were on their way back until they lost three games to Michigan, Cal State-Fullerton, and most surprisingly, UTEP. Northwestern was ripped by unranked Colorado State, Depaul lost 11-0 to 'Zona, 3-2 to Utah, and 1-0 to San Diego State. Baylor had a chance to make a statement, but dropped two of three to Texas A&M and Iowa State to open Big XII play. Lafayette played a tough schedule, but still lost three times.

The biggest winners in my poll vote are Fresno State, who went 7-0 with two wins against top 25 teams last week, and North Carolina, which opened ACC play with a three game sweep over Maryland. Fresno State was #14 in last week's USA poll, but they make the top 10 in my poll this week. LSU also had a good week by sweeping Auburn to remain perfect in SEC play. Auburn was rolling before making the trip to Baton Rouge, but Anna Thompson was no match for Dani Hofer and the Tigers. LSU (6-0 SEC) maintains a two game lead in the loss column over Alabama (9-2 SEC) in the West.

The poll may take another turn after next week when PAC-10 play finally gets under way. Arizona travels to Stanford, which gives us an opportunity to see if Stanford is for real. Arizona State travels to California. After a tough start, the Golden Bears have played well lately. Then, a day later, Arizona will play at California and Arizona State travels to Stanford. UCLA may have the easiest opportunity to take an early lead in conference play with games against Oregon and Oregon State. The Bruins have a deep pitching staff, and should be able to get off to a good start against two of the weaker teams in the PAC-10.

EDIT: Nice to see the Alabama baseball team get their first two conference victories of the year. Jim Wells' squad took two of three this weekend against #4 Vanderbilt.

Bama bats break out in record fashion

2008-03-22T17:55:00.001-05:00

Alabama (27-3) improved their conference record to 9-2 with a three game sweep of Kentucky (13-13, 1-5) in Lexington this weekend. Last week, the story was the pitching staff. This week, the offense was in top form. The scores of 9-4, 11-2 and 14-4 set a new school record of runs in a three-game series with 34, obliterating the old record of 28 set last season against Ole Miss.

The 34 runs were only half the story. Alabama hit twelve home run's over the three games, and hit the final eleven in the last two games. Of the nine hitters in Bama's starting lineup for game three, seven of them hit a home run over the weekend (Lauren Parker and Brittany Rogers were the only two without a HR). Because Alabama won by the run rule in games two and three, Alabama was limited to eleven innings of offense on Saturday. So, Alabama averaged one home run per inning on Saturday. Can anyone say power surge?

Individually, Charlotte Morgan easily takes home player of the series honors. The Tide sophomore hit four home runs, all in the final two games. She had eleven RBI on Saturday, and also picked up the win in game three to run her pitching record to 6-0. In the first 9 conference games, Charlotte had failed to hit a home run. She more than made up for it on Saturday. What's scarier? Charlotte was on deck when Alabama's final offensive inning came to an end in game two. I wouldn't have bet against her hitting her fifth home run of the day.

Jordan Praytor broke out of her hitting slump in a big way. She went 6-8 on the weekend, with a HR (her first of the year), two doubles, one walk, three stolen bases and five runs scored. When Praytor is on, it's hard for an opposing pitcher to make it through Alabama's top of the order. Rogers was 0-6 on Saturday, but Praytor more than made up for her teammate from the two-hole. If one of the combination of Rogers or Praytor is on, chances are, Alabama is going to score. They're just too fast to hold on base for long.

Alabama went from scoring nine runs in three games against Mississippi State to scoring thirty-four in three games against Kentucky. That's a dramatic turnaround. Head coach Patrick Murphy had been asking his team to hit the ball in clutch situations for a few weeks, and his team responded in dramatic fashion.

The pitching, while not perfect, did a great job holding Kentucky's offense down. Murphy put it best after Friday's game when describing Chrissy Owen's complete game win, “Chrissy did exactly what she's supposed to do. She kept Kentucky off the board until we scored.” So, while Owens allowed four runs in the game, she didn't allow any until Alabama spotted her a 7-0 lead in the 5th. You're never going to be perfect, but sometimes all you have to do is be good enough, and Chrissy was plenty good in her game.

For the second straight week, Alabama had three different pitchers record victories. Owens, Morgan, and Kelsi Dunne all picked up wins. Alabama is accustomed to having two pitchers pick up the majority of victories. Many teams in the SEC pitch their ace in games one and three, and Alabama had done so for many years before this. 2008 has seen the reemergence of Owen's rise ball, and Morgan picking up her innings after losing them early in SEC play in 2007. When you have a three person starting rotation in softball, it can only be a good thing. You keep pitchers fresh, and if you run into trouble with one, you simply put another in because they're fresh. As the season enters the stretch run, Alabama will benefit from a well rested pitching staff.

Alabama will take on UAB on Tuesday. The Tide knocked off UAB 10-1 on March 5th in Birmingham by a 10-1 score. The game starts at 6:30 PM (CST), and the pre-game show starts at 6:15. For those who haven't tried it, I invite you to register and participate in the interactive broadcast on YouCastr.com. Fans who are listening have the ability to chat with other listeners and can ask questions to the broadcast team. Also, all Alabama softball broadcasts are available in archive format on YouCastr.

Bama broadcasts go interactive

2008-03-22T07:52:00.000-05:00

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - WVUA-FM, in their continuing coverage of Alabama softball, has announced a new, interactive way for fans to listen and participate in online broadcasts of the Crimson Tide.

Fans can now find all broadcasts online at www.YouCastr.com <http://www.youcastr.com/>. In addition to being able to listen to the radio broadcast, listeners will also have the ability to talk to other listeners in an interactive format. For those who choose not to register, they can still listen through YouCastr and monitor the registered users discussion while they listen.

"YouCastr gives our fans an opportunity to not only follow the Crimson Tide softball program, but to be a part of it," said Nic Hoch, play-by-play broadcaster of Bama softball. "In addition to the interactive advantages, the sound quality is also superior to that of our normal web feed."

All broadcasts will continue to be available on the radio station web feed at http://broadcastmonsters.com/Alabama/alabama.asx. Users who wish to take part in the interactive broadcasts at YouCastr.com need to first register on their homepage. All broadcasts can be found on their front page, and can be accessed there, or can be accessed at game time at the following link: http://www.youcastr.com/casts/listen?show_id=297

Fans are also encouraged to follow the Tide with WVUA-FM's radio blog at http://TideSoftball.blogspot.com <http://tidesoftball.blogspot.com/>

Any questions can be directed to Nic Hoch at wvuasports@gmail.com

Alabama set to play one game today, two tomorrow

2008-03-21T10:09:00.002-05:00

Alabama will take on Kentucky in Lexington at 5:00 (CST) today, and then play a doubleheader tomorrow at 1:00. It is possible that the doubleheader will be flipped to today, as there are cold temperatures and possible rain/snow showers in the forecast for tomorrow. If that change occurs, I will let you know ASAP.

I also want to let listeners know of a Beta test I will be running today. As most of you know, all games are available via the internet through our WVUA-FM link, located here. Today, I will be testing a new option through a website named YouCastr. I have ran some initial tests, and the sound quality is far superior to the traditional link. Ever notice how the normal internet broadcast sounds like it runs through a phone line? That's because it does. That link will always be available, but if you'd like to try a better sounding broadcast tonight, you can try listening here. That link will lead you to the broadcast once I go on air. If you register with YouCastr.com, you can even participate in a live chat with other fans who are listening while the game progresses.

As I said, the YouCastr link is a test for tonight. If it works, then I will continue to run this link as well as the radio station link. Talk to you all tonight.

All games cancelled

2008-03-19T13:51:00.007-05:00

Although the rain has ceased in the Chattanooga area, too much water on the playing surface has caused all Alabama games to be canceled for the day. Alabama will play next on Friday when they open a three game series with Kentucky (13-10, 1-2).

So, now what to do with no softball? Well, Tommy Deas can keep your attention for a couple minutes... he has a new story out about junior Kelley Montalvo.

A good series between Big XII powers begins today. #9 Texas A&M and #15 Baylor play at 6:30 (CST). Free video is available here. You have to register if you haven't already, but that particular game is free to watch today. Tennessee will play a doubleheader against South Carolina today in Columbia... those games will be available on gametracker.

Auburn is now 7-1 in SEC play. They swept a doubleheader with Arkansas yesterday by scores of 9-6 and 5-3. Auburn has gotten off to an impressive start and deserve some attention. However, it's important to realize their 7-1 start came against Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Arkansas. While the start is perfect for the Tigers, it's important to keep it in perspective. Their first big test will come this weekend when they take on LSU in Baton Rouge in a three game series, then return home the next weekend to host Tennessee. They will host Alabama starting on April 12th.

Weather rains out Alabama game against Kent State

2008-03-19T10:29:00.003-05:00

Alabama's first game scheduled for 1:00 (CST) has been rained out. The initial plan now is that Alabama will play a single game at 5:00 tonight. For broadcast reasons, this game will be found on the regular radio link. You do not need to go to allinbroadcasting.com. You can simply click the link in the right hand column of the blog, or click on the link at rolltide.com's softball page.

If the rain continues to fall and the later game is also called off, I will post it as soon as possible.

Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar

Softball team arrives in Chattanooga

2008-03-18T20:36:00.004-05:00

Alabama is scheduled to play two games tomorrow against Kent State (1:00) and Tennessee-Chattanooga (5:00). The team arrived in Chattanooga just a few hours ago, and are now settled into their hotel for the evening.

First, the bad news. Rain is being forecast with a fairly high certainty.

73% 9A-12P

28% 12P-3P (Game starts at 2:00 EST)

61% 3P-6P (2nd game starts at 6:00 EST)

56% 6P-9P

As a point of reference for those who may not know where Chattanooga is located, it's in the southeast corner of Tennessee.

I know it's not softball, but every once in awhile, one of those feel-good stories comes around. The New York Yankees took a break from their normal spring training routine to play a game against Virginia Tech on their campus. Sounds like it was an emotional day for Hokie nation... here's a link to a story.

Monday tidbits

2008-03-17T09:31:00.012-05:00

Tommy Deas released his latest story on Alabama's sweep. He gives a good explanation about the critical at-bat in which Kelly Montalvo ripped a double after first squaring around to bunt... his story is here.

Here is the latest SEC roundup....

EDIT: I've decided to remove the RPI rankings from this post... it's only fair to remove them until the data is more accurate, and the NFCA crew has had ample time to get the rankings like their meant to be. I'll post them as soon as the official one's are released, which is scheduled for next week.

Tide sweeps #15 Mississippi State

2008-03-16T20:22:00.004-05:00

Alabama (24-3, 6-2) knocked off Mississippi State by scores of 2-0, 4-2, and 3-0 to stay in the thick of the SEC race. While the scores may not look terribly impressive, the three wins are important for multiple reasons. First and foremost, Alabama needed to pick up their first SEC sweep of the season. It's more than acceptable to win two of three from Tennessee and split with Florida, but somewhere along the line you must sweep three-game sets to have a chance to capture the SEC regular season crown. Let's take a quick look at the rest of the conference slate for Alabama:

3 games at Kentucky
3 games vs. Ole Miss
3 games vs. LSU
3 games at Auburn
2 games at Arkansas
3 games vs. South Carolina
3 games at Georgia

First, that's a lot of games, 20 to be exact. Given the current state of the SEC, taking two of three against LSU and Georgia with sweeps of the rest of the opponents would probably do the trick. That would give Alabama a 24-4 conference record, and in my opinion, that would be enough to capture their second SEC title in three years. Alabama could give themselves a great start by winning the next six SEC games and moving their conference mark to 12-2 before hosting West leading LSU.

The big performers for Alabama this week can be found in the pitching staff. Alabama used three pitchers; Kelsi Dunne, Charlotte Morgan and Chrissy Owens. Dunne and Owens both threw complete game shutouts, and Morgan was game two's winner and gave up two runs in four innings. Don't be fooled by Mississippi State's 1-5 start in the SEC. Their middle of the lineup, combined with Bramlett at the top of the order is very formidable. Every time an Alabama pitcher gave up a hit or walk, she seemingly found a way to work her way out of the problem. It was nice to see Chrissy Owens get a quality start. She had struggled through her first two SEC starts, and recovered nicely for a big win today.

Alabama is still having a problem leaving people on base. Through the three games, the Crimson Tide left 24 runners on base. That's an average of eight runners left on per game. Bama has not had a problem getting runners on. It's getting them around that's been the problem. Until Kelly Montalvo came up with the two RBI double in the 5th in game three, it felt as though Bama had fluked into their runs at times. When the pitching showed up in the fashion it did this weekend, you don't need many runs however. The question is, when LSU comes calling in April, will both facets of the game be clicking?

Alabama will probably miss out on the individual awards this week given out by the SEC. Had Dunne avoided the grand slam against Florida to pick up her third loss on Wednesday, she would probably be the easy choice for pitcher of the week. She threw two complete-game shutouts against Florida and Mississippi State. All in all, it was a pretty good week save for one inning.

Other SEC Games from Sunday (Courtesy of Ultimatecollegesoftball.com)

Georgia 8 South Carolina 0 (6 inn)

WP-Kate Gaskill (12-3) 4-Hitter 12 K's

LP-Melissa Hendon (5-6)

Georgia sweeps series

Tennessee 5 Kentucky 1

WP-Ashton Ward (14-2)

LP-Jennifer Young (3-2)

Tennessee 2 Kentucky 0

WP-Megan Rhodes (11-2) 5-Hitter

LP-Amber Matousek (6-6)

Tennessee wins two of three in series

Auburn 3 Ole Miss 2 (11 inn)

WP-Angel Bunner (6-0)

LP-Becky Nye (6-5)
Auburn sweeps series

Important Information Regarding this week's broadcasts

2008-03-14T20:16:00.002-05:00

As I mentioned it the previous post, because of Spring Break at The University of Alabama, most of our student producers have left town. This means that some of our broadcasts will move to an "internet only" format. This means two things...

1. If you live in Tuscaloosa, and generally listen on the airwaves of 90.7 FM, you will have to access an online link.
2. If you generally listen online, you will need to access a different link than the normal one.

Here is the updated schedule of what will be internet only, and what will be on the radio station (and the regular weblink.)

Saturday, March 15th doubleheader vs. MSU: (NORMAL) Link can be accessed here.
Sunday, March 16th vs. MSU: (INTERNET ONLY) Go to www.allinbroadcasting.com, and click the link that says #2 Alabama vs. #15 Mississippi State
Wednesday, March 19th, 1:00 PM game (INTERNET ONLY) Go to www.allinbroadcasting.com, and click the link that says Alabama in Chattanooga Tournament
Wednesday, March 19th, 5:00 PM game (NORMAL) Link can be accessed here.

After Wednesday, all broadcasts are normal again. I apologize for any confusion this may cause... please e-mail me at wvuasports@gmail.com if there are any questions regarding the link changes. Again, this is being done because our student producers are not available to produce all games this week due to a large portion of them leaving for Spring Break vacation.

Pat Murphy post-game audio

2008-03-13T13:57:00.002-05:00

As promised, here is coach Murphy's post-game comments following yesterday's doubleheader split...

boomp3.com

Alabama splits midweek doubleheader with Florida

2008-03-13T11:08:00.004-05:00

In two of this year's most entertaining games, #2 Alabama split their series with #4 Florida.

Game One

Alabama freshman Kelsi Dunne out dueled Florida junior All-American Stacey Nelson in a 1-0 Alabama victory. Dunne struck out seven and scattered three hits through seven innings of shutout ball. Florida's lineup was young, but they know how to battle. Dunne threw 112 pitches through her seven innings of work, and Florida threatened in the last inning by putting both the tying and go-ahead runs on base. However, the Gators stranded six, and Dunne always worked out of her own jam. She was easily the player of the game.

In a 1-0 victory, you may assume there's not a lot of positives to look at offensively. This is true only in part. Bama collected only two hits, but did walk seven times. The walks only caught up to Nelson once, as she walked the leadoff hitter in the 3rd. Lauren Parker continued her clutch hitting ways, driving home Rogers with an opposite field single over the shortstop's head. Even when Alabama isn't hitting, chances are they are walking. In four consecutive innings, Alabama put the lead off runner on by way of the walk. Only once did that result in a run, but if you keep putting people on base to lead of the inning, chances are that sooner of later you'll score a run, and that's exactly what happened.

Game two

If game one was your typical pitcher's duel, game two was anything but. Florida got on the board first with a solo home run from cleanup hitter Tiffany DeFelice's solo home run in the second. Bama was able to answer in the bottom of the second with a run of their own when Dani Woods came around to score after her lead off double when Ashley Holcombe brought her home.

The momentum shifted entirely in Florida's favor when they put a two runs on the board in the 3rd and chased started Chrissy Owens from the game. When Kelsi Dunne entered as a reliever, in appeared that the Gators had a specific game plan this time around, seemingly keying on all of her inside pitches. Through just her first two innings of work in game two, Dunne had already tossed 51 pitches. Florida added an unearned run in the 4th, and led 4-1 until the 6th.

Ashley Holcombe continued her torrid hitting in the month of March when she started the Alabama rally in the 5th. Holcombe led of the inning by blasting a line drive home run over the left center field wall. The Tide would get no more in the inning, but in the 6th, the rally started again. Lauren Parker led off the inning with a double, which led Florida head coach Tim Walton to go back to his ace Stacey Nelson. Nelson would walk Dani Woods, then retire the next two on a sacrifice and an RBI groundout. With the score 4-3 and with two outs in the inning, Ashley Holcome drilled a right center field double to tie the game at 4-4. Holcombe was left stranded on second when Eubanks struck out. Unfortunately for Bama, Holcombe's efforts would go for naught in the end.

The 7th was where the game unraveled for Alabama. Dunne, who had been great all night, loaded the bases, but on the way had recorded two outs. With Florida senior Mary Ratliff on the ropes behind 0-2 in the count, Dunne threw a mistake pitch and Ratliff nailed it off of the scoreboard for a grand slam to put the Gators up 4-2. It's worth mentioning that at this point Kelsi had thrown over 200 pitches on the evening. She threw 112 in game one, then proceeded to throw 102 in her relief appearance. That's a lot of pitcher for a freshman against the number four team in the country. One pitch got away, and Ratliff (who was 0-6 with 5 K's before the at bat) took advantage.

It goes without saying the coaches were disappointed. Pitching coach Vann Stuedeman preaches on an almost daily basis to her pitchers that with an 0-2 count, you come nowhere near the plate. Looking objectively at the mistake pitch, I think it's clear that Dunne simply missed her spot. She may be a freshman, but she's a smart pitcher. With the bases loaded, two outs, and an 0-2 count on the batter, I highly doubt Kelsi simply "forgot" the situation. Instead, she made a rare miss, and Florida capitalized. Tip you cap to Ratliff, and at the same time, realize that Dunne simply made a mistake. This wasn't a mental lapse, it was missed spot. Unfortunately it happens, and this time it happened in a big spot. Dunne is still one of the top freshman in the country. One pitch should change no one's opinion about that fact.

Mandy Burford and I talked on the post-game show for awhile about the fact that both of Alabama's losses to this point ultimately came down to one big play. Against Tennessee, a possible strike three call that went for not, and a phantom double play tag cost the Tide. Against Florida, a mistake pitch made all the difference. Was there any doubt in anyone's mind that if Bama and Florida were still tied going into the bottom of the 7th that Praytor, Rogers, and Montalvo wouldn't have won the game for Alabama? It would be hard to think that with the momentum on Alabama's side that even the best pitcher could have stifled a rally. Instead, one pitch made all the difference.

So, what's my point in bringing this up? Simple. Alabama is 3-2 in SEC play, but could just as easily be 5-0. Alabama is still amongst the favorites to win the conference title, and as soon as the Tide can find a way to limit those big plays, it's a whole different ball game.

Post-game audio with Coach Murphy will be posted a little bit later today. Alabama will travel to Starkville to take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs for a weekend three game set. Unfortunately, with spring break coming up at Alabama, many of our student producers are leaving. This means that Sunday's game may be an internet only broadcast. If and when that occurs, I will post detailed instructions about how to access the link (which would be different from the everyday link.)

Kelly Montalvo named National Player of the Week

2008-03-11T17:44:00.015-05:00

This shouldn't come as a surprise, but after an unbelievable week at the plate, Alabama junior Kelly Montalvo was named the SEC Player of the Week, NFCA National Player of the Week and USA Softball Player of the Week. Montalvo reached base ten of eleven times at the plate against Tennessee, and was 7-9 altogether during the week. She was a staple in the number two spot all weekend, and I'd expect her to keep that spot against Florida tomorrow.

Montalvo has become a fan favorite because of the way she plays the game. The intangibles she brings to the diamond, plus the fire she plays with pumps up the crowd at each home game. It's hard not be excited when she comes to the plate. As coach Murphy said in the official release, "The three of us (coaches) firmly believe she is the best third baseman in the country." I can't argue with that. Montalvo has upped her batting average to .441, has driven in 22 runs, and hit three home runs. Those numbers are hard to get past without realizing Montalvo is a special kind of talent.

New National Polls Released

Alabama also stayed in the same spot in both national polls this week. The NFCA poll brings Alabama in at #2, the USA Softball Poll keeps the Tide at #3. Had Alabama finished off the sweep of Tennessee, I believe it would have been a possibility that the team would have reclaimed the #1 spot. Instead, most of the top votes they were receiving are now going to Arizona State. That may be for the best... when Alabama dropped to #2 last week, they played what in my opinion was their best week of softball to this point in the season.

I'm a fan of polls only as far as discussion pieces go. I love the polls because it gives people something to talk about, but that's as far as my fascination goes. Tuscaloosa News and Bama softball beat reporter Tommy Deas has an interesting blog post about how he votes in softball, and why it's harder to vote in a softball poll as opposed to a football poll.

Alabama practices Tuesday, prepares for #4 Florida on Wednesday

I'm not sure there is a team in the country that has a tougher opening stretch of conference games than Alabama does. The Tide just pulled off two of three against then #4 Tennessee, and now they will take on the new #4 team in the Florida Gators for a doubleheader tomorrow. The Tide then travels to Starkville, Mississippi over the weekend to take on a much improved #15 Mississippi State squad. Look at it this way... if Alabama gets through this stretch at 6-2, that's a great start. If they happen to sweep Florida tomorrow and Mississippi State on the weekend, they've firmly put themselves in the drivers set for the conference championship.

Tomorrow's weather forecast at game time:

5pm

Sunny
69°F

10%

Graham Hays gave Alabama a big mention in his latest weekly recap on ESPN.com. Give it a read... pregame hits the air at 4:45 (CST) tomorrow evening. Catch you all then.

If you didn't get to see Brittany Roger's catch that robbed Tennessee of a home run, you must go here and view pictures 26-28. It was one of the most incredible catches I've ever seen by a softball player, and according to coaches Aly Habetz and Vann Stuedeman, it was the best catch they've ever seen. Here is the final frame and radio highlight call...

boomp3.com

Whitney Larsen also made a terrific catch, and I was able to download her shots from rolltide.com