“By rights, we shouldn’t even be here. But we are…”
The Crimson Tide survived the first of three epic battles with one win, one bad loss, and one close win in Baton Rouge against the #5 Tigers. Close wins don’t count any different in the standings, but it sure impressed some of the pollsters.
ACCOLADES & RANKINGS
Alabama (28-15, 5-7) actually improved in two polls:
- USAToday/NFCA 24 ↑ 23
- ESPN/USA Softball 23 ↑ 22
- Softball America 22 ↓ 23
- D1Softball 24 ↔ 24
Oklahoma is unanimous #2 behind Texas.
Alabama now leads the SEC in stolen bases with 96. That is 17 more than the next closest team Florida, who has 79.
Still no SEC Players of the Week for the Crimson Tide.
MIDWEEK
NONE! When Patrick Murphy saw this one on the schedule, he must have known by the second weekend of April, his team might need some time to decompress. Coming off a trip to LSU and big bad Oklahoma coming into town, passing on a midweek cupcake game must have been an easy decision. It will be a whole six days with no games for the Crimson Tide. Murphy keeps a Fort Knox-like security on his team’s injuries, but there has to be some banged up players who could use a sit. It will be good to heal, watch film, and get ready for what will be the biggest series in Tuscaloosa in some time.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
The price of being on TV is one of those weird Saturday-Sunday-Monday series.
- Saturday, Apr 12 vs Oklahoma 3pm/4pm ESPN2
- Sunday, Apr 13 vs Oklahoma 5pm/6pm SECN
- Monday, Apr 14 vs Oklahoma 6pm/7pm SECN
HOW TO WATCH… ALLEGEDLY
For the first time all season, all three games for the Tide will be on regular cable TV. Viewers get a pretty good duo of Matt Schumacker on the play-by-play and Amanda Scarborough on color commentary.
T-TOWN WEATHER
It should be pretty nice weather for all three games.
OKIE (35-3, 9-3)
You know who they are. They are the eight time National Champs, who have won the last four WCWS. Patty Gasso has led the Sooners for 31 seasons in Norman and has an outstanding 1,549–354–2 (.814) record. She took a different approach to midweek with a game against arch-rival #17 Oklahoma State played in Don E. Porter Stadium in Oklahoma City where the WCWS is held. Over 9,000 fans watched the Sooners run-rule the Cowgirls 11-3 in 5 innings.
Oklahoma won the first 28 games of the season including sweeps of South Carolina and Arkansas – two teams who have since ascended into the top 10. But to be honest, those were the only impressive wins in that span. February was Cupcake City for OU. Then came a little struggle. Okie lost one of three at unranked Mizzou and two of three at home against Top 10 Tennessee. And then came the W over Okie Lite on Wednesday.
THROW THE BALL
Sam Landry (12-2) is the ace of this staff with a 1.81 ERA. Softball fans will remember her carrying the load at ULL for the last three seasons before transferring to Norman. The bespectacled senior has struck out 103 batters and walked only 16! She is one tough hombre mujer.
Five different pitchers have starts but only three are in the regular rotation. Kierston Deal (8-0, ERA 2.75) pitched a complete game in a 4-1 win against No. 10 Tennessee March 29, holding the Lady Vols to one run while fanning five in 104 pitches, but also got shelled for 6 earned runs in 2.1 innings by Wichita State in a weird 19-16 OU victory. Isabella Smith (8-1, ERA 2.58) is the thord part of the trio.
HIT THE BALL
Okie scores 8.42 runs per game which is tops in the SEC by about a third of a run. They are also number one in the league in round-trippers with 74 and total extra base hits at 145 – 8 more than Florida in 4 less games. Bama has 47 HR and 111 XBH.
Three Sooners are in double digits in home runs led by 2024 Softball America Freshman All-American Kasidi Pickering at 12. The sophomore is also hitting a robust .448 with 41 RBI and is second best among Power team players in OB% at .606.
Gabbie Garcia is hanging right with her at .423 and 11 round-trippers. Team captain Nelly McEnroe-Marinas (no relation to the tennis player) has 10 four-baggers and a .387 BA.
No one Sooner has more than 9 stolen bases but 12 have swiped at least one. Translation: OU has smart coaches who recognize situations and know when to run.
CATCH THE BALL
The defense is better than average with a fielding percentage of .979 that ranks third best in the conference behind Arky and SC. But we also said that about Georgia before that series and they booted the ball all over the yard.
ELEVEN CENT ANALYSIS (sorry, tariffs)
Over their last ten games, the Dirt Burglars are 7-3 and 3-3 in conference play. They are not unbeatable. Though not as talented as some past teams, this Team29 has shown some pluck and grit with a side order of peskiness. They might just steal a game from the Sooners. What do you think?
Poll
Sooners at Tide:
-
6%
Bama sweeps and I believe in unicorns!✩ ₊˚ ⊹♡ · ‧₊°
(11 votes)
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6%
Bama takes two of three.
(12 votes)
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28%
Okie takes two of three.
(50 votes)
175 votes total
Vote Now
