Brett Greenberg
The Tuscaloosa News
Alabama lost its first game of the season Sunday after reeling off 19 wins.
South Alabama (10-7) defeated the No. 3 Crimson Tide 1-0. Alabama coach Patrick Murphy had never lost to an in-state opponent besides Auburn during his 23-year tenure.
"Everyone is going to give us their best game," said Murphy. "It's the same thing as Alabama football, our players know we have a target on our backs and we need to come ready to play every game."
The Crimson Tide run-ruled Kent State on Friday 9-1 and 11-3 to sweep a doubleheader. Lexi Kilfoyl continued her season-long dominance with a seven strikeout complete game in the opener.
On Saturday, Alabama beat UNI 5-3 and won the second game 8-0 highlighted by Savannah Woodard's grand slam.
Efficient in the circle
Montana Fouts, Krystal Goodman, Sarah Cornell, Kilfoyl and Jaala Torrence have nine shutouts and have given up only 19 earned runs this season.
Regardless of who is in the circle, long-time pitching coach Stephanie VanBrakle Prothro relays three numbers to the pitcher and gives a sign for the pitch. The Crimson Tide pitchers often catch opposing batters off guard with their quick work on the rubber.
Kilfoyl has three complete games in which she had less than 90 pitches. Goodman had an 87-pitch complete game. Fouts has two complete games in which she threw 79 and 83 pitches. Torrence had a 69-pitch complete game on Saturday.
"Our pitchers were put in a couple of situations this weekend that created some pressure," said Murphy. "This weekend was especially good for Jaala because coming in with two runners on in a close game is a lot different than coming in up 10 runs against Notre Dame."
Murphy has acknowledged what Prothro has done for the program for the last 10 years.
"All those shutouts and no-hitters are to Steph's credit," said Murphy. "She has done an incredible job with our girls. Each of them progresses each year."
Offensive onslaught
In five games last weekend, Alabama scored 21 runs. In two games on Friday, the Crimson Tide scored 20 runs.
After a slow or disappointing offensive showing last week by Murphy's standards, the Crimson Tide hit five doubles, two triples, two home runs and put up 33 runs in five games.
Murphy last week talked about how everyone in the lineup is going to have to be a little bit better as the competition increases and the season progresses.
On Sunday, Murphy expressed his pleasure with the offense.
"We did some good things at the plate on Friday and Saturday at the plate," said Murphy. "Sunday, we did not make adjustments but we have a week to work on it."
Alexis Mack was 6-of-7 scoring four runs in Friday's first game. Bailey Hemphill had five hits with 3 RBIs and was a home run short of the cycle in the nightcap.
On Saturday, Bailey Dowling had four hits in the doubleheader with a pair of RBIs. Hemphill passed Whitney Larsen for third all-time leader in RBIs in program history.
Momentum headed into SEC play
Alabama has 30 games remaining in the regular season.
Twenty of the remaining games will be against ranked opponents. The Crimson Tide will play 18 games against ranked SEC opponents: No. 23 Auburn, No. 19 Tennessee, No. 11 Kentucky, No. 20 Arkansas, No. 5 Florida and No. 21 Georgia.
Alabama will host No. 13 ranked Louisiana in a two-game series at the end of April.
"There were some positives from this weekend," said Murphy. "We get to look at the last 20 games and use this week to get better in all areas of the game before SEC play."
"SEC play is a marathon, not a sprint," Murphy added.
What's next
Alabama will begin SEC play this week at No. 23 Auburn.
The Crimson Tide will play Friday at 5 p.m. and Saturday at 4 p.m. on the SEC Network+ streaming service. The series will wrap up on Sunday at 2 p.m. on the SEC Network.
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