Brett Greenberg
Tuscaloosa News
The Alabama softball team opened the 2021 season 4-0 without surrendering a run.
The Crimson Tide started the weekend with a perfect game against Alabama State for a five-inning 10-0 win on Friday night. A 10-0 victory over Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon completed a perfect trip to Montgomery.
Alabama returned to Rhoads Stadium on Sunday for its home opener, beating Louisville twice by scores of 5-0 and 4-0.
"I am extremely happy about the way our players and supporting staff rallied together to put on this opening weekend after the cancellation of the Texas Classic," said Alabama coach Patrick Murphy.
On Thursday, Alabama had five games wiped out over the same three-day period at the Texas Classic in Austin due to freezing temperatures and inclement weather.
Here are three things we learned:
Pitching staff off to dominant start
The pitching staff gave up only six hits and struck out 39 in the four games.
"When you have so many quality pitchers, you need to give them time," said Murphy. "Jaala (Torrence) did especially well in her first time in an Alabama jersey, I know she was nervous."
Montana Fouts and Sarah Cornell combined for the perfect game. Lexi Kilfoyl and Jaala Torrence combined for a two-hit shutout of Notre Dame. In game one of Sunday's doubleheader, Fouts threw a complete game shutout with 11 strikeouts. In the final game of the weekend, Kilfoyl had a shutout and struck out 10.
Fouts and Cornell's perfect game was the fifth in program history and the first since Alexis Osorio in 2017. It was the 36th no-hitter in Alabama history.
"For us to have the depth and the youngsters say a lot about our future," said Murphy.
Lots of hits, stolen bases
The Alabama pitching staff might be the best rotation in the country, but the offense is deep and explosive. Through four games, the Crimson Tide are batting .316, have scored 29 runs and posted a .832 OPS.
Alexis Mack continued her dominance from the 2020 shortened season posting a .545 batting average and two RBIs.
Elissa Brown went a perfect 9-of-9 on stolen base attempts while scoring five runs and batting .667.
"I thought we did a good job at the plate this weekend," said Murphy. "If you're only gonna get five hits, you hope one of them to be a big one and Bailey got that done for us."
Claire Jenkins leads the team in RBIs (6) while Mack leads the team in runs scored (8).
"Jenkins had the hit of the game on Friday," said Murphy. "Her confidence is back and when she's hitting the ball opposite field, she is feeling comfortable."
Freshman infielder Bailey Dowling's two-run home run a in the final game was the first of her career.
"This has been a dream since I was in the third grade," said Dowling. "All of my teammates are my best friends and I am so happy to experience this with them."
Elissa Brown was 9-of-9 on stolen base attempts while scoring five runs and batting .667.
"Once the weather improves and our girls get more comfortable in the box, you'll see everyone can hit the ball hard," said Murphy.
Patrick Murphy reaches another milestone
Murphy picked up his 1,100th career win in Sunday's first game.
"It's amazing to be here this long," said Murphy, now in his 23rd season as coach of the Crimson Tide. "I have been lucky enough to have so many great players and assistant coaches."
The all-time winningest coach in Division I is Carol Hutchins of Michigan with 1,616 wins.
Up Next
Alabama will host Liberty, Gardner-Webb and No. 5 ranked LSU in the Easton Bama Bash at Rhoads Stadium starting Friday.
The Crimson Tide begin the tournament with a doubleheader against Liberty at 4 p.m.
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