Brett Greenberg
The Tuscaloosa News
No. 4 Alabama softball (19-1) travels to No. 21-ranked Auburn this weekend kicking off the SEC season for the Crimson Tide. Alabama is scheduled to play 18 games against ranked SEC opponents in the regular season.
Alabama opens SEC play at Auburn with a three-game series starting Friday.
With no midweek game, coach Patrick Murphy had his players and coaches write down one thing they are doing well and one thing they can improve upon. At Tuesday's practice, each player read out her statement aloud, and then the coaches read out theirs.
Here are three things Alabama is doing well and three things it needs to improve on to compete for the SEC championship:
Outfielders displaying next-up mentality
The Crimson Tide had two of its key outfielders (Jenna Johnson, KB Sides) fall to injuries early in the season, forcing coach Murphy to back up his preseason remarks of saying his team was two deep at every position.
Savannah Woodard and Kat Grill have filled in at right field.
"At practice, we make sure we can play any position in the outfield," said Elissa Brown. "We just work hard and prepare because we work with the sun, the wind and all situations, and the younger girls have been listening and are ready to attack any position they're in."
Pitching rotation shutting opposing batters down
Lexi Kilfoyl, Montana Fouts, Sarah Cornell, Krystal Goodman and Jaala Torrence have the Crimson Tide ranked second in strikeout-to-walk ratio and seventh in earned run average.
Fouts leads the country with a 22.25 strikeout-to-walk ratio while Kilfoyl ranks fourth with a 12.5.
The Crimson Tide staff has pitched two no-hitters, a perfect game and thrown nine shutouts.
Crimson Tide can get on base
Outfielders Alexis Mack and (Elissa) Brown bat leadoff and last in the order, respecitvely, for a reason according to coach Murphy.
"Alexis is a great competitor. Aly (assistant coach Alyson Habetz) calls us the executioner queens because we can make things happen," said Brown. "As the green-light girls of the team, we just to get on base, make things happen and make the defense make plays."
Mack (.541) and Grill (.533) lead the team in on-base percentage.
Batters occasionally over-aggressive
The Crimson Tide flew out 13 times against South Alabama on Sunday in the team's lone loss. The Alabama bats have struggled at times this year.
Murphy discussed his displeasure with the bats last week.
"We didn't make enough adjustments and kept swinging at high pitches," said Murphy.
"You've got to score to win, and a 1-0 game should not be insurmountable for us."
Defense sometimes a question
Alabama ranks 70th in fielding percentage (.967) with 18 errors.
Freshman Bailey Dowling leads the team with six.
Murphy credited his pitchers for buckling down with runners on bases with less than two outs.
"That pressure and anxiety in a game are so much better than at practice, you can't replace it," he said. "The close games and situations are good for everyone, that's what softball is all about."
Offense lacks serious power
The Crimson Tide has scored at a high rate this year thanks to aggressive baserunning and base hits. The roster lacks power other than fifth-year Bailey Hemphill, who was awarded Easton T-Town Showdown MVP.
Alabama ranks last in the SEC in home runs and 129th in the nation.
What's next
The Crimson Tide plays Auburn on Friday at 5 p.m. and Saturday at 4 p.m. on the SEC Network+ streaming service. The series will wrap up Sunday at 2 p.m. on the SEC Network.
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