Alabama Softball: Schizophrenia in Knoxville

The Crimson Tide (24-10, 2-4 SEC) lose their second of two SEC series of the season after a Jekyll and Hyde performance at Tennessee. At least they didn’t get shutout!

GAME 1: TENNESSEE 5, ALABAMA 1

The Tide managed to scratch out two singles through six innings until Bailey Dowling hit a solo home run in the seventh. Outside of that one pitch, Ashley Rogers (9-0) was pretty dominant for the Vols.

Montana Fouts (11-5) got knocked around for seven hits - two of which left the yard - and five earned runs. She struck out six, which in her world is not a lot. A disturbing trend we have see this year is an opposing player hitting her first round-tripper of the season against the Tide. The oddly named Lair Beautae had a two-run homer, her first, and a sac fly for three RBI.

GAME 2: ALABAMA 4, TENNESSEE 2

On Saturday, Jackie Traina donned a red wig and put on Alex Salter’s uniform to step into the circle against the third-ranked Volunteers. That is the only logical explanation I can come up with for whoever it was that threw 7.0 innings, and scattered five hits and gave up two runs.

Extending further into Bizarro World, the Crimson Tide were making SportsCenter catches, collected eight hits, and scored four runs despite striking out nine times to snap UT’s 20-game winning streak.

Kali Heivilin got the ball rolling with a solo home run as the second batter of the game. However, Tennessee struck back for two runs in the bottom of the frame.

In the third inning, Cahalan singled in Jenna Johnson and a ground out scored Kristen White to take back the lead, 3-2. Bama would add one more run in the sixth when Johnson singled in Ally Shipman.

GAME 3: TENNESSEE 7, ALABAMA 5

Alabama again jumped out to an early lead in the second when Shipman and Ashley Prange hit back-to-back doubles. A bases loaded walk by Larissa Preuitt made it 2-0, which sent the Vols starter to the UT showers. Ashley Rogers came in and got out of the inning.

The third inning sprouted a colossal Bama meltdown as UT put runners on second and third with no outs on a Vols single and an Alabama error by Heivilin on a force out attempt at second. And then up stepped Kiki Malloy. Five pitches later, it was 3-2 favor of Tennessee. After two more Vols got on base, Giulia Koutsoyanopulos hit a home run but accidentally passed the runner on first, so she was called out. However, both runners on base scored for a 5-2 UT advantage.

After a Vol reached on a Kenleigh Cahalan error, back-to-back doubles off Salter pushed the score to 7-2. Jaala Torrence entered the game and got the last two outs.

Cahalan led off the fifth inning with a solo four-bagger off Rogers. Following a Heivilin single, Dowling hit a no-doubt dinger of her own to make it a two-run deficit. Alas, the Tide could score no more.

NOTES

*** Lollipop unicorn rainbow chasers, stop reading here lest ye get your feelings hurt! ***

The RBR softball coverage will call them as we see them and will not change because some reader(s) got upset because someone declared Patrick to not be a Saint. We are not going to blow sunshine up your backsides and pretend everything is all unicorns frolicking in a field of gumdrops and lollipops when it is not. If that is the sort of thing you want, there are plenty of sunshine-pumpers out there willing to fill your pretty little head with that sort of malarkey.

• Who in the bloody hell is this Team 27?? The fact that this squad can go out and beat teams like Texas, FSU and Tennessee, but also fall to cupcakes like Lehigh, Texas State and Kennesaw entrenches the belief that Patrick Murphy and head cheerleader Alyson Habetz cannot properly prepare and motivate their team day-in and day-out. The ability is there but Alabama is losing the psychological warfare.
• Speaking of Habetz, there has been talk lately that the only reason she has hung around for so long when she could have easily picked up a head coaching job somewhere else is that she is waiting for Murphy to hang ‘em up and hand the crown down to her. If that is true, it would be a mistake by UA to follow through on that notion - especially since things have been turning stale as of late. Letting a retiring coach name his/her successor does not often work out too well in sports (David Hobbs and Dana Duckworth just to name two). The 57-year old Murphy could retire tomorrow or he could hang around another 10-15 years. Greg Byrne isn’t firing him unless he does something inappropriate (if you get my drift). Habetz is 51 and might never get the job.
• Alabama has lost six of their last 12 games and are 2-4 in the SEC.
• It appears that Heivilin has locked in a starting spot and hitting second in the order. Prange moved down from third to fifth for the second two games.
• Bailey Dowling hit third in those two games. She still has not been able to locate her glove.
• As shown above, Johnson made a spectacular diving catch on Saturday that was the final out of the game. Preuitt had a great grab as well earlier in the game.
• Fouts has given up 10 longballs this season - the same number she gave up all of last season. It would have been 11 if not for the Vol baserunning error in Game 3 (see above). Fouts allowed a total of 13 in 2021. Gee, you don’t think she is getting worn down, do you?
• The Tide ace also has 1,030 career strikeouts. At this pace, she should surpass Kelsi Dunne by the end of the season. [Fouts had 41 Ks in 8 games during the panic-shortened 2020 season.]

1. 1,219 Kelsi Dunne 2008-11
2. 1,113 Stephanie VanBrakle 2003-06
3. 1,063 Alexis Osorio 2015-18
4. 1,045 Shelley Laird 1999-02
5. 1,030 Montana Fouts 2019-pres.
6. 976 Jaclyn Traina 2011-14

• After a hot start to her freshman season, Cahalan’s batting average continues to take a nosedive. After peaking at .436 last month, she is all the way down to .330. It is eerily similar to Megan Bloodworth’s performance last season. Let’s hope she doesn’t transfer out like her too.
• On Saturday, Marlie Giles made her first appearance in two weeks. She struck out in a pinch hitting role. You can’t really blame her for being rusty. No explanation was ever given for her long absence.
• Bama is still a draw. This entire series was sold out. There were PLENTY of crimson shirts in the crowd making noise. Roll Tide!

• Kayla Braud and Madison Shipman teamed up on the broadcast of Game 2 with play-by-play commentator Eric Frede. It was pretty entertaining and needs to become a regular thing.

WEEKEND MVP

• SHIPMAN: 3-8 (.375), 2 RUNS, one 2B, 0 K
• DOWLING: 2-9 (.222), 1 RUN, 3 RBI, 2 HR

UPCOMING ALABAMA SCHEDULE

The Tide takes a break from midweek games before another road trip.

• Friday, March 31 at Missouri 6 p.m. CT Columbia, MO
• Saturday, April 1 at Missouri 5 p.m. CT Columbia, MO - SEC Network
• Sunday, April 2 at Missouri 1 p.m. CT Columbia, MO

#Team27 #RollTide #BoycottALdotcom