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No. 4 Alabama Softball Faces No. 15/18 UGA

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The Crimson Tide face a bigger challenge in the Georgia Bulldogs.

Savannah Woodard gaining confidence again.

On Tuesday night, Alex Salter (4-0) no-hit Alabama State (14-16) in an 8-0 run rule win that went five innings. Bama started seven freshmen in a lineup that collected 11 hits.

Savannah Woodard made a pinch-hitting appearance in the third inning and walked. In the fifth, she stroked a walk-off triple to left field for the win. It was her second RBI of the season and first since a solo homer against LSU on March 12. Hopefully, this will get her going.

Due to James Spann unnecessarily scaring the bejeezus out of everyone, the Sand Mountain Showdown against Jacksonville State in Albertville, AL has been rescheduled for Wednesday April 6 at 6pm CT.

Wow, has it been ten years? Get there early. Four time All-American Jackie Traina will be throwing out the first pitch on Saturday.

WEEKEND SCHEDULE

No. 15/18 UGA comes to T-town with a chip on their shoulder. It’s one of those odd Sat-Sun-Mon series that works out for Bama since they have no weekday games next week.

  • Saturday, April 2 vs. Georgia 3:30 p.m. CT - ESPN2
  • Sunday, April 3 vs. Georgia 3 p.m. CT - SECN
  • Monday, April 4 vs. Georgia 6 p.m. CT - SECN/ESPNU

HOW TO WATCH... ALLEGEDLY

With the ESPN family of networks all done with broadcasting college bouncey-balls, attention is turned to spring sports. Eight of the next nine Crimson Tide games will be televised on an ESPN-run network.

GEORGIA

The Bulldogs (30-5) were a surprise World Series participant last season after upsetting Florida in the Super-Regional. The Dawgs were quickly eliminated from the WCWS but it gave them something to build on.

The Crimson Tide swept UGA in Athens a year ago.

OFFENSE

Much like Kentucky and South Carolina, Georgia has some pretty good hitters. UGA is tops SEC in team batting average .352. Their eye-popping 64 round-trippers is 15 more than the next closest conference team and more than double Alabama’s total. They also have 51 more runs than the next team and have a league best walk to strikeout ratio of 1.03 BB to every K. The Alabama offense has 126 walks and 126 Ks.

Six Bulldogs have eerily similar stats:

  • Sara Mosley .402, 10 HR, 37 RBI, 31 runs
  • Sydney Chambley .398, 9 HR, 24 RBI, 31 runs
  • Jayda Kearney .395, 9 HR, 34 RBI, 32 runs
  • Lacey Fincher .375, 10 HR, 30 RBI, 28 runs
  • Sydney Kuma .375, 7 HR, 25 RBI, 32 runs
  • Justin’s kid sister Jaiden Fields .373, 7 HR, 22 RBI, 28 runs
TEAM AVG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SLG% BB K BB:K HBP GDP OB% SB-ATT
Georgia 0.352 35 888 273 313 59 9 64 250 0.655 126 122 1.03 19 7 0.437 39-48
Alabama 0.305 33 816 200 249 43 7 30 177 0.485 126 126 1.00 23 5 0.407 40-52

PITCHING

You all are going to get sick of me saying it, but here again in Georgia we see a team with seven players who can pitch. Mary Wilson Avant is finally out of eligibility but four others are returning hurlers, joined by three freshmen.

While super-senior Lauren Mathis (3-1, 4.31 ERA) has struggled a bit, sophomore Madison Kerpics (11-2, 1.89 ERA, 3 saves) has stepped up and taken charge but mostly as a reliever. Kerpics leads the team in innings pitched at 77.2 but has only eight starts in 22 appearances. Freshman Kylie Macy (8-1, 3.50 ERA) along with Britton Rogers (8-1, 4.64 ERA, 1 save) have gotten the majority of the starts at 11 and 12 respectively. Macy has given up 11 home runs. Rogers has yielded 40 walks, which is a lot, to 63 strikeouts. Despite the team record, this staff has some issues.

DEFENSE

Georgia has committed 33 errors and has a .963 fielding percentage which is about middle of the pack in the SEC. Shortstop Ellie Armistead is responsible for eleven of those boots. First baseman Sydney Chambley and second baseman Sydney Kuma have four each.

Alabama has 18 errors and a .980 fielding percentage.

#Team26 #RollTide