[Tuck4Bama]

Originally Posted by Stoney

Which poll do they use or is it like college football coaches -vs- Associated Press?

It is like the AP and coaches poll, they use the Coaches as the official.

[Stoney]

That clarifies things thanks.

[Tuck4Bama]

Alabama Takes Two from Auburn in Front of Record Crowd Release: 04/06/2007

A record crowd of 1,958 witnessed Alabama's two wins over Auburn
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 2 University of Alabama softball team defeated in-state rival Auburn 10-0 (5) and 3-2 Friday night in front of a school record crowd of 1,958 at the Alabama Softball Complex.
“Tonight was incredible,” said Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy. I wish I could thank every individual who came to watch us play. They are really a lift for the team and the coaches. We have the best fans in the country with the support they give us for them to come out here with the cold weather conditions and it being a holiday weekend. They are loyal fans.”
The Crimson Tide recorded five-run innings in both the third and fourth to run away with a 10-0 victory in the first game of the doubleheader.
With one out in the third inning, Jordan Praytor and Lauren Parker each drew walks to set up Charlotte Morgan in the cleanup spot. Morgan came through with a line drive double to the wall in center field. Both runs came around to score to put the Tide in front 2-0. Following a RBI single by Dani Woods, Kellie Eubanks hit a two-run home run to opposite field to make it 5-0 in favor of the Tide. It was the fifth home run of the season for Eubanks.
In the fourth inning, Brittany Rogers led off with her third infield single of the game. After moving to second on a ground out, Rogers stole third base to move in to a tie with Ashley Courtney for second all-time in stolen bases at Alabama with 71. Rogers, a sophomore from Dacula, Ga., is 62 shy of the record held by Kelly Kretschman.
Rogers scored on a ground out by Parker. Back-to-back singles by Morgan and Mandy Burford put runners on second and third with two outs. Woods came through with a two-out single through the right side. Two batters later Ashley Holcombe singled up the middle to drive in two more runs with two outs and make the score 10-0.
“I feel more comfortable at the plate,” said Woods. “It was a roller coaster ride in the beginning of the season with changing over to a new position. Now I have settled in and it helps hitting behind certain people and in a certain sequence because you become more comfortable.”
Chrissy Owens closed out the game in the fifth for a complete game shutout. She only allowed three hits and a walk for her ninth shutout of the season. She struck out seven batters in the game to improve to 18-2 on the year.
“We get pumped up for every SEC game,” said Owens. “It is good to have so many fans here because that pumps us up as well. It was amazing to see so many people come out Easter weekend when it was really cold out at night. To have all of these kids here was great.”
Three Alabama players tallied multi-hit games. Rogers was a perfect 3-for-3 in the leadoff spot with a run scored. Morgan went 2-for-3 with a double, run scored and two RBI. Woods was 2-for-2 with a run scored and three RBI. Eubanks and Holcombe each added two RBI in the contest and Burford became the 14th player at Alabama to score 100 career runs.
The second game ended up being a little bit closer but still featured some offense late in the contest.
Blair Potter drew the starting nod on the mound and was flawless through the first three innings. She did not allow a hit and struck out five of the first 10 batters she faced during that time. Her offense also gave her a three-run lead to work with.
The first run came in the second inning when Woods continued her success with runners on base and lined a double to right field to score Burford. The Tide added two more in the third inning as Parker and Morgan had back-to-back singles with two outs. Morgan received the RBI and later scored on an error.
Auburn scored for the first time in the series in the fourth inning. A single and a walk set up Myesha Finney for a two-run double to left field, cutting the lead to 3-2.
The Tide doubled their lead in the fifth inning on a solo home run to center field by Morgan. It was her eighth long ball of the season. The freshman has hit home runs in six of the seven SEC series.
“I am seeing the ball a lot better,” said Morgan. “I am comfortable at the plate and just try to come through with hits to score the runners on base. I know that every run counts in the SEC because no lead is safe with the teams in this conference.”
The Tigers came back with another run in the top of the sixth. Tatiana Fernandez started the inning with a triple to right field. Following the triple, Owens came in to pitch for Potter and got the next batter to ground out. Sara Ghezzi was able to bring in Fernandez on a single through the left side to make it 4-3, but Owens retired the next two batters, including a strike out to end the frame.
Holcombe gave Owens some cushion with a towering solo shot just inside the left field foul pole for a 5-3 advantage. The home run was the fourth of the season for Holcombe, passing the three she hit as a freshman last year.
Owens took advantage and came out firing in the seventh, getting the first two hitters to strike out swinging. She then got Ashley Arcuri to line one to center field and Rogers made a running catch to end the game.
The win was credited to Potter who improved to 10-0 on the season and remains undefeated in her Alabama career at 15-0. She pitched five innings with three runs on four hits, a walk and seven strikeouts. Owens picked up her 15th career save to move just one behind Shelley Laird for the school record. She struck out three in two innings of work.
Anna Thompson was the losing pitcher in the second game. She fell to 10-11 after allowing four runs on five hits and four walks in six innings. She recorded nine strikeouts in the contest.
Morgan led the Tide at the plate. She was 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI. Holcombe had two walks to go with her solo home run.
Alabama improves to 39-4 on the season and 14-4 in SEC play. Auburn falls to 18-24 overall and 6-12 in league games.
The two teams will close out the series on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Alabama Softball Complex.

[Stoney]

Now that's the way to beat the orange out of them leaving the fans blue.

[Tuck4Bama]

Tide Softball Cruises to Series Sweep Over Auburn Release: 04/07/2007

Brittany Rogers went 3-for-4 with three RBI and her first career out-of-the-park home run Saturday
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 2 University of Alabama softball team pounded out 12 runs on 12 hits Saturday to complete the three-game sweep with a 12-4 victory over in-state rival Auburn at the Alabama Softball Complex.
The Crimson Tide won their 40th game of the season to improve to 40-4 and 15-4 in the SEC. It is the eighth straight season that Bama has compiled 40 wins. Auburn fell to 18-25 on the year and 6-13 in league play. It was the first time UA swept the Tigers in a season series since 2003 and was the fourth series sweep in the 2007 conference season.
“In this league it is important to beat everyone,” said sophomore center fielder Brittany Rogers. “In the back of our minds we knew that we needed to get this one taken care of.”
Alabama hit four home runs in the series finale to give them seven in the three games against the Tigers. In 44 games Alabama has tallied 57 home runs, already six more than they had in 65 games last year.
The first home run of the game came in the second inning. With one run already in for Bama, Kellie Eubanks hit a solo shot to left field to double the lead. It was her second of the series and sixth of the season. Kelley Montalvo followed with a double to the gap in right center. She scored when Brittany Rogers drilled a home run to center field. It was the first career out-of-the-park home run for Rogers. She hit two inside-the-park home runs earlier this season from the right and left side of the plate. Rogers was batting right-handed when she hit the ball over the fence.
“It is a feeling I have never had before,” said Rogers. “The best part about that home run was seeing my teammates come out of the dugout and greet me at home. When I hit it I was looking at Alyson (Habetz) and her arms went up. That is when I knew it went out and I just felt a rush.”
Auburn came back to get one run back in the third inning, cutting the lead to 4-1, but the Tide answered with three more in the bottom half. Montalvo hit an opposite field home run that just cleared the fence in the right field corner. The home run drove in two runs and was the seventh of the year for the sophomore from Miami, Fla.
“Everybody comes through and that is the best part about our team,” said Montalvo. “We have somebody different every game coming through. It is something special about our team.”
The Tigers came right back with three runs on five hits in the fourth inning. Three straight singles loaded the bases for Myesha Finney, who hit a fly ball deep enough to center field to score a run. Auburn would get a run on a fielder’s choice and Brittany Scott tallied her second single of the game to drive in the third run and make the score 7-4.
Dani Woods gave Alabama its’ fourth home run of the game when she sent one out to center field for her fourth of the season. Her RBI moved her into the top-10 in school history, matching Lacy Prejean with 114 career RBI. All nine batters in Saturday’s lineup now have three or more home runs on the season.
With an 8-4 lead, the Tide finished the game with four runs in the fifth inning. Rogers drove in another run with her third hit of the game and an error by the pitcher, Anna Thompson allowed a second run to score on the play. Jordan Praytor brought in Rogers with a groundout to second base. Lauren Parker reached on a bunt single and stole second and third to set up Mandy Burford for the game-winning hit, a RBI single up the middle to make the final score 12-4.
Rogers led all players with a triple and home run. She went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBI. Montalvo was a perfect 3-for-3 on the day with a double, home run, three runs scored and two RBI. Woods was 2-for-2 with a walk, two runs scored and a RBI. Parker also tallied two hits with a double and a run scored. Scott led Auburn with two hits in two at bats, a run scored and a RBI.
Chrissy Owens went the distance for UA and allowed four runs on eight hits in five innings. She walked two batters and struck out to on her way to improving her overall record to 19-2 on the year.
The Tide continued to set attendance records as they had the largest two-day total in program history with 3,787 total fans in two days. They followed Friday’s record crowd of 1,958 with 1,829 fans on Saturday, the second largest crowd in school history.
“It was a great weekend,” said Montalvo. “We feed off the large crowds and everybody depending on us to do good. We play better when we have all of these fans. It gives us a lot of energy and it showed this weekend.”
Alabama will return to the field at the Alabama Softball Complex on Wednesday when they host Tennessee-Chattanooga for a doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m. The two contests will wrap up a 12-game stretch at home.

[Stoney]

That's what they should do everytime they face Auburn.

[Tuck4Bama]

Dani Woods Named SEC Softball Player of the Week Release: 04/09/2007

Dani Woods received her fourth SEC Player of the Week honor
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Southeastern Conference announced on Monday that University of Alabama junior Dani Woods was this week’s recipient of SEC Softball Player of the Week.
Woods, an outfielder/first baseman from Cockeysville, Md., helped lead the Crimson Tide to a 5-0 record last week, including a three-game sweep over in-state rival Auburn over Easter weekend. She posted a .583 avg. (7-of-12) in the five games with one home run and nine RBI. She also recorded a double, walk, three runs scored and three sacrifice hits to give her a .917 slugging pct. and .571 on-base percentage.
She came through with timely hits all week for Alabama. She had a two-run single as part of an eight-run inning against Northwestern State. She added another RBI later in the game to finish 2-for-3 with three RBI and a sacrifice bunt in a 13-7 victory. In the next game against Florida Atlantic, her sacrifice fly in the sixth inning drove in Lauren Parker for the Tide’s only run in a 1-0 win.
In the weekend series vs. Auburn, Woods was 5-of-7 (.714) with one home run, five RBI and three runs scored. In the series opener, she went 2-for-2 with a run, three RBI and a sacrifice bunt as the Tide rolled to a 10-0 win in five innings. Her double in the second game drove in a run to break a scoreless tie. UA ended up taking the game 5-3 as Woods moved into 10th on the all-time doubles list at Alabama. Woods was a perfect 2-for-2 in the series finale 12-4 victory with a walk, two runs scored and a solo home run. Her nine RBI on the week gave her 114 for her career and moved her into 10th on the career list.
Woods is the third UA player to garner SEC Player of the Week honors this season. She joins Brittany Rogers and Lauren Parker as the 2007 recipients. Woods was named SEC Player of the Week three times last season. The Tide also has three SEC Freshman of the Week honors in 2007.
The Crimson Tide will be back in action on Wednesday when they face Tennessee-Chattanooga in doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m. at the Alabama Softball Complex.
-UA-

[Stoney]

Roll Tide Roll.....

[Tuck4Bama]

No. 2 Crimson Tide Hosts Tennessee Chattanooga Release: 04/10/2007

Chrissy Owens is seeking her 20th win of the season
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama softball team will welcome Tennessee-Chattanooga to Tuscaloosa on Wednesday. The two teams will play a doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m. at the Alabama Softball Complex. The Tide is coming off a 5-0 week, including a three-game sweep over in-state rival Auburn in front record crowds. The Lady Mocs won 2-of-3 at Western Carolina and have won six of their last eight games.
Scouting Tennessee Chattanooga
The Lady Mocs enter Wednesday’s outing with a 26-22 overall record on the season. They are 1-4 this season against ranked teams with a 1-0 victory over No. 24 N.C. State. Tia Blosser leads the team with a .325 avg. while Alyssa Edwards is hitting .296 with four home runs and a team-high 29 RBI. Ashley Frizzell has a 1.95 ERA and 10-9 record while Brooke Loudermilk is 15-9 with a 2.21 ERA and 201 strikeouts.
Series History
Alabama holds a 4-2 all-time record against Tennessee Chattanooga. The last meeting came in 2004 when the Tide won 9-0 in five innings. UA has won the last two meetings since splitting a doubleheader in 2001.
Last Meeting
Alabama tallied nine runs on nine hits in a five-inning 9-0 rout of Tennessee Chattanooga in 2004. The two squads met in the final game of the Frost Cutlery Classic and the Tide finished off a perfect tournament with a 6-0 record. A grand slam by Stephanie VanBrakle in the third started things off for Bama.
Record Crowds
The Crimson Tide recorded its two largset crowds in school history in last weekend’s three-game series with Auburn. Friday night a record 1,958 fans came out to watch Bama win 10-0 (5) and 5-3. The second largest crowd of 1,829 on Saturday witnessed a 12-4 (5) victory by the Tide.

Last Time Out
Alabama swept a three-game series with in-state rival Auburn over Easter weekend. The Tide claimed victories of 10-0 (5), 5-3 and 12-4 (5) in the three contests. Bama hit seven home runs in the three games with four coming in Saturday’s finale. Six different players hit one out with Kellie Eubanks driving two out of the park. Dani Woods went 5-for-7 with a home run, five RBI and three runs scored in the series. Chrissy Owens was 2-0 on the mound with a save. SEC Player of the Week Dani Woods (Cockeysville, Md.) became the third Tide player on Monday to garner SEC Player of the Week honors this season. She recorded nine RBI on the week and was 7-of-12 (.583) at the plate. She had a double and a home run to go with three runs scored, a walk, two sacrifice bunts and one sacrifice fly.
Crimson Tide in the Rankings
Alabama is ranked No. 2 in the country in the USA Today/NFCA Top-25 and No. 3 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top-25. The Tide have been ranked in the top 10 for 26 straight weeks and have been ranked in 70 consecutive polls.
RPI Has Bama No. 2
The first installment of the NFCA Simulated Ratings Percentage Index was released last Friday and had The Crimson Tide listed with the second best RPI in the nation. Arizona held the top spot with the top strength of schedule. Alabama and Michigan are the only two teams in the country ranked in the top-10 in winning percentage, RPI and strength of schedule. The Tide has the 10th best strength of schedule and fourth best winning percentage. Tennessee has the top win percentage but with a strength of schedule of 65th.

National Player of the Year Finalists
Lauren Parker and Chrissy Owens were named two of 25 finalists for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year last week. Parker is hitting .464 with eight home runs and 38 RBI. She is second in the SEC in hitting and on-base pct. (.512). She is batting .458 in SEC play and leads the league in three categories in conference only games. Owens is 19-2 with a 0.95 ERA and 101 strikeouts. She has nine shutouts in 20 starts. The Crimson Tide is one of six teams with multiple selections to the list. The list will be narrowed to 10 finalists on May 9.
Home Sweet Home
Alabama had its 30-game home winning streak snapped with an extra-inning 2-1 loss to Georgia but have since won seven in a row at the Alabama Softball Complex. The Tide are now 29-1 at home this season to give them one of the nation’s top home-field advantages. Now in the 11th year of the program, the Tide owns a career record of 219-38 at home, a winning percentage of .852. Season ticket sales are at an all-time high with over 1,100 sold for the first time in program history. Last season Alabama went an incredible 30-4 at home with an undefeated 5-0 during the NCAA Tournament.
Rising Up
Junior Dani Woods hit .583 in the five games last week to raise her batting average 37 points. She climbed over the .300 mark for the season and is now batting .326 (31-of-95). She hit her fourth home run of the season and drove in nine runs to give her 30 RBI on the season. She has moved into the the top-10 all-time in both doubles and RBI.
Bombs Away
All nine players on the Alabama softball team who have started over 35 games have hit three or more home runs. The regular starting lineup has combined for 52 home runs this season. Five of those nine players have hit six or more long balls. Mandy Burford leads the team with nine home runs while Lauren Parker and Charlotte Morgan are close behind with eight. The left side of the infield has 13 home runs with Kelley Montalvo hitting seven out and Kellie Eubanks crushing six home runs. Since SEC play has started Morgan and Montalvo have been on fire. Morgan has seven home runs in the last 23 games and Montalvo has hit five.

30 RBI Club
Only 13 SEC players have recorded 30 or more RBI this season but the Tide has four of those. Lauren Parker leads the team and is sixth in the conference with 38 on the season. Mandy Burford is seventh with 34 and Charlotte Morgan is tied for 10th with 31. Dani Woods recently joined the club with nine RBI last week to give her 30 on the year. Jordan Praytor is just one RBI shy of becoming the fifth player with 30 RBI.
Hitting .300 or Better
Seven of the nine everyday starters are batting over .300 for Alabama. As a team they are hitting .334 which is 122 points better than their opponents’ average of .212. In all nine of the 16 players who have batted this season are hitting over .300. Lauren Parker leads the way with a .464 avg. while Mallory Benak is 5-of-10 (.500). Brittany Rogers is just under the .400 mark with a .399 avg. and Charlotte Morgan is batting .385. The other players batting over .300 are Jordan Praytor (.344), Kelley Montalvo (.330), Dani Woods (.326), Michelle Menningmann (.323) and Mandy Burford (.320).
40 Wins Eight Straight Years
The Crimson Tide have now won 40 or more games in each of the past eight years. Head Coach Patrick Murphy has guided Bama to winning seasons in all nine of his seasons at the helm and after winning 39 games his first year he has posted eight straight 40-win seasons. He has four seasons with 50+ victories and two with over 60 wins. This season the Tide is 40-4 overall.

Approaching 20 Wins
In the previous 10 years of the program, there have been 11 20-win seasons for Tide pitchers. Junior hurler Chrissy Owens holds one of those 11 with her 21 victories last season as a sophomore. She is one win shy of recording the 12th 20-win season as she sits at 19-2 after posting three wins in the five games last week. The last two seasons Alabama has had a pair of players who won 20 games. They are trying to accomplish the feat again this season as Blair Potter is a perfect 10-0.
On Fire
Sophomore second baseman Lauren Parker (Port Neches, Texas) has been on fire in the last three weeks. In the last 14 games she is batting .523 (23-of-44) with two home runs, 12 RBI, 14 runs scored and five doubles. She has started 13 of those 14 games and recorded two or more hits eight times. She had two-run home runs in the first inning of both contests against Arkansas, a three-hit game at LSU and a 4-for-4 day with three runs and three RBI Sunday versus Georgia.
Rounding the Bases
Lauren Parker has made scoring runs a regular occuring theme this season. She currently has a streak of seven straight games with a run scored. In 41 games this season she has tallied 39 runs scored to rank second on the squad. She has scored a run in 31 of her 41 contests. Earlier this season she scored a run in 13 straight games. She has seven games with two or more runs scored and set a career high with three on 4/1 against Georgia.

What a Difference a Year Makes
Last season Lauren Parker played in 30 games at Baylor and hit .266 with 10 RBI but this season she has been on a tear, leading the team in several categories and ranking among the SEC leaders. She leads the team with a .464 batting avg. to go with 52 hits, 39 runs, nine doubles, two triples, eight home runs and 38 RBI. She has recorded a .795 slugging pct. in 41 games and a .512 on-base percentage. She has a hit in 31 of her 41 games, scored a run in 31 outings and driven in a run in 21 games.
Morgan a Menace at the Plate
Freshman Charlotte Morgan (Moreno Valley, Calif.) has recorded a hit in 16 of the 18 games for the Tide. In her last 21 games she is batting .426 (26-of-61) with 18 runs, 23 RBI, seven home runs and seven walks. After 19 SEC games she is batting .357 and leads the team with six home runs and 20 RBI to go along with 15 runs scored. She has hit home runs in six of Bama’s seven SEC series. She has raised her season avg. to .385 (40-of-104) with eight home runs and 31 RBI to go along with 26 runs, six doubles and 19 walks.

SEC Leaders
The Crimson Tide leads the SEC in 12 team categories. Ashley Holcombe leads the SEC with four pickoffs while Brittany Rogers is tied for the league lead with 43 runs scored. In SEC games, Alabama leads the conference in 11 different team categories. Lauren Parker leads the conference in three different categories in league games, including runs (16), hits (27) and total bases (41). Charlotte Morgan leads the conference with six home runs, 20 RBI and a .696 slugging pct.




(Continued on next post)

[Tuck4Bama]

Stealing a Record
On April 3 against Northwestern State, Alabama set a school record with nine stolen bases in one game. It broke the previous record of eight set three times before. Five players combined for the nine steals. Brittany Rogers swiped three to lead the team. Jordan Praytor and Mallory Benak each tallied two while Charlotte Morgan and Mandy Burford also stole a base.
100 Stolen Bases and Counting
The Crimson Tide have blazed their way to a SEC-leading 123 stolen bases in 44 games this season, an average of 2.8 stolen bases per game. They have only been caught stealing 25 times on the year for a success rate of 83.1-percent. They have 13 more stolen bases than any other SEC school. The Tide has stolen 104 more bases than their opponents.
Walk This Way
Mandy Burford and Kellie Eubanks have been patient at the plate this season and have helped the Tide rank first in the SEC in walks. Burford leads the team with 24 walks and while Eubanks is right behind with 23 walks. Both players have drawn three walks on two occasions this year and have five games with two or more walks. Despite her .228 batting average, Eubanks still has above a .400 on-base percentage due to the walks and four hit-by-pitch. Meahwhile Burford has a .466 OBP with five hit-by-pitch.
Patience is a Virtue
The Crimson Tide team drew 31 walks in five games last week to give them 155 walks on the season. They have drawn 54 walks in the last nine games and now lead the SEC in total walks. They also lead the conference with 59 walks in league play. Players have drawn three walks in a game seven times this season. As a team they have walked five or more times in eight of the last nine contests and 16 times this season.
Who’s on First
Alabama has received production throughout the lineup with seven of the nine everyday starters posting at least a .400 on-base pct.. Lauren Parker has the highest OBP at .512 with 52 hits, eight walks and five HBP. Charlotte Morgan has found her way on with 40 hits, 19 walks and one HBP for a .476 OBP. Mandy Burford has 33 hits, 24 walks and five HBP for a .466 OBP and Jordan Praytor has posted 43 hits to go along with 18 walks and three hit-by-pitch for a .438 OBP.

Big Innings
One of the big reasons that Alabama is 40-4 this season is the fact that they have scored three or more runs in an inning 42 times. They have had an inning with at least three runs in 27 of the 44 contests. They have two games this season with a 10-run inning.
Manufacturing Runs
Alabama is scoring 7.95 runs per game to lead the SEC. So far this season they have outscored their opponents by a combined 318-69, an average margin of victory of 6.23 runs per game. The 318 runs scored is 52 more than LSU who is second in the conference. Alabama has scored three or more runs in all but four games this season.

Two-Out RBI
With two outs you can’t count the Tide batters out. They have produced 85 runs this season with two outs. Bama tallied 10 two-out RBI in the three-game series against Auburn. Lauren Parker leads the team with 15 two-out RBI while Jordan Praytor has driven in 10 runs. Parker is batting .405 (15-of-37) with two outs. Brittany Rogers is hitting .424 (14-of-34) with two outs and has seven RBI. Ashley Holcombe and Dani Woods both came through big last week with two outs and now have nine two-out RBI. Mandy Burford has 34 RBI on the year, eight of which have come with two outs.
Put the Bat on the Ball
In a total of 1,315 plate appearances this season, Alabama hitters have only struck out 154 times. Only one out of every 8.5 plate appearances has resulted in a strikeout. There are two players who have started over 40 games and have fewer than 10 strikeouts. Lauren Parker has on