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04-27-2007, 04:10 PM
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| Re: Crimson Tide Softball Standings Quote:
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04-27-2007, 04:12 PM
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04-30-2007, 09:38 AM
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| Re: Crimson Tide Softball Standings Blair Potter Tosses No-Hitter to Give No. 2 Alabama its 50th Win of Season Release: 04/29/2007  Blair Potter pitched the 12th no-hitter in school history on Sunday TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Sunday was a storybook day for five seniors on the No. 2 University of Alabama softball as all five played a part in the Crimson Tide earning its 50th win of the season in an 8-0 victory over Kentucky to complete the series sweep and extend its winning streak to 17 straight victories. “It was a fun day,” said Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy. “You couldn’t have written a better script for the five seniors. It is like the Field of Dreams.” Senior pitcher Blair Potter pitched the best game of her two-year career at Alabama with a five-inning no-hitter. The Tide ended the game with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth. With senior Michelle Menningmann on third base, another senior Kellie Deska was called on to pinch hit and hit a high fly ball to right field to drive in the winning run. Senior outfielder Mandy Burford went 2-for-3 with her 10th home run of the season and Mallory Benak scored a run in a pinch run opportunity in the second inning. “Coach Murphy told me to go up there and win this game and Blair got a no-hitter so I couldn’t be any more excited,” said Deska. “The feeling that my teammates give me and the support they give me is incredible. The opportunity was amazing and I am just glad it worked out.” Potter, a native of Columbus, Ga., was absolutely brilliant on the mound in her final regular season start at the Alabama Softball Complex. After a groundout to start the game, Potter went on to strike out the next nine batters she faced. She held a perfect game until the top of the fifth with one out when a pitch inside got away from her and hit Molly Johnson. However, out of the 16 batters Potter faced, only one hit a ball out of the infield, a fly out to left field by Katie Campbell to start the fifth. “I wasn’t really thinking about the no-hitter,” said Potter. “I was on the mound and kept hearing their coach say ‘break it up’ but I didn’t know what she was talking about. It is nice to go out there throwing and knowing you have a good defense behind you. With the offense it makes it easy going out there to throw because you know they are going to score runs for you.” The no-hitter was the 12th in school history. Potter became the seventh Tide pitcher to hurl a no-hitter. The senior starter improved to 16-0 on the season and 21-0 for her career at Alabama. She matched a career-high with 10 strikeouts. It was a career high that she set yesterday in a 6-0 victory over the Wildcats, only she pitched seven innings in that game. “When we got to the park I was just going to flip a coin between Blair and Chrissy (Owens) for who was going to pitch,” said Murphy. “I went with the kid who did a better job yesterday. She keeps topping her performances, which is what you want out of your senior pitcher. Save for a hit-by-pitch it was a perfect game. It was a great performance.” Leading 6-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth, Bama needed two runs to end the game due to an eight-run rule. Burford stepped up and nearly missed a home run that sailed to the left of the foul pole in left field. On the next pitch Burford didn’t miss as the ball cleared the fence in left center to make it 7-0. The home run was the first in over a month for Burford but gave her 10 for the season, tying Kelley Montalvo for the team lead. Menningmann then came up and drew a walk. She stole second base to get in scoring position and moved to third on a pinch hit single up the middle by Allison Moore. On came Deska and with a 2-2 count she sent one to the opposite field in right for a sacrifice fly as Menningmann tagged and slid into home plate for the final run of the game. The seniors weren’t the only stories of the day for the Crimson Tide. A two-run home run to center field by Jordan Praytor in the second inning and Burford’s fifth inning shot brought Alabama to 73 home runs for the season, matching the school and SEC record for team home runs in a single season. The 1998 Alabama team also hit 73 to set the previous record. “I am really excited for Blair because she pitched such a great game and has had a great season so we just wanted to end the game for her,” said Burford. “We talked about the home run record at the beginning when we started off so strong but we haven’t really talked about it lately. Our bats have been coming alive the last week.” Praytor went on to go 2-for-3 in the game with a run and two RBI while batting third in the lineup for the first time this season. Her home run was the sixth of the year for her and second of the series. Burford also had a RBI single with the bases loaded in the first inning to finish 2-for-3 with a run and two RBI. In the second inning, Brittany Rogers reached base on an infield single. When she stole second base she broke the school record for stolen bases in a single season. It was her 44th swipe of the year, moving her past Kelly Kretschman who stole 43 bases in 2000. UA improved to 50-4 on the season and 21-4 in the SEC. The Tide are also a remarkable 35-1 at home in 2007 and are currently on a 17-game win streak. Coach Murphy reached the 50-win mark for the third straight season and fifth time in his nine-year career. Kentucky dropped to 20-28 overall and 4-21 in conference play with the loss. The series sweep over Kentucky set up the final series of the regular season for the Crimson Tide. They will battle No. 1 Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn. next weekend for a chance at the SEC Championship. Alabama, Tennessee and LSU all are currently tied for first in the SEC with a 21-4 conference record. The Tide and Lady Vols will play a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. and conclude the series with a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
__________________ I Love NCAA Sports Please Support Our Troops WWW.Soldiersangels.org Welcome to GoTeamsGo! | Introduce Yourself | Forum Rules |
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05-02-2007, 03:59 PM
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| Re: Crimson Tide Softball Standings Quote:
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05-02-2007, 04:09 PM
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| Re: Crimson Tide Softball Standings Quote:
Yes sir, they sure did and Bama against The Vols Head to head for the last 2 games of the season |
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05-02-2007, 04:13 PM
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| Re: Crimson Tide Softball Standings Quote:
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05-04-2007, 10:52 AM
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| Re: Crimson Tide Softball Standings Tide Prepares for No. 1 vs. No. 2 Series at Tennessee Release: 05/03/2007  Kelley Montalvo was 4-for-9 in last year's series sweep over Tennessee TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – For the first time in school history Alabama will be playing as the No. 1 team in the country this weekend when they head to Knoxville, Tenn. for a three-game series with No. 2 Tennessee. The Crimson Tide and Lady Vols are tied for first in the SEC with a 21-4 record heading into the final weekend of the regular season. Alabama is 50-4 and is on a 17-game winning streak after sweeping Kentucky this past weekend. Tennessee saw a 26-game winning streak come to an end at LSU over the weekend when they lost the final two games of a three-game set. Scouting Tennessee The Lady Vols were ranked No. 1 in the country for the past 11 weeks before Alabama took the top spot. UT has the top record in the country at 51-4. They lead the nation in both ERA and fielding pct. They are led by senior pitcher Monica Abbott who is 39-2 with a 0.62 ERA and 549 strikeouts. Opponents are batting just .096 against her. Megan Rhodes is 12-2 on the year with a 1.18 ERA and 172 strikeouts as well. India Chiles leads an offense that is batting .327 as a team. She is hitting .468 with 37 stolen bases. Lindsay Schutzler is batting .410 with 48 RBI and 33 stolen bases. Six of their nine starters have posted an above .300 avg. on the season. Series History Alabama holds a 22-11 lead in the all-time series with Tennessee with an 8-5 record in Knoxville. After losing three of the first four meetings with the Lady Vols, the Tide went on to win 10 of the next 11 contests and 15 of the next 17 from 1999-2004. Last season Alabama swept Tennessee in a three-game series before losing to them in the SEC Tournament. Last Year’s Series When these two squads met last year Tennessee was No. 2 and Alabama was ranked sixth. Monica Abbott came in 17-0 but gave up an early run in the first game. The Tide took a 3-0 lead before winnning 3-2 to hand Abott her first loss of the year. The second game was tied at 1-1 heading into the ninth inning. UT hung three on the board in the top half but Bama stormed back with four runs on four hits and an error to win the game on a Staci Ramsey two-run double to left center. The Vols led 3-1 in the third game but a four-run fifth inning sparked the Tide to a 6-3 win for the series sweep. Dani Woods and Kelley Montalvo each had two-run doubles in the big fifth inning. Abbott took all three losses in the series. Alabama Players vs. Tennessee Several Crimson Tide players have had success in their careers against Tennessee. Chrissy Owens has pitched in six games against the Lady Vols with a 1-0 record and one save. She has thrown 20 innings with six runs allowed, three earned, 22 hits six walks and 19 strikeouts. Kelley Montalvo was 4-for-9 with a double and two RBI last season while Brittany Rogers scored two runs and had three stolen bases. Mandy Burford went 3-for-8 last season with a run scored. Last Time Out Alabama swept a three-game series with Kentucky with a memorable finish for the five seniors. Blair Potter tossed her first career no-hitter with 10 strikeouts in an 8-0 (5) win on Sunday. Kellie Deska drove in fellow senior Michelle Menningmann with a sacrifice fly for the game-ending run. Mandy Burford hit her 10th home run of the season in the inning. Mallory Benak also scored a run in the game. Tide on ESPN Two of the three games at Tennessee this weekend will be televised nationally. The first game of Saturday’s doubleheader will start at 1 p.m. and will be aired by ESPN2. Sunday’s series finale will be shown on ESPN and is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. The commentators for the weekend will be Eric Collins calling the play-by-play and Cat Osterman providing the color commentary. After the weekend 14 of Alabama’s games will have been televised this season. WVUA has shown 10, Fox Sports one and Cox has also shown a game at LSU. No. 1 Team in the Nation Alabama is ranked No. 1 in the country this week for the first time in school history. They hold the top spot in both the USA Today/NFCA Top-25 and ESPN.com/USA Softball Top-25. Since the first regular season poll came out the Crimson Tide has been ranked in the top five every week with this week marking the 12th straight for Bama. The Tide has been ranked in the top 10 for 29 straight weeks and have been ranked in 73 consecutive polls. RPI Has Bama No. 2 Alabama was listed No. 2 in the latest NFCA Simulated Ratings Percentage Index on May 2. For the fourth straight week the Crimson Tide was listed among the top five RPI in the nation. Arizona has held the top spot for four straight weeks with the top strength of schedule. The Tide has the second best winning percentage of any team in the nation. 50-Win Season The Crimson Tide won No. 50 against Kentucky to give them 50 wins for the fifth time in school history and third straight year. The first came in 2000 when the team set a school record with 66 victories (66-14). They followed with a 50-11 mark in 2001. Bama has also won over 50 games the last two years going 63-15 in 2005 and 54-11 last year. SEC Pitcher of the Week Blair Potter (Columbus, Ga.) was named the SEC Pitcher of the Week this week after recording her first career no-hitter against Kentucky. She struck out a career-high 10 batters in the game while only allowing one ball to leave the infield in five innings. For the week she was 3-0 with two shutouts. She did not allow a run and did not walk a batter in 18 1/3 innings. She gave up nine hits with 28 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .138 batting avg. No-Hitter Blair Potter tossed the 11th no-hitter in school history against Kentucky and the first of her career. It was the first no-no of the 2007 season for Alabama after they recorded four last season. Chrissy Owens was the last to record one before Potter when she did not allow a hit in five innings against Mississippi Valley State in the NCAA Regionals last year. Stephanie VanBrakle tallied five no-hitters in her career with the Tide’s only perfect game last season at Kentucky. Winning Streak Alabama is currently on a 17-game winning streak and finished with an undefeated 16-0 record in April. During that span they have outscored their opponents 144-32. They scored eight or more runs in 12 of the 17 games and were in double digits seven times. They have hit home runs in 12 of the last 13 outings. The team is batting .370 (153-of-413) with 26 home runs, 27 doubles, three triples, 81 walks and 65 stolen bases. Opposing pitchers have an ERA of 10.04 against Alabama in the last 17 games. Earlier this season Bama won 25 straight games to start the season and went undefeated at 17-0 in February. Alabama Players Streaking The Crimson Tide players have been red hot during the current 17-game hitting streak. Lauren Parker leads the way and is batting .526 (20-of-3  during that span with 16 runs, six doubles, one home run and 11 RBI. She also has a .600 on-base pct. Dani Woods has been clutch with 24 RBI to go along with a .500 avg., nine runs, three doubles and five home runs. She has a .974 slugging pct. Brittany Rogers is batting .418 with 21 runs, three doubles, one triple, two home runs, 14 RBI and 17 stolen bases. Charlotte Morgan is hitting .375 with 14 runs, two doubles, three home runs and 17 RBI. Jordan Praytor is hitting .372 and has a .509 OBP with 12 runs, 16 hits, three home runs, 15 RBI, 12 walks and 10 stolen bases. Mandy Burford has a .558 OBP with 11 hits, 12 walks and six HBP. Blair Potter is 9-0 during that time with a 0.99 ERA and 59 strikeouts. Undefeated Months The Crimson Tide went udefeated in both February and April this season. They won their first 25 games of the sesaon with 17 of those victories coming in February. After posting a 17-4 record in March, the Tide went 16-0 in April to leap to No. 1 in the country. Last year Alabama went 12-1 in February and 15-4 in April. May was also kind to them as they won nine of their 10 games to advance to the Women’s College World Series for the fourth time. The only loss came to Tennessee in the SEC Tournament. One of Top Programs Since 2000 Since 2000 the Alabama softball team has won the second most games of any team in college softball with 423 victories. They are only one win shy of the winningest program in the country, Arizona, at 424 wins. LSU is close behind with 415 overall victories. BAMA Matches SEC Home Run Record The 2007 Alabama softball team matched the school and SEC single season home run record against Kentucky when they drove five out of the park in three games. Senior Mandy Burford hit a solo home run to give them 73 for the season, matching the record set by the 1998 squad. With three games left to play in the regular season they need just one to break the record. This season in 54 games they are averaging 1.35 per contest. Strengths in Numbers Alabama is the only team in the country that puts nine starters in the batting order every day who have hit four or more home runs. They are actually the only team with more than eight players who have hit four or more as 10 different players have hit four this season for Coach Murphy’s squad. The Tide is also one of only three teams in the country with 13 different players who have hit home runs (Alabama, CSU and Hawai’i). Stealing Records This season nearly every season and game school record for stolen bases has fallen or is close to being passed. On April 3 against Northwestern State, Alabama set a record with nine stolen bases in one game. It broke the previous mark of eight. In the first game at Ole Miss, the Tide swiped seven bases to set a new single season record with 139 and now have 155 for the year. Mandy Burford had four SB in the game to match the record held by Kelly Kretschman against Arkansas in 1999. Brittany Rogers has set the single season individual record with 44 SB, one more than Kretschman’s 43 SB in 2000. 150 Stolen Bases and Counting The Crimson Tide has blazed their way to a SEC-leading 168 stolen bases in 54 games this season, an average of 3.11 stolen bases per game. Brittany Rogers leads the team with 44 stolen bases. Jordan Praytor is next with 28 SB while Mandy Burford has 27. Mallory Benak is 17-of-21 and Lauren Parker is 15-of-20. The Tide has stolen 147 more bases than their opponents and has three or more stolen bases in 31 games. Speed Demons Alabama is far and away leading the nation in stolen bases per game at 3.11 per outing. They have posted 168 SB in 54 games. The next best team is Tennessee who is averaging 2.49 per contest and has 136 SB in 55 outings. Only 11 teams have over 100 SB for the season. Crossing Home The Crimson Tide players have stepped on home plate 402 times this season to lead the nation. They are averaging 7.44 runs per game to lead the country. So far 11 different players have scored 20 runs. Seven of those have tallied over 30 with three over 40 and one over 50. Brittany Rogers leads the SEC with 57 runs, scoring in 37 of the 54 contests. Lauren Parker has scored 46 times with runs in 35 of her 47 games. Mandy Burford is next with 40 runs scored and has scored in 30 outings. Hitting on All Cylinders Alabama has been outstanding at the plate all season and currently lead the nation with a .342 team batting average. The Tide has 457 hits in 54 games, an average of 8.5 hits per game. Two players have over 60 hits with Brittany Rogers leading the way with 71 and Lauren Parker close behind with 62. If the season ended today, Parker would hold the school record with a .484 batting avg., 16 points higher than the record held by Kelly Kretschman. Leading the Nation Alabama ranked first in the country in four different categories when the NCAA came out with its team and individual rankings on Tuesday. They are first in batting (.342 avg.), scoring (7.44 runs per game), slugging pct. (.574) and stolen bases per game (3.11). The Tide also rank in the top-10 in four other categories. They are second in win pct. (.926), fifth in ERA (1.31), seventh in home runs per game (1.35) and eighth in fielding pct. (.975). |
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05-04-2007, 10:57 AM
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| Re: Crimson Tide Softball Standings SEC Leaders Alabama leads the SEC in 11 team categories. They are batting 15 points higher, have scored 85 more runs, hit 18 more HR and stolen 31 more bases than any other school. In SEC games only, Alabama leads the conference in 15 different team categories. They are batting 49 points higher, have a 156 poing higher slugging pct., scored 66 more runs, tallied 29 more hits, hit 15 more HR, walked 15 more times and stole 13 more bases than any other SEC school in conference play. Eyeing SEC Records Alabama is right on target to finish the season close to several single season SEC records. With the numbers the team has currently they would break records for batting avg. (UA .342 - SEC .342), slugging pct. (UA .574 - SEC .527) and on-base pct. (UA .438 - SEC .409). They are also on pace to push the records for runs scored (UA 402 - SEC 437) and RBI (UA 347 - SEC 374). Lauren Parker is also close to the SEC record for batting avg. in a single season with her .484 avg. Sarah Fekete of Tennessee hit .500 in 2006. Praytor Catching Fire Junior Jordan Praytor has started to swing the bat well over the past two weeks. In her last seven games, she has had five multi-hit games and is batting .571 (12-of-21) with seven runs scored, three home runs, nine RBI and six walks. She has a 1.000 slugging pct. and .667 OBP. She also has six stolen bases during that time frame. She has raised her avg. 32 points and is now hitting .373 with 38 runs, six home runs and 40 RBI. Setting the Table As the leadoff hitter in the Tide lineup, Brittany Rogers (Dacula, Ga.) has done a good job setting the table for her teammates this season. She leads the team with 71 hits and is tops in the SEC with 57 runs scored. She has also set the school record with 44 stolen bases this season. In the 20 times she has reached base in the first inning, she has 15 stolen bases providing a deadly threat early in the game for Bama. Burford Always on Base Senior outfielder Mandy Burford (Anniston, Ala.) makes the most of her at bats and has constantly been on base for the Tide over the past few weeks. She has a .482 on-base pct. for the season and a .558 OBP over the last 17 games. She is batting .336 with 42 hits but leads the team in walks (27) and hit-by-pitch (10). When she reaches base she is a dangerous runner with 27 stolen bases on the year. Scoring in Bunches One of the big reasons that Alabama is 50-4 this season is the fact that they have scored three or more runs in an inning 56 times. They have had an inning with at least three runs in 37 of the 54 contests. They have two games this season with a 10-run inning with both coming in the second frame. They accomplished the feat against Winthrop and most recently Georgia. The 10 runs tied for the second highest run total in a single inning in school history. Alabama has also recorded nine, eight and seven-run innings this season. They have scored six runs six times, five runs nine times, four runs 14 times and three runs 22 times. They have outscored their opponents 87-10 in the second inning and 85-13 in the third. Undefeated Senior starting pitcher Blair Potter is undefeated in her Division I career with a 21-0 record at Alabama. Since transferring from Wallace-Dothan Community College, Potter has gone through the ranks without a loss. She has a career 1.49 ERA after posting a 1.14 ERA this season. In 2007 she has recorded three shutouts in her 20 starts and is 16-0. She has allowed only 18 earned runs in 110 2/3 innings with 74 hits allowed, 17 walks and 110 strikeouts. Right-handed batters are hitting just .169 against the Tide’s first ever left-handed hurler. No Free Passes Blair Potter has not allowed free baserunners this season, walking only 17 batters in 110 2/3 innings. Out of her 20 starts she has not walked a batter in 10 outings. She has only walked one batter five times. She has a strikeout to walk ratio of 6.47 to 1. She is on a current streak of 20 straight innings without a walk. In SEC games she has only walked seven batters in 61 2/3 innings with 66 strikeouts. Owens Moves Up on Shutout Lists Junior righty Chrissy Owens has blossomed into a No. 1 pitcher this year with a 23-2 record and 1.08 ERA. She has started 24 games with 11 shutouts and five combined shutouts for 16 total. She has only allowed 23 earned runs in 149 innings with 129 strikeouts. She tallied two shutouts at Ole Miss to move into second on the single season record list and third all-time. Victory Milestones Chrissy Owens (Miami, Fla.) earned her 50th career win against Tennessee Chattanooga, becoming just the fifth Tide player to win 50 games. The win also was her 20th of the season and she is now 23-2. It was the 12th 20-win season in the program’s 11-year history. Owens has accomplished the feat in back-to-back seasons after recording 21 victories last season as a sophomore. The last two seasons Alabama has had a pair of players who won 20 games. They are trying to accomplish the feat for the third straight year as Blair Potter is a perfect 16-0. No Extra Base Hits Chrissy Owens has only allowed 15 extra base hits this season. She has only allowed two home runs in 149 innings, the fewest by any pitcher in the SEC who has pitched an average of one inning per the team’s total games. Owens has only given up six home runs in 418 career innings. She has allowed 11 2B and two 3B this season as well for only 15 extra base hits out of 123 total hits. As a team Alabama has only allowed 12 home runs, tied for first in th New Infield Has Bright Future At the start of the 2007 season the Tide had new starters at all four infield positions. So far they have all been pleasant surprises with 34 combined home runs and only 24 errors in 54 games. Another bright side is all four are either freshman or sophomores. Kelley Montalvo is the only returning starter moving from second to third base. She has 10 home runs and six errors in 169 chances. Sophomore shortstop Kellie Eubanks has six home runs and 11 errors in 164 chances. Sophomore transfer Lauren Parker has nine home runs and five errors in 151 chances. Freshman Charlotte Morgan has nine home runs and two errors in 305 chances. Road Warriors The Crimson Tide have only played 14 games on the road this season but hold an 11-3 record. They won four of five contests on a week-long trek to Florida and South Carolina, including a sweep over the Gamecocks. The only other two losses came at LSU after Bama ended the Tigers 30-game home winning streak. RBI Machine Junior Dani Woods has been on fire during the Tide’s 17-game winning streak. She has been producing runs left and right with 24 RBI during the span. She is batting .500 (19-of-3 over the last 17 games. She has raised her average 76 points during the span. She climbed over the .300 mark for the season and is now batting .345 (40-of-116). She has hit five home runs during the span while scoring nine times. She has moved into the top-10 all-time in both doubles and RBI. For the season she has 26 runs scored, seven doubles, one triple, seven home runs and 42 RBI. Hitting .300 or Better Seven of the nine everyday starters are batting over .300 for Alabama. As a team they are hitting .342 which is 132 points better than their opponents’ average of .210. In all nine of the 16 players who have batted this season are hitting over .300. Lauren Parker leads the way with a .484 avg. while Mallory Benak is 7-of-13 (.53 . Brittany Rogers is just over .400 with a .403 avg. and Charlotte Morgan is batting .382. The other players batting over .300 are Jordan Praytor (.373), Michelle Menningmann (.311) |
