HONOLULU – While Alabama students enjoyed Spring Break stress-free, the Alabama Crimson Tide softball team was soaking up the sun, and wins, in Hawaii for the Rainbow Wahine Classic.
The Crimson Tide are the final undefeated team in all of NCAA Division I softball at a school-record shattering 31-0.
The opening Wednesday matchup against the SIUE Cougars was the biggest scare of the week as freshman pitcher Montana Fouts came in for the second of her three saves on the weekend to secure a 6-4 victory.
Thursday saw heavy bats from the Crimson Tide as Kaylee Tow, Bailey Hemphill and Reagan Dykes had monster days at the plate to secure a 9-3 win over Niagara and an 8-3 win over SIUE. Tow had a double, an RBI and a single home run to seal the victory over Niagara, while Hemphill did the bulk of the damage with a grand slam in the bottom of the second inning. Dykes secured two RBIs with the help of a two-run home run to put the lead out of reach for the SIUE Cougars. The SIUE win initially broke the program’s record for an undefeated streak to begin a season as the Tide reached 28-0.
The Crimson Tide built on the impressive showing at the plate with two run-rule wins on Friday over Niagra, 12-2, and Hawaii, 9-0. Tow hit a home run in each contest while Dykes and Caroline Hardy each reached the fence against Niagra. Hemphill, Merris Schroder and Maddie Morgan each had a home run in the first contest against the Hawaii Warriors.
Alabama closed the series with a 6-2 win over Hawaii to move to a 31-0 record as junior pitcher Sarah Cornell earned her eleventh victory on the season.
While Saturday’s performance saw head coach Patrick Murphy name the entire team the MVP of the day, he named his top players for the series this morning.
https://twitter.com/UACoachMurphy/status/1107148571160137729
The Crimson Tide will head to College Station Friday for its first SEC road test against Texas A&M. The Tide will return home March 27 for an interconference game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
(Photo Courtesy The Crimson White)
