Alabama Crimson Tide Softball
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Alabama Softball Needs Wins at South Carolina
The pollsters sure like the Crimson Tide, but what about the NCAA Selection Committee?
We are getting down to crunch time in the 2025 softball regular season. After dropping out of some polls for a couple of weeks in March, Alabama has clawed their way back into the rankings. The importance of being Top 16 or higher means that that team will be hosting a Regional, which is highly valuable. Depending on how high they are seeded or how the team on the opposite side of their bracket does in their Regional, it could mean hosting a Super-Regional as well. Bama is a lock to make the post-season. Where they play those games is still TBD and something they can have a say in.
Coming off a sweep of Mizzou, the Crimson Tide is now 11-10 in conference play. Finishing the regular season with a winning SEC record would be huge for them. It may not even matter what they do in the SEC Tournament if they reach that goal. But the upstart Gamecocks stand in their way.
As it stands now, South Carolina, Mississippi State, and Alabama all have 11-10 SEC records. By beating the Tide two games to one, the Bulldogs have a tie-breaker over Bama. MSU hosts bitter rival Ole Miss this weekend.
ACCOLADES & RANKINGS
Audrey Vandagriff has been selected to the 2025 NFCA D-I National Freshman of the Year list. The list of 25 will be narrowed to a Top 10 on May 8 and a Top Three on May 22. The winner will be announced on May 27 in Oklahoma City just prior to the start of the 2025 Women’s College World Series.
Others on the list include Alexis DeBoer (Washington), Nelly McEnroe-Marinas (Oklahoma), Taylor Shumaker (Florida), Jayden Heavener (LSU), Tori Edwards (LSU), and Hoover, AL native Bella Foran (FAU).
Vandagriff is one base theft behind an Oregon senior for the national lead. Alabama as a team has eclipsed the 100 stolen base mark in a season by three. Among Power teams, only Oregon has more swipes.
MOVING… UP? JUUUUST A SMIDGE
Two of the polls seem smitten with the Tide. The other two remain cautiously pessimistic. None of them seemed overly impressed with Bama sweeping Mizzou at home as much as the Pixie Fairyland Folks are.
Softball America 22 ↓ 23 ↑ 18 ↑ 14 ↑ 13
D1Softball 24 ↔ 24 ↑ 19 ↑ 18 ↔ 18
USAToday/NFCA 24 ↑ 23 ↑ 22 ↑ 20 ↑ 19
ESPN/USA Softball 23 ↑ 22 ↑ 17 ↑ 15 ↑ 14
South Carolina: #14/14/13/12
Alabama’s RPI currently dropped from #15 to 17.
SCHEDULE
It is the final regular season games for all the teams of the SEC.
Thursday, May 1 at South Carolina 5pm/6pm SEC+ (The Ocho)
Friday, May 2 at South Carolina 5pm/6pm SEC+
Saturday, May 3 at South Carolina 11am/noon SECN
HOW TO WATCH… ALLEGEDLY
The SC crew probably handle the broadcast on the first two games. Roy Philpott and Erin Miller will be rocking the mic on Saturday.
WEATHER
Should be three beautiful spring days. Partly Cloudy with highs in the 80s.
SOUTH CACKALACKY (37-13, 11-10 SEC)
SC was the early darling of the 2025 softball season when they reeled off 20 straight wins to begin the season. However, the biggest wins came over decent unranked Virginia (2 wins), decent unranked UNC (1 win) and a bunch of cupcakes. Their first 15 games were all at home. They also took two at home against Boston U who likely wins the Patriot League FWIW. The real series that put them on the map was winning a three-game set at ACC-favorite Duke. And then the SEC schedule kicked in…
SC opened the conference slate by being swept at Oklahoma. After returning home, they then dropped a midweek game to Coastal Carolina. Georgia came to Columbia and handed the ‘Cocks their fifth straight loss. It must have been a wake up call, because they would go on to beat UGA two games to one and then the same result against now-ranked #10 Texas Tech. After a midweek win over Clemson at home, SC would take 2 of 3 against LSU and Ole Miss, before dropping a series with Arkansas. Following that series, Clemson would get their revenge in their home stadium. Carolina would sweep Kentucky but this past weekend, they helped Auburn escape last place by handing them two wins in three games.
In short, South Carolina can be great and they can also stink the place up. It just depends which way the wind is blowing.
Former Gamecock player Ashley Chastain-Woodard is in her rookie season as head coach of SC. She returns to South Carolina after serving as head coach for the Charlotte for the previous five seasons. She did remarkable things with the 49ers and has improved the Gamecocks from last season (36-24, 8-16). They had a chance to do some big things last weekend at the Barn, but choked. Is she ready for big time softball?
Chastain-Woodard has taken a different approach than Patrick Murphy when it comes to scheduling. Two days after wrapping the Auburn series on the road on Sunday, they played Furman on Tuesday (a 10-2 win). Following that, they had one day off before Game 1 with Bama. Probably not a wise move this late in the season.
THROW THE BALL
The ‘Cocks depend on a trio of pitchers, all with ERAs between 2.66 and 2.74. They aren’t spectacular but they get the job done.
HIT THE BALL
Arianna Rodi has 14 HR and 45 RBI. However, no other Gamecock has more than 6 round-trippers. SC is dead last in the SEC in four-baggers with only 35 as a team. Alabama has 55. SEC leader Oklahoma has 90. Oddly enough, South Carolina leads the league in doubles with 84.
CATCH THE BALL
SC has an excellent fielding percentage of 0.982. Only Arky, UCLA, and Oregon field better.
TEN CENT ANALYSIS (i ain’t getting rich on this one)
The lack of power combined with their propensity to hit doubles sounds like a good defensive team can stifle them. Alabama can be that team… at times. If the Tide can eliminate errors and keep hitting and scoring like they have of late, they could take two of three in this series.
