Alabama vs LSU Softball Showdown; Preview & TV

“When the going gets tough
The tough get going
When the going gets rough
The tough get rough”
~ Billy Ocean

It doesn’t get any easier for the Crimson Tide with the LSU Tigers coming to town.

SCHEDULE

• Friday, April 28 vs LSU 6 p.m. CT Tuscaloosa, AL - SECN+
• Saturday, April 29 vs LSU 1 p.m. CT Tuscaloosa, AL - ESPN2 - Senior Day
• Sunday, April 30 vs LSU 11:30 a.m. CT Tuscaloosa, AL - ESPN

TV... ALLEGEDLY

Game 1 is on stream only. Barring weather delays, Games 2 and 3 are on basic cable.

LSU (37-11, 10-8)

The Bayou Bengals are currently ranked 12/13/14/19. They started the season strong winning 21 of their first 22 games heading into SEC play. Since then, the Tigers have taken two out of three from South Carolina, Ole Miss, and Mizzou. They lost two of three to Auburn, swept MSU, and were swept by Tennessee. On paper, this is a pretty even match-up. As last weekend’s raucous sold-out crowds at Rhoads have indicated, home field advantage doesn’t seem to mean much to Bama.

Some of the opposing players should be very familiar to Tide softball fans. Ali Kilponen (11-5, 2.18 ERA) is back for her 88th season. But she is being outshined by freshman Sydney Berzon (13-5, 1.60) - must be nice. In the conference, LSU’s team ERA is behind only Tennessee (1.39) and Alabama (1.92) at 1.96.

Les Tigres are also third in the conference in both Team BA (.319) and on-base percentage (.407). They don’t hit a lot of homers and don’t steal too many bases, but they do walk a good deal.

Not surprising, Danieca Coffey (.416 BA, .508 OBP, 38 runs) is having another fine season. Taylor Pleasants (.355 BA, .605 SLG) leads the team in RBI with 45. Georgia Clark (.298 BA) has 11 homers and 38 RBI.

The Tigers are not big on striking opponents out. They depend mostly on their excellent defense. LSU’s fielding percentage of .976 is once again ... third in the SEC.

ALABAMA (34-15, 10-8)

Alabama received another drop in the polls. Now at 16/16/16/15, they are on the bubble to host a Regional. It is the final regular season home games for the Tide and emotions will be running high. Can Patrick Murphy prepare his team to fight back the tears and play their hearts out three days in a row?

Should Alabama not be selected as an NCAA Tournament Regional host (16 seed or higher), Sunday will be the last appearances at Rhoads for superstars Montana Fouts, Ashley Prange, Ally Shipman, and disappointing Faith Hensley.

Much like last weekend, it feels like Bama gets at least one win and one loss with a rubber match on Sunday. Much will depend on The Gut® and how he prepares his team.

#RollTide #Team27 #BoycottALdotcom