TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Some teams need a little bit longer to find that all-elusive chemistry, but when some teams find it, the results can be special.

For Alabama, it feels like the right time to make its all-important push gets to happen within the friendly confines of Rhoads Stadium. The No. 5 seed that will appear next to the Crimson Tide's insignia shocked many in softball circles as despite having the second toughest schedule in the country, Alabama had what would be considered bad losses to Lehigh and Kennesaw State, both had RPIs around 140.

Despite a slow start to the 2023 season, the Crimson Tide come into this weekend with plenty of confidence.

"I think everyone can see it," Jenna Johnson said. "The team is really starting to come together and what a better time to peak? I mean that's what we're excited about. That's what we've been saying all year, we're going to peak at the right time. The bats are going to come together at the right time, the defense is going to be there and the pitching. I think we're going to make a good run."

Early on the offense was the missing ingredient which made the difference between a top-eight seed and falling below that mark. The Crimson Tide finished No. 7 in the SEC in batting average hitting .279 and wound up in the bottom third of the conference in slugging percentage and on-base percentage.

The team needed to find its offense and did just that in the final six games of the season, including the SEC Conference Tournament. While Alabama went 4-2 during that stretch, it scored 32 runs on 52 hits, ending in the 7-6 loss to the eventual tournament champion, Tennessee. Compare that stretch to the six games prior, the Crimson Tide tallied 15 runs on just 30 hits to go 3-3 against Auburn and LSU.

For Ally Shipman, the way Alabama overcame its struggles, especially against Tennesse, is what makes the team dangerous coming into Regionals.

"I think we've taken a ton of momentum from that and a ton of confidence," Shipman said. "Tennessee's a really great team and being able to put some runs up against them, regardless of the loss, I think that gave us a lot of confidence. We've had a really great week at practice and I just really feel like our confidence is taking off."

Alabama's confident offense gets a favorable matchup on Friday against LIU. The Sharks have a 2.54-team ERA good for 47th in the country. Led by Lindsey Cowans' 2.34 ERA, the sophomore amassed a 16-9 record but LIU hasn't faced a Power 5 team this season, coming into Tuscaloosa with an RPI of 167.

While it hasn't been an easy road to this point of the season and will continue to be more difficult as this weekend progresses, Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy believes the team hasn't played its best softball this season.

"Sometimes you need a longer runway for a team to take off," Murphy said. "Maybe that was this year for us. They just needed a little longer runway to get going. ... They just needed a little bit more time to reach their potential and hopefully we will still do it."