Catching up with the Crimson Tide: Softball, baseball both on a roll

Following the time of intense turbulence that was last week, the Alabama diamond sports have picked up some massive wins to bolster their respective postseason hopes.

The baseball team won its first series under interim head coach Jason Jackson. Meanwhile, the softball team closed out the regular season with a series victory and has two wins to open the SEC Tournament. Unfortunately, few stories are ever perfect. Softball saw ace pitcher Montana Fouts leave Thursday night's game with an injury, leaving the Tide's pursuit of an SEC title in serious jeopardy.

Still, multiple huge games are on the docket for both teams. Here are some of the stories that have come together this week.

What happened: The regular season came to an end last weekend for the No. 13 Crimson Tide (40-17, 14-10 SEC). A series win in Oxford, Mississippi, was almost overshadowed by a Game 3 collapse that kept Alabama out of the top four in the SEC Tournament bracket.

However, the fifth-seeded Crimson Tide responded with a pair of wins to reach the semifinals in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Alabama beat Missouri 7-2 on Wednesday in a relatively stress-free, weather-delayed affair. Next came an extra-inning nailbiter against defending tournament champion Arkansas. Alabama won the marathon game, 3-2, in nine innings, with a two-run double by Bailey Dowling in the top of the ninth proving to be the difference.

Despite pulling out the win, Alabama's title chances might have been dealt a serious blow as Fouts left the game with one out in the bottom of the seventh as she came up limping after striking out her ninth batter of the game. Alabama has yet to provide a concrete update on the superstar's status other than ruling her out for Friday's semifinal against either eighth-seeded Florida or top-seeded Tennessee.

With Fouts injured, Alabama turned to Alex Salter on Thursday. After entering the game with the score tied, the redshirt sophomore did what she had to do to earn the win, giving up an unearned run on four walks and two hits over 2 1/3 innings. Despite a fielding error that brought the tying run to third in the bottom of the ninth, the Crimson Tide held off the Razorbacks in a game that ended after midnight.

What’s on deck: Alabama has made it further than it did in last season’s SEC Tournament as it hopes to repeat its 2021 feat where the team won the whole thing at the Rhoads House. However, there's still a long way to go before the Crimson Tide can claim another conference tournament title.

Alabama will play the winner between Tennessee and Florida on Friday for its semifinal contest. The Crimson Tide did not play Florida at all during the 2023 season but did drop the second SEC series of the campaign to Tennessee in Knoxville. That matchup came down to the rubber game, as a big third inning by the Lady Volunteers helped seal the deal. Much will be made of how Alabama responds after not only playing a game deep into the night twice in a row while also losing its best player in Fouts.

Names to know: Salter and fellow pitcher Jaala Torrence are going to be pivotal names for the Crimson Tide in Fouts' absence. Both have high-level stuff, and Salter’s gritty performance to close out the Razorbacks was no small feat.

Salter tossed a no-hitter over five innings against Alabama State last season. Torrence did the same against Robert Morris earlier this spring. The Crimson Tide will need both pitchers to play up to their potential this week as it needs two more wins to take home the SEC Tournament title. Alabama will also need its bats to step up, regardless of who is in the circle.

What happened: The Alabama baseball team responded about as well as a unit could in the wake of last week’s shocking developments concerning now-former head coach Brad Bohannon. The Crimson Tide (33-16, 11-13 SEC) has won three of four games since Jason Jackson took over as interim coach, including a series over a top-five team in Vanderbilt. Tuesday, Alabama overcame two weather delays to beat Troy 7-2 in Montgomery, taking a second win this season over the in-state opponent. Three runs immediately after the second delay expired helped get the job done.

What’s on deck: The first road series of the Jackson era is here, and it’s massive. Alabama has three games against Texas A&M, the team which dealt the Crimson Tide one of its most crushing defeats in recent memory during last season at the SEC Tournament.

Texas A&M (29-20, 11-13 SEC) also won a series against a top-five team last weekend, taking two games from Florida. With the Aggies and Crimson Tide sitting even in the conference standings, this weekend is a tremendous opportunity for Alabama to get revenge for last season.

First pitch in the series is Friday at 6 p.m. CT. Saturday’s game is at 2 p.m., and Sunday’s finale is at 3 p.m. A series win in College Station is as important as it gets for Alabama.

Names to know: Hunter Furtado took the ball in a spot start against Troy and was outstanding, striking out seven Trojans in 3 2/3 innings with one earned run. He’s normally a bullpen pitcher, and if he can continue the momentum from one of his best outings since joining the Alabama program, his arm will be a vital piece. There is no superlative to overstate the importance of readily-available arms in a series late in league play. If he can keep delivering innings and sitting batters down, the results might not be what the Aggies are hoping for. Bryce Eblin has been getting playing time at third base, despite playing at second in 2022, and he had three hits against Troy. If he’s hitting and manning the hot corner well, that adds another wrinkle to an offense that’s already very good at putting the bat on the ball, and a defense which already has veteran experience at all the other infield positions.