Alabama Softball Holds First Practice for 2022 Season

Crimson Tide works out inside, hopes to begin long road back to Oklahoma City of the Women's College World Series.

The University of Alabama softball team opened practice Sunday, with an eye at returning to the Women's College World Series.

The team did a variety of workouts inside due to the lousy weather, which brought snow to other parts of the state. 

The Crimson Tide will open the season at the Candrea Classic in Tucson, Arizona, against Southern Utah on Feb. 11. It'll also face Oregon State, New Mexico and host Arizona over the three-day weekend tournament. 

Highlights of the schedule include six games against three 2021 Women's College World Series teams including Arizona, Florida State and Georgia, along with a combined 16 games against 2021 Super Regional teams Virginia Tech, Texas, LSU, Kentucky, Florida and Missouri.

It's been an interesting offseason for the Crimson Tide, which had senior pitcher Montana Fouts selected to the 2022 USA Softball Women’s National Team roster that will compete this summer at the World Games in Birmingham, Ala.

It's her first time on Team USA. Fouts previously tried out in the fall of 2019 after competing with the U19 team that previous summer, earning a third-place showing at the International Cup.

Alabama softball alum Haylie McCleney is also on the team, The 2022 World Games are scheduled for July 7-17 at Hoover Met Stadium.

Let’s Roll🌊#Team26 #RollTide pic.twitter.com/a1SzQM1J30

— Alabama Softball (@AlabamaSB) January 16, 2022

Additionally, head coach Patrick Murphy will be enshrined into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame as part of its Class of 2022. He'll be the inaugural inductee in the sport of softball.

Murphy, currently in his 26th year overall at Alabama and 24th as head coach, is one of eight members of the Class of 2022 that also includes former Crimson Tide basketball standout Keith Askins along with Doyle Alexander, William Andrews, Rusty Greer, Jake Peavy, Philip Rivers and Justin Tuck.

He's 1,149-320 (.782) overall at Alabama, 437-158 (.734) in Southeastern Conference play, with 13 Women’s College World Series appearances, including a national championship in 2012. 

Overall, his teams have made 22 NCAA Tournament appearances, won six SEC regular season titles and five SEC Tournament championships as head coach.

The Class of 2022 will be inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame on May 7, 2022.