Live Updates: No. 14 Alabama Softball vs. South Carolina

The Crimson Tide is back at Rhoads Stadium for a Thursday night matchup with the Gamecocks, looking to build on its first SEC series win last weekend.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama softball is back at Rhoads Stadium for a three-game conference series against South Carolina. 

Both teams are coming off of series wins. The Gamecocks (26-9, 3-6 SEC) took two of three games from Florida for their first SEC series win since 2019. Alabama (26-11, 4-5) won the first two games at Missouri behind dominant pitching performances from Montana Fouts. 

The fifth-year pitcher is back in the circle for the Crimson Tide Thursday night after winning NFCA Pitcher of the Week and SEC Pitcher of the Week. Fouts is 13-6 on the season with a 1.64 ERA and 198 strikeouts. Junior Leah Powell (1-1, 3.43 ERA)  is the starting pitcher for the Gamecocks. 

Alabama leads the all-time series 46-20 over South Carolina, including a 23-5 record in Tuscaloosa. This is the first series between these two teams at Rhoads Stadium since 2017. Last season, Alabama swept the Gamecocks in Columbia. 

This is the first of three home SEC series for Alabama in the month of April. The Crimson Tide is currently int he middle of the conference standings, and needs a strong month to move up in the standings and gain better postseason positioning. 

First pitch between the Crimson Tide and Gamecocks was moved up to 4 p.m. because of incoming bad weather in the Tuscaloosa area. The game can be streamed on SEC Network+. 

Starting lineups:

Follow along on the live blog for updates throughout:

See also:

Montana Fouts Wins SEC, National Pitcher of the Week Honors