Montana Fouts Perfect Again, Alabama Offense Explodes in Run-Rule Win over Ole Miss
Montana Fouts is supposed to be walking across the Coleman Coliseum stage this weekend to receive her Master's degree, but instead she was a little busy being perfect in Oxford, Mississippi.
This may have been her most dominant performance yet as Fouts needed just 67 pitches to take care of Ole Miss Friday night to complete her second perfect game of the season, third solo of her career and fourth overall. It was her first perfect game in conference play.
The Alabama offense exploded for nine runs to capture its first run-rule victory of SEC play with the 9-0 win over the Rebels in six innings.
"It was really easy to trust my defense," Fouts said in a press release. "Ole Miss was putting the ball in play but we were making great plays out there. We put the runs on the board, which is always great as a pitcher. Putting up five runs in the first two innings was a big deal."
The nine runs are the most in SEC play and the 11 hits are tied for second most. The star at the plate was freshman outfielder Larissa Preuitt. She went 4 for 4 with two doubles, two RBIs and a stolen base. Her double in the sixth inning pushed Alabama over the run-rule threshold, which allowed Fouts to complete her perfect game in six innings instead of seven.
Preuitt raised her batting average 30 points with her performance Friday night.
Patrick Murphy moved Jenna Johnson into the leadoff spot two weekends ago after Ashley Prange had to miss some time in the Auburn series with an injury. He liked the way she looked last weekend against LSU, but wanted to see her get on base more in the leadoff position.
Johnson reached twice Friday night, including a walk to open the game that got the Alabama offense started. She had an RBI and a sacrifice bunt. Looking completely healthy in the two-spot, Prange went 3 for 4 with an RBI.
The Crimson Tide scored two in the first, added three more in the second inning and scored four more runs in the sixth with two outs.
This is exactly the type of game Alabama needed heading into postseason. The offense has been waiting on a performance like this, the defense was error free, and what more is there to say about Fouts?
The fifth-year pitcher continues her commanding control of SEC opponents with her eighth complete-game shutout in conference play. Fouts has now lowered her ERA to 1.38.
"That was old fashioned Alabama softball," Murphy said in a press release. "The starting pitcher had a great game, the defense was terrific and we had 11 hits and kept innings alive. We saw four pitchers tonight and thought we did well against all four and Montana [Fouts] did the rest. There were some really good at-bats early. We went out with a game plan and our hitters followed it to a tee. We adjusted really well to each of the pitchers they put in.”
Alabama (37-16, 13-9) SEC will be back against the Rebels (28-24, 7-15) SEC Saturday at 1 p.m. on SEC Network with the chance to take the series.
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