Patrick Murphy Provides Injury Updates for Alabama Softball Heading into SEC Play

The Alabama head coach thinks Lexi Kilfoyl will be available for Alabama's series at LSU.

Katie Windham | Mar 6, 2022

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Despite having several players miss time due to injury, No. 2 Alabama softball is still off to a 20-0 start.

Junior outfielder Jenna Johnson said one of head coach Patrick Murphy's mottos is "next man up." Alabama embodied that this weekend at the Crimson Classic with junior pitcher Lexi Kilfoyl unavailable due to a foot injury. Montana Fouts appeared in all four games for the Crimson Tide, throwing nearly 300 pitches.

But good news for the Crimson Tide is that Murphy expects Kilfoyl back for the SEC series opener at LSU beginning on Friday.

"I think so," Murphy said when asked if Kilfoyl could be available in Baton Rouge. "She's going to pitch Tuesday in practice. Tomorrow now becomes a day off because we're not playing tomorrow, and then we get Tuesday, Wednesday, and then we'll practice at LSU Thursday night. But she’s going to pitch Tuesday in the bullpen.”

On the season, Kilfoyl is 3-0 with an 0.36 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 19.2 innings pitched. She was the starter for three of Alabama's ranked win over Arizona, Virginia Tech and Louisiana. She injured her foot in an at-bat on the turf fields at the Mardi Gras Mambo in Louisiana and has been in a walking boot this week.

Murphy also provided injury updates for outfielder Savannah Woodard and freshman catcher Aubrey Barnhart. Woodard has a sprained ankle, and he said she needs to be able to run on it without pain in order to return. Her status is day to day, but he is hopeful she will be back in the lineup soon. Woodard was third on the team with 26 RBIs last season. She has only appeared in seven games so far this season.

Barnhart hurt her thumb catching a ball at the plate and suffered a grade-two sprain. Murphy said she has been hitting in the cages and hit off live pitching on Friday. Senior Ally Shipman has spent most of the innings at catcher with Abby Doerr backing her up.

Alabama opens SEC play at LSU on Friday at 6 p.m.

Published Mar 6, 2022

KATIE WINDHAM

Katie Windham is the assistant editor for BamaCentral, primarily covering football, basketball gymnastics and softball. She is a two-time graduate of the University of Alabama and has covered a variety of Crimson Tide athletics since 2019 for outlets like The Tuscaloosa News, The Crimson White and the Associated Press before joining BamaCentral full time in 2021. Windham has covered College Football Playoff games, the Women's College World Series, NCAA March Madness, SEC Tournaments and championships in multiple sports.