Prange Powers Alabama to Opening SEC Tournament Win
There's just something about Ashley Prange batting against Missouri.
After a lengthy weather delay due to lightning and rain in the area that pushed the original start time back by five hours, Prange provided the thunder in the first inning of Alabama's 7-2 win over Missouri in the SEC Tournament.
The fifth-year third baseman absolutely crushed a ball to deep centerfield to put Alabama up 1-0 and added on another deep blast in the fifth inning, this time a two-run blast to cushion the Alabama lead.
Prange now has 15 home runs on the season with four of those 15 coming against the Tigers. She was 3-for-3 in the win with the two home runs and three RBIs.
"Today I was super locked in," Prange said after the game. "I know we came here, and we kind of had a chip on our shoulder and had something that we wanted to prove. And I think we took a lot of pride in that, and we worked hard this week. So it was fun. It felt good.”
Alabama was able to have another strong offensive performance after one of its best offensive weekends at Ole Miss to close out the regular season. The seven runs Wednesday night were the second-most the Crimson Tide has scored in a conference game this season.
Head coach Patrick Murphy has often talked about "passing down the baton" this season, and his team was able to do it again against Missouri. The second inning started with back-to-back hits from Kenleigh Cahalan and Bailey Dowling. In total that inning, Alabama sent seven runners to the plate and scored three runs with RBIs from Kali Heivilin, Kristen White and Jenna Johnson.
Getting the early runs was huge to provide some breathing room and support for Montana Fouts in the circle.
Despite facing the 13-seed in Missouri, the Alabama ace got the start as the only Crimson Tide pitcher to have success against the Tigers in the regular season. Fouts pitched complete game shutouts in both appearances at Mizzou this season. While she did allow two runs and eight hits Wednesday night, she was able to limit the Tigers when she needed to and got enough support from her offense to throw another complete game.
Fouts finished with 10 strikeouts, including the one that ended the game. She surpassed the 300 strikeout mark on the season for the second time in her career.
Throughout the broadcast on SEC Network, the commentators mentioned that Fouts might be dealing with blisters or a bandage around one of her fingers. After the game, she said her finger feels "better than ever."
"It was a long day today, and we'll see how she feels," Murphy said when talking about Fouts' availability for the rest of the tournament. "Every morning, the day of the game, I get a text message, and it's from Montana. 'Hey, I'm ready to go,' regardless if she throws 170 pitches or 20, so I'm sure I'll get that text message tomorrow.”
Alabama will now take on the host team, 4-seed Arkansas Thursday night with a spot in the semifinals on the line. The Razorbacks took two of three games in Tuscaloosa back in early March, and Murphy said playing the host team is even better preparation for postseason.
"Honestly, I'd rather play the host because then you know that it’s going to be an away crowd," Murphy said. Obviously it's going to be a pro-Arkansas crowd which is exciting for everybody. And when you play in the SEC tournament, you want it to feel like a championship event.”
This story will be updated.
