Why Alabama Softball Isn't Discouraged After Rough Start

Team 27 is getting ready to face some of the best teams in the country at the Clearwater Invitational.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — There was visible, and understandable, frustration after Alabama softball dropped its season opener 7-4 against Lehigh. But the Crimson Tide responded with two wins over Georgia Southern to close out the weekend. 

Fifth-year catcher Ally Shipman said the team is feeling "just fine" heading into a big week with five games at the Clearwater Invitational in Florida. 

"I feel like it's better for us to face adversity now than later in the season," Shipman said. "And we have a lot of young girls, a lot of new girls, and so this is actually… I mean, failure is the best thing for you in terms of learning and growing. And we all know that. It's not like we're down in the dumps. We're excited for this next challenge, and we've learned from that weekend. We know that there's a long way for us to go. But we're not discouraged about it at all.”

Head coach Patrick Murphy said he wouldn't necessarily call the loss itself a failure because the team didn't commit any errors and Lehigh got the timely hits. But that is where the failure comes into it for Murphy. 

After Alabama jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on the first two pitches, the next nine batters were retired. Instead of keeping the inning going and putting pressure on the pitcher and potentially knocking her out of the game, she was able to find her rhythm and build confidence. 

Murphy was really encouraged by what he saw in game three of the weekend. After beating Georgia Southern 8-2 in the second part of the doubleheader Friday night, the Crimson Tide beat the Eagles 13-1 Saturday. It was more runs than Alabama scored in any game all of last season. 

"Just a continuation of the offense," Murphy said. "That was something that killed us last year and didn’t want that to happen again.”

Each game, Alabama's run production went up from the last, and the offense did a much better job of bringing runners in after they got on base. Alabama actually had 10 hits against Lehigh, but left six runners on base. 

All four of Alabama's pitched over the weekend, and all four gave up at least one earned run. Montana Fouts, Lauren Esman and Jaala Torrence each gave up three earned runs. Redshirt sophomore Alex Salter got the start in game three with both Fouts and Torrence appearing in relief for the best pitching performance of the season. 

"We need to get the pitching a little bit better," Murphy said. "I think we only walked two in three games, which is pretty good for opening weekend. But eliminate the consecutive hits. So if you give up one, you don't give up two, three—certainly not in a row.”

The opening weekend was a little bit of a learning curve for the pitchers with new pitching coach Lance McMahon. For the three returning pitchers, it is a change from they were used to with Stephanie Prothro. And for all of the pitchers, it was the first time McMahon had called pitches for them in a live game. But Murphy felt like they all got more comfortable as the weekend went on. 

This week will prove an even larger test with five games in four days in Clearwater starting Thursday against Duke. Four of the five opponents are ranked with No. 2 UCLA and No. 6 Florida State both being in the top-10. Four of the games will be on national television, and the finale against Florida State will air on ESPN Sunday night. 

"It's going to be hard, but that's what we're looking for early in the season to get us prepared as we go into SECs and then eventually into postseason," Shipman said. "So I think that this weekend is gonna be great for us, especially for the newbies, just learning how to compete against the best teams in the country."

See also:

This Week Will Show Where Alabama Softball Really Stands: Just a Minute

Alabama Softball Drops in Rankings After Opening Weekend

Alabama Swimmer Rhyan White Still has Something to Prove