Pitching Coach Lance McMahon is Key to Alabama Softball's Success

Despite having to replace legendary pitcher Montana Fouts, the Crimson Tide once again had one of the best pitching staffs in the SEC fueling the return to the Women's College World Series.

Alabama assistant coach Lance McMahon comes to the circle to talk to Alabama pitcher Jocelyn Briski (23) at Rhoads Stadium Saturday. Alabama downed Ole Miss 5-1 / Gary Cosby Jr.-Tuscaloosa News-USA TODAY NETWORK

OKLAHOMA CITY– After each Alabama softball victory, head coach Patrick Murphy gives the opposing team's lineup card to the defensive MVP and the Alabama lineup card to the offensive MVP. It's the Crimson Tide's version of a game ball.

Murphy gave out a third lineup card in the locker room after Alabama's win over Duke in the Women's College World Series on Friday, the large one that hangs in the dugout. That card was given to pitching coach Lance McMahon.

"That's his first win at the College World Series," Murphy said. "You cannot understate the importance of a really good pitching coach."

McMahon has been a "really good pitching coach" for Alabama since joining the program before the 2023 season, replacing longtime assistant Stephanie VanBrakle Prothro. McMahon had spent six years as an assistant at Illinois, but as a Missouri and LSU grad, he was dying to get back in the SEC.

"Anytime any job opened up in the SEC, I always entertained it," McMahon said. "I’ve always had a lot of respect for what Murph has done here. They have a really long line of really good pitchers. So whenever the job came open, for me it was a no-brainer to pursue it and see what happened. So, glad I ended up here."

In his first two seasons as Alabama pitching coach, McMahon has helped produce an all-American: Montana Fouts in 2023 and Kayla Beaver this season. The Crimson Tide has finished in the top-two of the SEC in ERA in back-to-back years under the direction of McMahon. He compared getting to work with Fouts in his first season to winning the lottery.

"Montana was great," McMahon said. 'I think the best thing about her is she was so open. You know she was a three-time all-American, fifth-year… But she had such a desire to want to get better and was just so open to everything that I said. For her to have that perspective was really critical. 

“What Steph [Prothro] did too, the cupboard wasn’t empty. I think she had such a good foundation with all the other kids here, that it made my job really, really easy. Because she did a really, really good job here."

Coming into a team that had one of the most decorated pitchers in college softball history was one thing, but McMahon would face a greater challenge in 2024 with three new faces joining the bullpen, plus managing a staff of six total pitchers. Before the season started, Murphy acknowledged that his biggest question mark heading into the season was how would his team replace Fouts?

Alabama found its answer in Beaver and freshman Jocelyn Briski. Beaver transferred to Alabama after four seasons at Central Arkansas, choosing to spend her fifth and final year of eligibility with the Crimson Tide. McMahon said that like Fouts, Beaver was another proven pitcher who was willing to learn new things from him.

Beaver had played multiple high major teams while at Central Arkansas, but pitching an entire season in the SEC was going to be a different beast. With the guidance of McMahon, Beaver showed she belongs at the highest levels of college softball. She has 19 wins and a 1.64 ERA this season and also picked up her first career WCWS win on Friday.

McMahon credits the Italy trip the team took in summer 2023 as a major part of Briski's development as a freshman. She was able to gain experience on the trip pitching against a good team, wear the jersey and work on things with McMahon in that one week that usually takes up a lot of time in the first part of a fall when a freshman pitcher first arrives on campus. He said it was almost like she was already a sophomore because of the trip.

And it's more than paid off for Alabama. Briski was a two-time SEC Freshman of the Week and has a 10-5 record with a 2.17 ERA. Without the strong pitching of Beaver and Briski, Alabama would not be at the Women's College World Series.

While Alabama was near the top of the SEC in almost every major pitching category, it was near the bottom in most hitting statitics. Alabama averaged less than three runs per game in SEC play and went 27 innings without scoring a run over a stretch of five games. Yet, Alabama was in nearly every game and avoided getting swept because of its pitching.

"I think for me going in, for our staff going in, we have expectations for ourselves whether we get one run or 10 runs [of support.]," McMahon said. "At the end of the game, it's always about how we performed no matter the score. So I have a really high standard for them, they have a really high standard for themselves. Whether we have run support or not, we’re trying to meet that standard each time. So it's really not as big of a factor as it may seem from the outside perspective because we always want to go in and throw shutouts, no matter what, no matter who we’re facing. It doesn't really matter what the score is, we’re trying to execute at a really high level either way."

McMahon calls every pitch of every game, even Alabama's two 14-inning marathons. Former Texas A&M all-American pitcher and current ESPN analyst Amanda Scarborough said "managing" is a good word to describe the way McMahon works.

"I just see him being so hungry to get better, to find ways to help them win and bring out the best in them and not be rigid where he's my way or the highway," Scarborough said. "Like he’s just hungry to help them in any way he possibly can and gives them a ton of support and positive energy. And I think that’s a big part of why they can continue to stay in it with the lack of offense they’ve had until probably the nine-inning game in regionals.”

It hasn't just been Beaver and Briski. Alabama came into the season with six pitchers. (Lauren Esman was injured in the middle of the season and still hits and plays first base, but did not pitch anymore after the injury.) At one point in March during non-conference play, Alabama led the nation in ERA. McMahon has also continued to work with the other pitchers and says he's confident Alea Johnson, Jaala Torrence and Alex Salter would all be ready if their names were called at any point in the Women's College World Series as the Crimson Tide prepares for an elimination game against No. 4 Florida on Sunday afternoon.

"This whole year we relied on using the staff," Briski said. "We talked about it before, all of us are different from each other. A lot of us complement each other very well. Whoever's turn it is to get the job done, we'll root for them. If it's our turn, we're going to take advantage of our opportunity. It's trying to not let the moment get too big, and have that person's back, whoever is out there on the mound.”