Alabama Softball To Face Auburn In 3-Game Series
Saturday & Sunday Sold Out
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama - The University of Alabama softball team will host the Auburn Tigers at Rhoads Stadium this weekend for the final regular-season home stand. Get this...the Saturday and Sunday games are already sold out! Plus, only a limited number of tickets remain for the Friday contest.
Crimson Tide softball head coach Patrick Murphy stated, "I've always said we have the best fans in college softball. This weekend is the culmination of the amazing fan support we've
had at Rhoads Stadium all season. With two games already sold out, this
could become our first-ever series to sell out before the start of the
first game. We need our fans out in full-force for each game!"
Brickyard tickets are going for $10 apiece for adults and $5 for youth with seating
available in the outfield brickyard, first-base concourse plaza as well
as the new platform in left field. UA will celebrate Cinco de Mayo on Friday, with the
first 500 fans receiving a free churro to celebrate, and free sombreros will also be handed out.
Friday's Southeastern Conference contest is scheduled for a 7 p.m. CT start. Saturday's game will air live on ESPN at 7 p.m. CT and Sunday's contest will be on ESPN2 at 12 p.m. CT.
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Crimson Tide Softball Signs Courtney Gettins
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| Courtney Gettins along with her parents Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
Gettins is originally a native of Hastings, New Zealand, and is currently a sophomore righty at Florida Southwestern. She just helped her team secure it's first-ever FCSAA State Championship as well as securing a spot in the NJCAA Division I Softball Championship to be played May 17-20 in St. George, Utah. Gettins is a phenom, going undefeated at 31-0 this season, owning a 0.96 ERA over 197.2 innings pitched with 198 strikeouts and a mere 33 walks on the year. As a freshman, she was named the NJCAA Division-I Softball Pitcher of the Year and a NFCA All-American after going 39-6 with a 1.45 ERA. She led the Bucs that season to an appearance at the NJCAA National Tournament in the program's first year.
This ace pitcher has also competed internationally with the New Zealand national team, playing at the 2013 and 2015 Junior Women's World Series as well as the 2014 and 2016 Senior Women's World Championship.
Crimson Tide softball head coach Patrick Murphy said, "We are very excited to have Courtney join our softball family this fall. She comes from a tremendous softball pedigree and will be our first international student-athlete at Alabama. She has led her junior college team to nationals two years in a row while pitching for coach Robert Iamurri."
Gettins is the sixth 2018 signee for Bama, joining Kyra Lockhart, Maddie Morgan, Madison Preston, Kendall Beth Sides and Kaylee Tow.
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Crimson Tide Golfers Davis Riley & Alex Green Honored
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| Davis Riley Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
In his freshman season in 2015-16, Riley was named an honorable mention All-American, and has earned his second consecutive honor to the SEC All-Conference team in as many years. He was named to the second team as well as the All-Freshman team a year ago.
Riley is currently ranked 47th in the country according to the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Player Performance Ratings. Despite battling injuries which forced him to miss the Tide's first two tournaments this spring, Riley leads Alabama with a 71.19 stroke average and has a team-best total of 2-over par for the year for a .10 average vs. par despite having missed the first two tournaments of the spring because of injuries.
The young man has had four consecutive top-12 finishes entering postseason play, including an 11th-place finish at the 2017 Southeastern Conference Championships. His opening round of 66 was a career-best 18-hole total for the young man, and was the lowest round shot by a Bama golfer this year. Earlier this year he shot a career-best 54-hole tournament total of 207 to finish ninth overall at the Mason Rudolph Classic.
It should be noted that Riley has had 54 of his 57 (.947) career rounds count towards the team total, including 20 of 21 (.952) this season.
Alex Green, who served as the men's golf representative on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), led all Alabama men's golfers in total hours served in the community. The young man is truly a caring person, and included in his community service projects were volunteering his time at the Halloween Extravaganza and working with the local Child Abuse Prevention Services.
Next up for UA men's golf is NCAA Regional play. The Crimson Tide will learn its placement today at 11 a.m. CT when the NCAA Regional Selection Show will air on the Golf Channel. Regional action will begin on Monday, May 15th.
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| Alex Green Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
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Five UA Athletic Teams Earn Award
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
University of Alabama Director of Athletics Greg Byrne said, "We are very pleased to maintain such high standards when it comes to this important academic metric and to rank among the best in the Southeastern Conference year-in and year-out when it comes to this award."
Earning the honor this year are Bama gymnastics, women's golf, women's tennis, women's swimming and diving and men's cross country teams. This is the seventh-consecutive year the women's golf team was honored, while the women's tennis team was recognized for the sixth time in as many years. Gymnastics and men's cross country both take home this honor for the third consecutive year, and the Tide women's swimming and diving team collected its second-consecutive honor.
Each year, the NCAA honors selected NCAA Division I sports teams by publicly recognizing their latest multi-year NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate. This announcement is part of the overall Division I academic reform effort and is intended to highlight teams that demonstrate a commitment to academic progress and retention of student-athletes by achieving the top APRs within their respective sports. Specifically, these teams posted multiyear APRs in the top 10 percent of all squads in each sport.
Bryne further commented, "To sustain this kind of consistent excellence over the life of this award is a testament to the importance The University of Alabama puts on balancing academics and athletics, and, ultimately, achieving at a high level in both areas. We are extremely proud not only of the five teams that earned this honor in 2017, but also of all the teams that have earned this recognition over the span of the award."
UA teams have earned the NCAA honor 33 times over the past decade.
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Keith Holcombe Undergoes Surgery
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| Keith Holcombe Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
Holcombe, who is an outfielder for the baseball team as well as a linebacker for the football team, will not be returning to the baseball lineup this season.
In the annual A-Day Spring Game, Holcombe led the White team with ten tackles as well as a pair of sacks.
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Routliffe & Pothoff To Participate In
2017 NCAA Women's Tennis Championships
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| Maddie Pothoff (left) & Erin Routliffe (right) Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
Routliffe earned a No. 9-16 seed in the singles bracket. She most recently was named First Team All-SEC for the fourth-consecutive year. Routliffe is currently ranked No. 14 in singles in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings, playing all of her matches from the top position in singles and doubles.
Pothoff and Routliffe will enter the tournament as a No. 5-8 seed in the doubles bracket, giving the pair ITA All-America honors. The pair picked up five wins over nationally ranked doubles opponents during the 2017 spring campaign.
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Celebrity Birthdays
May 4
Randy Travis, Singer, 58
Grace Phipps, Actress, 25
Lance Bass, Singer, 38
Will Arnett, Actor, 47
Avia Butler, YouTube, 12
Jason Nash, Comedian, 43
Audrey Hepburn, Actress (1929-1943)
RaeLynn, Singer, 23
Chris Tomlin, Singer, 45
Erin Andrews, Sportscaster/TV host, 39
Cesc Fabregas, Soccer, 30
Kimora Lee Simmons, Actress, 42
Laura Whitmore, TV show host, 32
Jackie Jackson, Singer, 66
Ashley Rickards, Actress, 25
Shameik Moore, Actor, 22
Alexander Gould, Actor, 23
Trisha Krishnan, Actress, 34
Taylar Hender, Actress, 19
Amara Miller, Actress, 17
James Harrison, Football, 39
Cal Turner, Singer, 18
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