The No. 8 Alabama Crimson Tide will have one more dress rehearsal ahead of next week’s Southeastern Conference tournament by hosting Missouri in game one of a three-game set on Friday night at Rhoads Stadium in Tuscaloosa.
The Crimson Tide enter the weekend refreshed, as this will be their first game since April 27 at Western Kentucky. The extended break came at a good time for Alabama, who have lost three of their last four contests.
Alabama was not able to recover from a hot start by Western Kentucky in their most recent game. The Hilltoppers hit two home runs in the bottom of the inning, forcing starter [autotag]Jaala Torrence [/autotag]to be lifted for [autotag]Montana Fouts[/autotag] in the circle. Fouts would finish the game by allowing just one hit and striking out six batters in 5.1 innings pitched. [autotag]Jenna Lord[/autotag] provided the lone run for Alabama on a groundout in the 7th inning, but it was not enough to come from behind to grab the win on the road.
Missouri is on the outside looking in when it comes to the national rankings, but they have played great softball recently. The Tigers have won seven games in a row, which include two-consecutive sweeps over Kentucky and Texas A&M.