The Alabama Crimson Tide softball team represents the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

college softball. The team participates in the Western Division of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC). It is currently led by head coach Patrick Murphy and assistant coaches Alyson Habetz and Stephanie VanBrakle. The team plays its home games at the Rhoads Stadium located on the university's campus. The Alabama Crimson Tide softball team won its first national championship in 2012, after they defeated the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land Run ...

in the championship series of the

Women's College World Series The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States. Eight teams participate in the WCWS, which begins with a double-elimination tournament. In other wo ...

History

On September 28, 1995, Alabama

athletics director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and university, universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of c ...

Glen Tuckett announced the school would sponsor a softball program to begin play in the 1997 season. At the time of its addition, softball became both the 20th varsity sport overall and 11th women's sport sponsored at Alabama. On January 3, 1996, Kalum Haack was hired from

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

to serve as the first head coach for the team. The next spring, Haack recruited his first class for the inaugural 1997 team. On February 15, 1997, Alabama defeated

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

5–2 in their first all-time game at

ASA Hall of Fame Stadium OGE Energy Field at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium is a softball-specific ballpark located inside the USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States. It seats 13,000 and is the site of the annual Women's Colleg ...

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

. Two weeks later, the Crimson Tide won their first all-time home game in their home opener at Sokol Park against Delta State 4–3. After he led the Crimson Tide in their inaugural season and to their first SEC championship in their second season, on June 30, 1998, Haack resigned as head coach. He cited personal reasons for his resignation. During his two-year stint as head coach, Haack compiled an overall record of 78 wins and 47 losses (78–47). A week later on July 9, Alabama assistant coach Patrick Murphy was promoted to the Crimson Tide's head coach position. Since Murphy took over in 1999, the Crimson Tide has won 12 SEC championships (6 regular season and 6 tournaments), made 17 consecutive NCAA tournaments (every year since 1999) and have advanced to the

ten times. In 2012, Alabama defeated the Oklahoma Sooners, 2 games to 1, in the championship series of the Women's College World Series, to win its first national championship in school history and the first softball national championship in the history of the SEC.

Head coaches

Year-by-year records

NCAA Tournament seeding history

National seeding began in 2005. The Alabama Crimson Tide are one of only two teams to have a national seed every year, along with

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

Awards and honors

National awards

;

NFCA National Pitcher of the Year The NFCA National Player of the Year is an award given by Schutt Sports to the best college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. C ...

* Montana Fouts (2021) ;D1Softball Pitcher of the Year *Montana Fouts (2021)

Conference awards

; SEC Player of the Year * Charlotte Morgan (2009, 2010) * Bailey Hemphill (2021) ; SEC Pitcher of the Year *Stephanie VanBrakle (2006) *Kelsi Dunne (2010, 2011) * Jackie Traina (2012, 2014) *Sarah Cornell (2019) *Montana Fouts (2021) ; SEC Freshman of the Year *Lacy Prejean (2000) *Jackie McClain (2001) *Stephanie VanBrakle (2003) *

Brittany Rogers Brittany Rogers (born June 8, 1993) is a Canadian artistic gymnast who competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She attended the University of Georgia and competed for the Georgia Gym Dogs. Consequently, combining both elite and college gymnasti ...

(2006) *Kelsi Dunne (2008) *

Amanda Locke Amanda Locke is an American, former collegiate All-American softball player and current coach at Birmingham–Southern College. Playing career She attended North Mesquite High School, graduating in 2008. She later attended the University of Ala ...

(2009) *Kayla Braud (2010) *Alexis Osorio (2015) *Montana Fouts (2019)

Alabama's Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-Americans

†Denotes 1st Team selection

References

;General * ;Specific

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alabama Crimson Tide Softball Sports clubs and teams established in 1997 1997 establishments in Alabama