Alabama's season ends with shutout loss to Stanford in Fouts' final game
There was plenty of crimson in the stands Friday night at Oklahoma City's USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium but many of them will now be taking the trip back to Tuscaloosa after the Alabama softball team was eliminated from the 2023 Women's College World Series.
No. 5 Alabama was shutout for the first time all season, losing 2-0 to No.9 Stanford. The loss ends the Crimson Tide's season. It's just the fourth time in 14 trips to the College World Series that Alabama is leaving without a win and the first time since 2016.
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Montana Fouts took the circle for Alabama, starting in her final game with the program. Fouts gave the Tide a fighting chance, pitching all seven innings and allowing just two runs on five hits. She retired 13 consecutive hitters before giving up a solo home run by Sydney Steele in the seventh inning which served as an insurance run for the Cardinal.
Steele accounted for both RBIs in the win. Stanford advances to play Sunday in another elimination game.
This is the second consecutive season Alabama's season ended at the hands of Stanford. Last year, the Cardinal won the Tuscaloosa Regional, ending the Crimson Tide's 17-year streak of making the super regional round. Friday also marked Alabama's first time being shut out since losing to Stanford last season.
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Run support for Fouts was the biggest issue of the night as Alabama only got one hit at the plate. Just two players reached back in the game for Alabama as Ashley Prange had a single and Bailey Dowling reached once on an error. The Crimson Tide saw its final 14 hitters retired.
Alabama finished the season with a 45-22 record, recording its most losses in a season since 1999, Patrick Murphy's first season as the head coach.
"I just think overcoming so many things, losses. I don't know what it was," Murphy said about what made this season special. "That's probably the most losses we've had in a season, ending here. But they didn't give up. They did show grit. They showed resiliency. They showed a growth mindset."
It was unclear how long Fouts would pitch Friday after returning from a knee injury she suffered during the SEC Tournament. She pitched during all three games of the super regional but did not pitch more than four innings in any of the games.
Fouts, a four-time All-American, finished her final season with Alabama with a 25-11 record, recording 323 strikeouts in 230 innings in the circle. She had a 1.48 ERA, her second-lowest for a season in her career. Fouts led the Crimson Tide to three appearances at the Women's College World Series during her career.
"These people are my everything," Fouts said through tears after the game. "They really are. I couldn't have asked for a better place to spend my dream. This has always been my dream. I will have people for the rest of my life. I don't even have the words. I don't know if I ever will. I don't know if I'll ever have the words for what this place, Murph, these coaches, these teammates mean to me."
After the home run in the seventh inning, Murphy visited Fouts in the circle and appeared to be taking her out of the game for the final time, giving her the opportunity to get an ovation from the Alabama fans. She turned him down though and stayed in the game.
"I feel like I wouldn't change a thing," Fouts said. "I wouldn't take any second to be out there. Home run or not, I love playing softball. I think Murph knew when he came out there running. I would never take a pitch off from playing a game with these girls."