Mississippi State vs Alabama
Where: Rhoads Stadium
Schedule: Friday at 6:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
Records: Mississippi State 21-10, 1-5 SEC; Alabama 34-1, 5-1 SEC
Radio: 93.3 FM
After playing its first SEC series of the year at home, Alabama softball left the comfort of Rhoads Stadium for Hawaii then College Station, Texas, for a nine-game road trip.
After finishing 8-1 during the trip, Alabama returned to Tuscaloosa and held off Georgia Tech in its midweek game Wednesday, defeating the Yellow Jackets 4-3.
Now it turns its attention to a series it has owned: Mississippi State.
In the 70-game series, the Crimson Tide has dominated the Bulldogs, winning 60 games. Alabama won the last meeting of the two, defeating State 3-0 at Starkville, Mississippi, and has won 28 of the 30 games played at Rhoads Stadium.
This year, Mississippi State has to compete against a different Alabama team in years past. The Crimson Tide is fifth in the country with 55 home runs and has hit five grand slams in its last 11 games.
The five slams have surpassed the total of the last three years. The record is seven, set in 2015.
Two of the five slams is from Bailey Hemphill, who is climbing the single-season record books. The junior has 15 home runs, 10th all-time and 10 behind the single-season record. She has 51 RBIs, which is nine away from the No. 10 spot on the UA list.
Mississippi State ranks seventh in the SEC in home runs with 39, while Alabama leads the conference with 55.
Thirty of the 39 home runs for the Bulldogs were hit by Fa Leilua and Mia Davidson. Both have 15, which is a four-way tie for second in conference. Davidson is hitting .494, which leads the SEC, has a 1.111 slugging percentage, which is second in the conference, and is tied for sixth with 38 RBIs.
Overall, the Bulldogs are hitting .298, which is the second worst in the SEC and owns a 2.69 ERA, which is ninth in the conference.
