“If you come for the king, you best not miss.“
~Omar Little, ‘The Wire’
Last April, the Crimson Tide welcomed in the #2 Oklahoma Sooners into Tuscaloosa for the first time ever and took two of three against the 4-time defending National Champions. This year’s Bama squad is in a similar situation. Will there be a comparable outcome in the impending series with 2026 champ Texas? The results could define this team.
ACCOLADES
- Nope.
RAT POISON IS BACK
The Tide’s rise in the polls probably has less to do with how they performed last weekend than how others did. It’s more likely a product of Tennessee losing two of three to Ole Miss in Knoxville and Florida dropping a pair at Arkansas. Both dipped behind Bama.
- Softball America 13 ↑ 8 ↑ 6 ↑ 4 ↔ 4 ↔ 4 ↔ 4 ↓ 6 ↑ 4
- D1Softball 14 ↑ 10 ↑ 9 ↑ 8 ↑ 5 ↔ 5 ↑ 4 ↓ 6 ↑ 4
- USAToday/NFCA 16 ↑ 13 ↑ 9 ↑ 7 ↑ 6 ↔ 6 ↔ 6 ↓ 7 ↑ 4
- ESPN/USA Softball 15 ↑ 10 ↑ 8 ↑ 5 ↑ 4 ↔ 4 ↔ 4 ↓ 6 ↑ 5
SCHEDULE
- Thu, Apr 2 vs Texas 6pm/7pm
- Fri, Apr 3 vs Texas 7:30/8:30
- Sat, Apr 4 vs Texas 5pm/6pm
HOW TO WATCH… ALLEGEDLY
Game 1 will be available on SECN+ Streaming (ESPN+). Game 2 will air on the SEC Network and the finale will be carried by ESPN.
WEATHER
It should be nice in Tuscaloosa with temperatures in the 80s with partly cloudy skies.
TEXAS (31-2)
The Longhorns just suffered only their second defeat of the season in a 9-7 Austin loss to #15 Texas A&M to snap a 29-game win streak. It was the Horns’ first conference and home loss of the season.
UT’s only other setback of 2026 came in San Antonio when they split a pair with #5 Nebraska in the first weekend of the season. Among their conquests this season are Washington (twice), Arizona (twice), Stanford, South Carolina (3-game sweep), Ole Miss (3-game sweep), Baylor (twice), and Texas A&M (2 of 3).
Alabama holds the all-time record advantage over Texas with 7 wins versus 2 defeats. The two teams have not met since 2023 — back when many of the Tide players were picking out prom dresses.
THROW THE BALL
Texas has a top 10 pitching staff with an ERA at 2.23. However, they were bombarded with 19 runs by the Aggies in this past weekend’s three game set. The ‘Horns have five pitchers but rely mostly on three. Teagan Kavan (13-1) carries most of the load. In three seasons, the junior is 61-9 overall and was outstanding in her team’s run to the 2025 National Championship. This year, she has been mostly solid but was rocked by Texas A&M for 18 hits and 13 runs in her two starts (1-1).
Freshman Hannah Wells and sophomore Cambria Salmon (sounds like a dish at a hoity fusion restaurant) are worthy contributors as well. Wells (5-1, 2.03 ERA) was the Gatorade National Player of the Year as a senior in 2025 and has not disappointed in her first year in Austin. However with only 6 starts, she has only thrown for more than four innings on three occasions and has never gone more than 5.2. She gave up three homers in the loss to Nebraska but has not given up one since that day in early February. Similarly, Salmon (5-0, 2.12) has tossed over four innings only twice and has no complete games. Citlaly Gutierrez (5-0, 2.44) may also make an appearance or two. The only lefty on the staff is Brenlee Gonzales (2-0, 1.66) though she has only pitched in 5 games.
TL/DR: Kavan shoulders most of the work, but UT us not shy about going to the bullpen.
HIT THE BALL
The Longhorns are top 10 in the nation in runs scored with 8.7 per game. Katie Stewart is having an All-American season, hitting .471 with 17 home runs and 44 RBI. She is second in the conference in homers, BA, slugging (1.110), and on-base percentage (.600). Kayden Henry is at .427 with 52 runs scored (2nd in SEC) and 15 doubles (No. 1 in SEC), plus 21 of 22 in stolen bases (No. 1). Reese Atwood is batting .393 with 14 round-trippers and 44 RBI. Leighann Goode is hitting .442 with 35 runs and 5 four-baggers.
Eight of the everyday players are hitting over .300. The ninth is Hannah Wells (.273, 6 HR, 22 RBI) who plays first base when she is not pitching.
TL/DR: They can hit. A lot.
CATCH THE BALL
Texas had three errors in the TAMU finale and four for the series (none for the Aggs). Those boots put them at an unsatisfactory .966 fielding percentage — which is around 100th in the nation and near the bottom in the SEC. Their 29 errors almost come to one per game. Alabama has 14 with a .984 FP.
HOT HEAD
In Sunday’s finale against TAMU, Tejas head coach Mike White was ejected for arguing over balls and strikes. More likely, he was trying to fire up his team, down 6-3. The tactic backfired as the UT defense immediately committed two errors that plated three more runs in the inning.
TEN CENT ANALYSIS
Texas has been at the top or near the top of the polls all year long. They have been mowing over opponents, but it’s curious as to if Mike White has overused/over-relied on his ace Teagan Kavan a little too much. Is she starting to wear down? She has thrown 89.0 innings at this point and was hit pretty hard in her last three SEC starts.
The Crimson Tide has an advantage of playing at home. If they can continue the stellar defense plus home run hitting, and if Alabama pitching staff can keep up their solid run, Bama might just take this series. But a sweep might be a tall order.
