Alabama softball‘s unbeaten start to the 2026 season continued into SEC play over the weekend.
The Crimson Tide defeated the Ole Miss Rebels, 2-1, on Sunday in Oxford to complete a three-game sweep in their SEC opener. Audrey Vandagriff and Salem Hawkings drove in the Tide’s only runs, and Jocelyn Briski tossed 6 2/3 strong innings to earn the win and improve to 8-0.
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Alabama is now 23-0 overall this season after its sweep at Ole Miss. The Tide won Game 1 of Friday’s doubleheader, 5-3, behind a complete game from Briski. They followed it up with a 13-2 rout in Game 2.
The Crimson Tide outhit the Rebels, 26-14, for the series. Ana Roman, Ambrey Taylor, Lauren Johnson and Brooke Wells all homered in the three games for Alabama.
For the season, Alabama is batting .368 with 43 home runs and 28 doubles. The Crimson Tide have outscored their opponents, 175-20. In the circle, the Crimson Tide have combined for a 0.88 ERA and 0.71 WHIP in 144 innings.
Brooke Wells leads Alabama at the plate with a .518/.611/1.071 slash line. Wells’ eight home runs are tied with Roman and Alexis Pupillo for the team lead. Vic Moten’s 9-0 record and 0.59 ERA in 47 2/3 innings lead Crimson Tide pitchers.
Did Alabama softball rise in new NFCA Coaches Poll?
In Tuesday’s new Week 5 NFCA/GoRout Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll, Alabama remained at No. 4 for the second straight week. The top six teams in the Coaches Poll remained the same as last week.
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Tennessee (23-0) held on to the top spot for the fifth week in a row. The Lady Vols were followed by Texas Tech at No. 2 and Texas at No. 3. With Alabama No. 4, Florida rounded out the top five.
The SEC has six teams in the top 10 of this week’s rankings, including Patty Gasso’s Oklahoma Sooners at No. 6.
Softball Coaches Poll Top 25 rankings after SEC opener
|
Rank |
Team |
Record |
Points |
Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Tennessee (30) |
23-0 |
774 |
1 |
|
2 |
Texas Tech (1) |
25-1 |
739 |
2 |
|
3 |
Texas |
22-1 |
712 |
3 |
|
4 |
Alabama |
23-0 |
673 |
4 |
|
5 |
Florida |
25-1 |
646 |
5 |
|
6 |
Oklahoma |
24-2 |
618 |
6 |
|
7 |
UCLA |
21-3 |
577 |
8 |
|
8 |
Arkansas |
21-2 |
559 |
7 |
|
9 |
Florida State |
21-4 |
521 |
9 |
|
10 |
Nebraska |
18-5 |
486 |
10 |
|
11 |
Virginia Tech |
21-2 |
477 |
11 |
|
12 |
Mississippi State |
24-2 |
434 |
12 |
|
13 |
Arizona |
20-5 |
393 |
13 |
|
14 |
Virginia |
22-2 |
334 |
16 |
|
15 |
Georgia |
19-7 |
316 |
15 |
|
16 |
Texas A&M |
17-8 |
300 |
14 |
|
17 |
Grand Canyon |
27-0 |
286 |
20 |
|
18 |
Oregon |
18-7 |
233 |
18 |
|
19 |
Stanford |
14-6 |
199 |
21 |
|
20 |
LSU |
17-7 |
189 |
17 |
|
21 |
Oklahoma State |
17-7 |
174 |
19 |
|
22 |
UCF |
22-5 |
154 |
24 |
|
23 |
South Carolina |
15-9 |
65 |
23 |
|
24 |
Clemson |
16-8 |
53 |
25 |
|
25 |
Arizona State |
19-6 |
38 |
22 |
Others receiving votes:
North Carolina (34), Duke (26), North Florida (22), Utah (10), Florida Atlantic (6), Michigan (6), Penn State (6), Belmont (5), Auburn (4), Ole Miss (3), Southeastern Louisiana (3).
Alabama softball schedule: Top 10 series looms for Crimson Tide
Alabama hosts the Samford Bulldogs Tuesday at 7 p.m. CT at Rhoads Stadium before welcoming No. 8 Arkansas (21-2) to Tuscaloosa for a three-game series beginning Friday at 6 p.m. All three Alabama-Arkansas games can be seen on ESPN+.
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Here’s a look at Alabama’s 2026 SEC softball schedule. All tentative start times Central.
-
March 6-8: at Ole Miss (W, 5-3; W, 13-2; W, 2-1)
-
March 13-15: vs. Arkansas (6 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday, 1:30 p.m. Sunday)
-
March 20-22: at Missouri (5 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday, noon Sunday)
-
April 2-4: vs. Texas (6 p.m. Thursday, 7:30 p.m. Friday, 5 p.m. Saturday)
-
April 10-12: at Auburn (6 p.m. Friday, noon Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday)
-
April 17-19: vs. Kentucky (5 p.m. Friday, 1:30 p.m. Saturday, 1:30 p.m. Sunday)
-
April 25-27: at Tennessee (3 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday, 6 p.m. Monday)
-
April 30-May 2: vs. South Carolina (6 p.m. Thursday, 6 p.m. Friday, 1 p.m. Saturday)
Record: 23-0.
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This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: Alabama softball’s Coaches Poll ranking after sweep of Ole Miss
