The weekend began with the grand return of former long-time Patrick Murphy assistant Alyson Habetz, as well as her top aide, former All-SEC Crimson Tide catcher Lacey Prejean (2000-2003). Prejean was also director of operations alongside Murphy and Habetz for the 2008 and 2009 seasons. The weekend ended with the Tide gifting ULL a win.
GAME 1: ALABAMA 3, ULL 0
After giving up a double to begin the game, Bama starter Jocelyn Briski got the next three out with the second and third outs coming on strikeouts. The Tide sophomore really put on a show. She allowed only three hits and two walks in her first career complete game shutout on 100 pitches.
Habetz learned well from the master and used her own Gut® in opting to start Laffy’s No. 3 pitcher Bethaney Noble. The Rajuns hurler was cruising along until Abby Duchscherer walked to open the 4th inning. After an out, Brooke Ellestad tripled and Marlie Giles homered to left field to give the Tide a 3-0 lead.
Unfortunately, following the round-tripper, the Crimson Tide put their bats back on ice and would not create any more scoring threats. Fortunately, Briski was mowing down Rajuns batters. Outside of those two at-bats, ULL’s Noble was pitching well enough to get a win. Had this been an “off-day” for the Alabama pitching, three runs may have not been enough for the home team to earn the win. Hopefully, we will see more of this kind of performance from Briski.
Advertisement
Audrey Vandagriff stole base No. 28.
No errors!
GAME 2: ALABAMA 12, IOWA 3 (6 Inn. Run Rule)
For the second straight game, the opposing lead-off batter got on base with a double. This time, a run was scored when the next Hawkeyes batter singled. Catelyn Riley would only last 2.2 innings while giving up 3 runs on 5 hits. Emily Winstead pitched the remainder of the game, yielding only a single over 3.1 frames.
For the Bama offense, Michigan native Kali Heivilin went downright medieval on the Big Ten Hawkeyes. Alabama’s only 4-year senior twice went deep and had 6 RBI. Down 1-0 in the bottom of the 1st, Heivilin and Ellestad went back-to-back.
In the top of 3rd, two Iowa singles put runners at second and third bases. A fielding error by Ellestad scored one run and a double scored another to cut the Tide lead to one. It was at this point that Riley was lifted from the game for Winstead.
In the bottom of that frame, Bama got two runs back as Heivilin hit her second round-tripper of the game – a laser missile over the left field fence.
In the bottom of 5th, Riley added another Tide run with a solo shot to left field. But Alabama really put the game away in the 6th. With two outs and nobody on base, Alabama exploded forfour runs on a pair of singles, a HBP, a Heivilin triple, and a walk-off run rule home run by Ellestad.
I suppose we can forgive her error. ㋡
Advertisement
The first, second, and fourth Iowa batters each went 2 for 3 and accounted for all of the Hawyeyes’ hits. The rest of the team was a big fat 0-fer with one walk.
Vandagriff stole base No. 29.
Ellestad error.
GAME 3: ALABAMA 5, IOWA 1 – Kendal Clark Senior Day
In the 4th inning, Iowa had a single, walk, and single to open the scoring 1-0.
Alabama answered in the bottom of the inning by scoring 3 runs on 2 hits, a walk and 3 Iowa errors. In that same inning, there was a close play called out at third base. The out was challenged and overturned. The Iowa head coach argued the call and was ejected.
Jocelyn Briski had another fine showing, tossing 5.0 innings and scattering 5 hits and two walks with 1 run allowed.
Freshman Braya Hodges made her second appearance of the season, throwing a 1-2-3 6th inning. Alea Johnson duplicated that feat in the 7th.
Vandagriff stole base No. 30.
No errors.
GAME 4: ULL 4 ALABAMA 3
Vandagriff walked and swiped second base to open the game. A Duchscherer sac fly moved her to third base and Pupillo singled her in. Heivilin singled and Kennedy Marceaux picked up an RBI on a single of her own.
The Gut® opted to start Emily Winstead and probably stuck with her a little too long. In the 3rd inning, the Rajuns put runners at second and third with two outs. The next batter singled the two runners in to tie it up.
Advertisement
In the 4th, ULL again put runners at second and third. At this point, Riley entered the game and gave up a bunt single to give the away team a 3-2 lead.
Laffy scored a fourth run on Heivilin’s second error of the game.
The Tide scored on an error in the 7th but left the bases loaded and snapped their 13 game winning streak.
Vandagriff stole base No. 31.
Four errors: Heivilin (2), Hawkins (2).
The Gut® decided to bench red-hot Ellestad for this game.
NOTES
Advertisement
Curb your enthusiasm, Lollipop Rainbow Unicorns.
The inconsistency of this Alabama pitching staff is mind-boggling. Alea Johnson was lights out all last weekend and then she gets knocked around by Samford. Briski has been sketchy and then tosses a pair of gems. Riley and Winstead are intermittently dominant and rocky.
Ellestad has had some issues with her fielding but it is hard to keep her bat out of the lineup.
Abby Duchscherer cooled off (1 for 8, 1 run).
Marlie Giles (HR, 4 RBI) and Riley Valentine (0 hits, 0 BB, 0 HBP, 0 runs, 0 RBI) shared the catching duties with each starting two games. It is clear who needs to be starting.
Lauren Johnson got one at bat.
Kendal Clark was not so great on her Senior Day. She was hitless (0-6) in two starts over the weekend.
Whenever I see or hear the name “Winstead”, I always picture Mary Elizabeth Winstead (10 Cloverfield Lane, Scott Pilgrim vs the World, Grindhouse). And now you will too. You’re welcome.
Tuesday, Mar 11 at South Alabama 5pm/6pm Mobile, AL
SPRING BREAK SHOWDOWN
SEC play gets under way with the Bullies (19-3) coming to Tuscaloosa.
Friday, Mar 14 vs Mississippi State 6pm/7pm
Saturday, Mar 15 vs Mississippi State 2pm/3pm
Sunday, Mar 16 vs Mississippi State 1:30/2:30
HOW TO WATCH
¯_(ツ)_/¯ Alabama is not scheduled to have a game televised on regular TV until March 19 vs Florida State. In the meantime, keep shelling out that $12 a month to fill ESPN’s coffers.
Stafford Willis reported an offer from Alabama football on Tuesday after visiting the Crimson Tide.
Willis is a 2027 offensive lineman prospect out of Arab High School in Alabama. He currently garners a three-star rating from most recruiting sites and holds more than 30 D1 offers. Those offers include previous offers form South Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech and others.
The Crimson Tide currently does not hold a commitment from a 2027 offensive lineman, but Alabama is making a push for several. Willis joins this list.
Advertisement
At 6-foot-5 and 290 pounds, Willis is a physical offensive lineman who displays the ability to properly execute a variety of blocking assignments. One can see him executing effective combo blocks and continuing to find work at the second level of defenses throughout his film. Stafford also flashes some agility along with some impressive strength.
Alabama will look to get the rising senior back to campus for an official visit soon.
Watch Stafford Willis’ Highlights Below:
Justin Smith is the Managing Editor and Lead Writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine with over 10 years of writing experience & expertise. Smith has consistently delivered high quality, extensively researched information on the University of Alabama’s Crimson Tide football team that fans can trust. Smith is official credentialed media with the University of Alabama under Touchdown Alabama Magazine. He is also the Director of Recruiting for Touchdown Enterprises, specializing in scouting and analyzing high school recruits around the nation, specifically focusing on recruits within the state of Alabama.
Tennessee set to execute woman for first time in over 200 years
If Christa Pike’s execution is carried out, she would be the first woman executed in Tennessee in 200 years and the 19th woman in modern U.S. history.
A federal Alabama judge has prohibited the state from executing an inmate this week using the controversial new method of nitrogen gas, ruling that it amounts to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
U.S. District Judge Emily Marks issued the ruling on Tuesday, June 9, that could stop the execution of Alabama death row inmate Jeffrey Lee. Lee is scheduled to be executed on Thursday, June 11, for a double murder during a pawn shop robbery in 1998.
Advertisement
The ruling also stops the state of Alabama from executing other inmates with the method, though no others are scheduled this year, and the state is expected to appeal the ruling, which could put the matter in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.
The office of Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey did not immediately respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY.
Marks’ ruling stems from a hearing about how much pain inmates experience during a nitrogen gas execution. She concluded that they experience up to three minutes of “severe air hunger” resulting in emotional distress, anxiety, physiological stress, and physical discomfort.
The U.S. Constitution does not guarantee a death row inmate a pain-free death but does require executions to be free of cruel and unusual punishment.
Advertisement
Defense attorneys, death penalty opponents and some witnesses to nitrogen gas executions argue it amounts to torture and so is a clear constitutional violation.
Alabama was the first state in the nation to carry out a nitrogen gas execution, that of Kenneth Eugene Smith in 2024. Since then, the state has executed six other inmates with the method, and Louisiana has used it once.
Under the method, executioners strap inmates to a gurney with chest and shoulder harnesses and attach a mask to his face. Ultra-high-purity nitrogen gas flows into the mask, and that displaces breathable air until none is left. The inmate loses consciousness and dies.
Witness accounts from the first four Alabama executions describe “suffering, including conscious terror for several minutes, shaking, gasping, and other evidence of distress,” Louisiana Chief District Judge Shelly Dick wrote last year when addressing the method in her state. The witnesses saw inmates “writhing” under their restraints, “vigorous convulsing and shaking for four minutes,” heaving, spitting, and a “conscious struggling for life,” she wrote.
Advertisement
Initially, Marks ruled last week that Lee showed he was likely to experience pain during his execution but not to an unconstitutional degree. The 11th U.S. District Court of Appeals disagreed with her on Monday and sent the case back to her for reconsideration.
Lee’s execution would be the first in Alabama this year. Another inmate, Charles Lee “Sonny” Burton, had been set to be executed by nitrogen gas in March, but Ivey commuted his death sentence to life just two days before the execution. The decision had nothing to do with the execution method. Ivey said it would be “unjust” to take Burton’s life when he wasn’t the triggerman in an AutoZone robbery gone bad in 1991.
It was the second time the Republican governor has commuted an inmate’s sentence in her nine years in office. She has presided over 25 executions.
Amanda Lee Myers is a senior crime reporter who covers the death penalty, cold cases and breaking news for USA TODAY. Follow her on X at @amandaleeusat.
As expected, running back Tai Phillips made his pledge to the Crimson Tide. He camped in Tuscaloosa a few weeks ago and the Bama staff was sold. Phillips canceled his official visit to Florida State and will OV the Capstone starting Friday. Alabama will hold their second High School Camp this weekend with several other prospects visiting as well
Also in the running for his commitment were Ohio State, NC State, and Penn State.
In 2025, Phillips had 116 rushes for 919 yards (7.9 ypc) and 12 TD in just seven games. He has been clocked at 10.86 in the 100 and 22.04 (1.2) in the 200. He is rated 3-stars but is rising fast. Don’t be surprised if he gains another star by December. Updated rankings will likely come sometime after the summer camps conclude and the Dead Period begins (June 22). Phillips is from Fayetteville, NC, but will play at Irmo HS in Columbia, SC this fall.
