Alabama
No. 10-Ranked Alabama Softball Travels to Jacksonville State Wednesday, Hosts T-Mobile Crimson Classic this Weekend – University of Alabama Athletics
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Tenth-ranked ranked Alabama (16-0) will play six games over four days this week, starting with a Wednesday road trip to Jacksonville State before returning to Rhoads Stadium to host the T-Mobile Crimson Classic starting Thursday night against Northern Iowa and continuing Friday and Saturday against South Alabama and No. 19 Arizona.
This Week
- Wednesday, Feb. 28 at Jacksonville State – Jacksonville, Ala. – 5 p.m. CT
- Thursday, Feb. 29 vs. Northern Iowa – Tuscaloosa, Ala. – 6 p.m. CT
- Friday, March 1 vs. South Alabama – Tuscaloosa, Ala. – 4 p.m. CT
- Friday, March 1 vs. No. 19/21 Arizona – Tuscaloosa, Ala. – 6:30 p.m. CT
- Saturday, March 2 vs. South Alabama – Tuscaloosa, Ala. – 1 p.m. CT
- Saturday, March 2 vs. No. 19/21 Arizona – Tuscaloosa, Ala. – 3:30 p.m. CT
- Streaming: ESPN+ (Wednesday), SEC Nework+ (Thursday-Saturday)
- Radio: The Crimson Tide Sports Network at 97.5 FM in Tuscaloosa | nick975.com
Scouting Alabama
- Alabama hits the road for a Wednesday night road game at Jacksonville State before returning home to host the T-Mobile Crimson Classic as the Crimson Tide welcomes Northern Iowa, South Alabama and No. 19/21 Arizona to Rhoads Stadium
- The Crimson Tide is 16-0 heading into its fourth week of play, coming off a 5-0 slate at last weekend’s Green & Gold Classic in Birmingham
- For her performance last week, fifth-year senior outfielder Jenna Johnson was named the SEC Softball Co-Player of the Week
- Alabama has scored first in 14 of its 16 wins, doing so nine times in the first inning
- The Tide is ranked as high as No. 10 in this week’s national polls
- Alabama returns 15 letterwinners from last year’s Women’s College World Series squad, including 2023 All-SEC honoree Larissa Preuitt, 2023 NFCA All-Region Kenleigh Cahalan, 2023 All-SEC and SEC All-Tournament Team Jenna Johnson and 2022 All-SEC and All-Region Bailey Dowling
- Seven newcomers are on the Tide roster in 2024, including freshmen Lauren Johnson (Franklin, Tenn.) and Jocelyn Briski (Phoenix, Ariz.) and transfers Kayla Beaver (Central Arkansas), Kendal Clark (DMACC), Alea Johnson (LSU), Kinley Pate (Samford) and Riley Valentine (Texas A&M)
All-Time vs. the Opponents
- Overall vs. Jacksonville State: 17-0
- In Tuscaloosa: 11-0 | In Jacksonville: 2-0 | At Neutral Sites: 4-0
- Current Streak: Alabama +17
- Last Meeting: March 2, 2016 – W, 10-3 – Jacksonville, Ala.
- Overall vs. Northern Iowa: 6-0
- In Tuscaloosa: 3-0 | In Cedar Falls: 1-0 | At Neutral Sites: 2-0
- Current Streak: Alabama +6
- Last Meeting: March 6, 2021 – W, 8-0 (5) – Tuscaloosa, Ala.
- Overall vs. South Alabama: 15-1
- In Tuscaloosa: 9-1 | In Mobile: 3-0 | At Neutral Sites: 3-0
- Current Streak: South Alabama +1
- Last Meeting: March 7, 2021 – L, 0-1 – Tuscaloosa, Ala.
- Overall vs. Arizona: 8-14
- In Tuscaloosa: 2-3 | In Tucson: 2-5 | At Neutral Sites: 4-6
- Current Streak: Alabama +2
- Last Meeting: Feb. 12, 2022 – W, 11-0 (5) – Tucson, Ariz.
- Last Meeting in Tuscaloosa: Feb. 29, 2020 – L, 5-6
Last Time Out: Green & Gold Classic
- Alabama went 5-0 at last weekend’s Green & Gold Classic in Birmingham, including two run-rule wins over tournament host UAB along with victories over Western Carolina, Bradley and North Alabama
- The Crimson Tide outscored its opponents 45-5 and out-hit its competition 52-16
- Alabama pitchers allowed just five runs, four earned, over 31.0 innings pitched with 42 strikeouts
- Jenna Johnson led the offense, hitting 8-for-11 (.727) with eight runs scored and six RBIs
- Marlie Giles led the team with three home runs, including two in the weekend finale against the Blazers, as part of a 7-for-10 weekend at the plate
- Abby Duchscherer drove in a team-leading eight RBIs and was second on the team with seven hits
- The Tide defense turned three double plays in Friday’s win over UAB, its most in a game since setting Alabama’s single-game record with five against Texas on May 17, 2009
Jenna Johnson Named SEC Co-Player of the Week
- Jenna Johnson led the Crimson Tide with eight hits and nine runs scored over its six games last week, batting 8-for-13 (.615) with six RBIs
- She scored at least one run in the five games in which she made a plate appearance and reached base safely in those five, extending her current team-leading reached base streak to 12 games
- She had a career-high four hits in Saturday’s win over North Alabama, scoring twice and driving in two runs, and crossed the plate three times in Sunday’s finale over UAB, which is a new career high
- The award is the first of Johnson’s career and the second for Alabama this season, with her younger sister Lauren Johnson earning Co-Freshman of the Week honors on Feb. 12
- Overall, Alabama has taken home 52 SEC Player of the Week awards in program history, with Bailey Hemphill as the last to do so on April 6, 2021
Alabama in the SEC Rankings (Top 5)
Team
- Batters Struck Out – 1st – 128
- Opposing Batting Avg. – 2nd – .155
- Hits – 2nd – 133
- Hits Allowed – 2nd – 54
- ERA – 2nd – 0.61
- Runs Allowed – 2nd – 16
- Earned Runs Allowed – 2nd – 9
- Runs Batted In – 3rd – 104
- Walks – 3rd – 61
- Runs Scored – T3rd – 108
- Home Runs – 4th – 17
- On Base Pct. – 4th – .440
- Stolen Bases – 4th – 24
- Slugging Pct. – 5th – .528
Individual
Sweet Home Alabama
- Alabama sports a 716-135 (.841) all-time record at home, including a 680-119 (.851) mark under Head Coach Patrick Murphy (1999-pres.) and a 661-115 (.852) record at Rhoads Stadium, the Tide’s home field since 2000
- Since Rhoads Stadium opened in 2000, Alabama has won at least 25 home games in 20 of its 24 previous years there
Alabama Softball Scheduled for 16 TV Games
- The Crimson Tide is slated to appear 16 times on the ESPN family of networks throughout the 2024 regular season
- Over half of the Crimson Tide’s league slate will be nationally televised, including the entirety of the Texas A&M (April 13-15) and Auburn (May 2-4) series
- A non-conference matchup on the road at Florida State on Wednesday, March 13 will also be aired on the ACC Network
- All home games and every SEC road game will also be streamed online through the SEC Network Plus digital platform, available at WatchESPN.com or on the ESPN app
- Additionally, the entirety of the 2024 SEC Softball Tournament will also be aired live on the ESPN family of networks
Alabama 2024 TV Schedule
- Sunday, March 10 vs. Florida – SEC Network
- Monday, March 11 vs. Florida – SEC Network
- Wednesday, March 13 at Florida State – ACC Network
- Saturday, March 16 at Georgia – SEC Network
- Sunday, March 17 at Georgia – SEC Network
- Saturday, April 6 vs. Ole Miss – SEC Network
- Saturday, April 13 vs. Texas A&M – ESPN2
- Sunday, April 14 vs. Texas A&M – ESPN2
- Monday, April 15 vs. Texas A&M – SEC Network
- Saturday, April 20 at Arkansas – SEC Network
- Sunday, April 21 at Arkansas – ESPNU
- Saturday, April 27 vs. Tennessee – ESPNU
- Sunday, April 28 vs. Tennessee – ESPNU
- Thursday, May 2 at Auburn – ESPNU
- Friday, May 3 at Auburn – SEC Network
- Saturday, May 4 at Auburn – SEC Network
Up Next: vs. #13/15 Florida (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)
- Saturday, March 9 – 2 p.m. CT
- Sunday, March 10 – 5 p.m. CT – SEC Network
- Monday, March 11 – 6 p.m. CT – SEC Network
Alabama
In Alabama Primary Elections, Incumbent Utility Regulators Feel the Squeeze of High Energy Prices – Inside Climate News
MONTGOMERY, Ala.—For some incumbents, politics have turned sour in sweet home Alabama. In the May 26 primary election for two seats on the Public Service Commission, the state’s utility regulator, voters rejected one incumbent and sent another to a runoff.
The electoral shakeup comes as Alabamians are increasingly concerned about economic issues, including utility prices. Polling released earlier this year showed that 80 percent of Alabamians cite economic concerns as the top issue state leaders should address.
Now, Alabama politicians have gotten their first sense of voters’ attitudes this election cycle, and the message for incumbents charged with regulating utilities is one of frustration.
Commissioner Jeremy Oden, a Republican who has served on the body since 2012, lost his bid for re-election to Matt Gentry, who currently serves as sheriff of Cullman County, 75 percent to 25 percent.
Gentry will go on to face Democrat James O. Gordon in the November general election.
Another Republican incumbent on the PSC, Chris Beeker, also failed to garner the most votes from primary voters. Jim Zeigler, a perennial candidate who served on the body from 1975 to 1979, earned the most votes with 45 percent to Beeker’s 25. Because no candidate earned the majority of votes, Beeker will face Zeigler in a primary runoff election on June 16. The winner will face Democrat Sheila McNeil in November.
Electricity prices, in particular, have become a hot button issue across the country ahead of this year’s elections, including in Alabama, where power-hungry data center projects have begun to spring up across the state. In neighboring Georgia, utility cost increases and data center development became a major discussion in its own Public Service Commission elections, races that led to major Republican-to-Democrat flips and garnered headlines nationwide.
Read More
In the Wake of Georgia’s Blue Wave, Alabama Changed Its Utility Regulation Elections. This Black Democrat Is Suing.
By Lee Hedgepeth
Fear of a similar outcome in deep red Alabama has left some politicians nervous. During this year’s legislative session, lawmakers were forced to pull a bill that would have ended Public Service Commission elections altogether after significant public outcry.
In its place, the majority GOP legislature passed a major restructuring of the regulatory body that inflates its membership from three to seven members and consolidates significant regulatory power in a newly created secretary of energy to be appointed by the governor. The new law makes it more difficult to initiate a formal rate case, effectively barring such a hearing before 2029 and subsequently requiring the approval of the secretary of energy or five of seven commission members to do so.
Alabamians have good reason for concern over energy prices. An Inside Climate News analysis showed that Alabama Power customers paid the highest average residential bills among the 100 largest investor-owned utilities in the United States. Experts have pointed to the “regulatory capture” of bodies like the Public Service Commission as one reason for those high rates.
All of the successful candidates in this year’s PSC primaries have cited high utility bills as a reason for reform.
In the race for the Place 1 seat, Gentry’s 50-point primary victory over Oden came in the wake of Gentry’s pledge to call for the first formal public rate hearing overseeing Alabama Power’s electricity price increases since 1982. James Gordon, his Democratic opponent, has gone further, calling for regular formal rate hearings, an immediate 25 percent reduction in bills and consideration of a cap on the company’s annual profits.
In the bid for Place 2, Zeigler and Beeker will battle it out in the lead-up to their June runoff. Beeker is relatively new to the commission, having been appointed to the body in 2024 to serve the remaining term of his father, also Chris, a three-term incumbent, who resigned citing health concerns.
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Zeigler’s campaign has focused on pairing opposition to both large data center projects needed to power AI and solar farms for renewable electricity to harness local political passions, though his campaign’s website landing page features an AI-generated image as its background.
“They can ruin your community, consume water and drive your electric bills up. No one in Montgomery is overseeing this,” Zeigler said of data centers in a campaign video.
Beeker has taken a more traditional Alabama politics approach, nationalizing the issues and attacking what he labels “woke” left policies he claims without evidence are driving energy prices up.
Appearing in an ad holding his rifle on a farm, Beeker said he’ll fight for Alabama.
“As your public service commissioner, I’m again standing with President Trump against woke liberal environmentalists who are trying to kill Alabama jobs,” Beeker said.
As commissioner, Beeker has not yet called for a formal rate hearing on Alabama Power’s electricity prices.
McNeil, the Democrat in the race, did not face a primary challenger and has now begun her general election campaign in earnest. Her message? Power bills must come down.
“This is one of the most important positions on the ballot because it affects 1.5 million Alabamians,” McNeil said of the PSC races at a candidate forum earlier this month. “Utility rates are too high. They are some of the highest in the country. Something has got to be done because what has been going on for the last 20 years got us to where we are today.”
About This Story
Perhaps you noticed: This story, like all the news we publish, is free to read. That’s because Inside Climate News is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. We do not charge a subscription fee, lock our news behind a paywall, or clutter our website with ads. We make our news on climate and the environment freely available to you and anyone who wants it.
That’s not all. We also share our news for free with scores of other media organizations around the country. Many of them can’t afford to do environmental journalism of their own. We’ve built bureaus from coast to coast to report local stories, collaborate with local newsrooms and co-publish articles so that this vital work is shared as widely as possible.
Two of us launched ICN in 2007. Six years later we earned a Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, and now we run the oldest and largest dedicated climate newsroom in the nation. We tell the story in all its complexity. We hold polluters accountable. We expose environmental injustice. We debunk misinformation. We scrutinize solutions and inspire action.
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Lee Hedgepeth
Reporter, Alabama
Lee Hedgepeth is Inside Climate News’ Alabama reporter. Raised in Grand Bay, Alabama, a small town on the Gulf Coast, Lee holds master’s degrees in community journalism and political development from the University of Alabama and Tulane University. Lee is the founder of Tread, a newsletter of Southern journalism, and has also worked for news outlets across Alabama, including CBS 42, Alabama Political Reporter and the Anniston Star. His reporting has focused on issues impacting members of marginalized groups, including homelessness, poverty, and the death penalty. His award-winning journalism has appeared in publications across the country and has been cited by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, among others.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – Alabama has expanded income eligibility for the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program, known as WIC, meaning more families may qualify.
WIC serves people who are pregnant, postpartum or breastfeeding, as well as parents or guardians of children younger than 5. Applications are handled through local county health departments and WIC clinics.
WIC provides food benefits for each eligible family member, including a monthly cash-value benefit that can be used for fruits and vegetables. Each child receives $26 a month, pregnant and postpartum participants receive $48 a month, and breastfeeding participants receive $52 a month. Other approved foods include whole-grain bread and cereal, milk, cheese, yogurt, eggs, peanut butter, beans, canned fish and infant foods.
Participants can also receive nutrition education, breastfeeding support and health care referrals. Alabama’s WIC program issues benefits electronically.
| Family Size | Annual Income | Weekly Income |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | $40,034 | $770 |
| 3 | $50,542 | $972 |
| 4 | $61,050 | $1,175 |
| 5 | $71,558 | $1,377 |
| 6 | $82,066 | $1,579 |
Under the 2026 federal poverty guidelines, WIC is open to households with incomes up to 185% of the federal poverty level. Participants also must meet nutrition-risk requirements. Families already receiving Medicaid, SNAP or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families generally meet the income guidelines for WIC, though others may qualify as well.
Each unborn infant counts as one in the family size. For additional household sizes, see the Alabama Department of Public Health’s WIC information page.
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Copyright 2026 WSFA. All rights reserved.
Melissa Fortenberry saw a problem and sought a solution, a solution Alabama football is buying into.
Fortenberry invented HeatSense, a fitness tracker that measures athletes’ individual core body temperature with the “goal of proactively managing heat strain.” In August, Alabama will be Heat Sense’s first customer.
“They are all in,” Fortenberry told The Tuscaloosa News. “They very much want their player health to be at the top of the list.”
With a background in technology, Fortenberry came up with the idea of HeatSense as a fan, watching her three kids play youth sports in from the stands. She became sick, feeling dizzy and nauseous and coming to the conclusion that the pads and turf were hotter for athletes on the field.
Fortenberry conducted her own research and saw more reactive solutions than proactive.
“You can see heat strain forming in people and proactively cool them or keep pushing, where today, you’re flying blind,” Fortenberry said.
Jeff Allen, senior associate athletic director for health and performance and Alabama football’s head athletic trainer, has already been on the forefront of innovation for player safety, introducing the injury tent in 2015 to allow training staff and medical personnel to examine athletes privately on the sideline during games.
When Carson Tinker, a former Alabama and NFL long snapper and Fortenberry’s neighbor, heard about her idea, Allen was the first person Tinker thought of.
“Jeff was like, ‘Man, this sounds super interesting. Keep me in the loop with this,’” Tinker said. “It’s something he felt he knew that he could use. That was over a year ago now. … Now it’s all kind of come together. It’s crazy how it all kind of works out.”
“Once we got Jeff’s attention, he was really intrigued,” Fortenberry said, adding Allen “wants to be on the forefront of making the game better.”
Members of the HeatSense team attended an Alabama practice during its fourth-quarter program in March and put sensors on 10 players.
“I think the feedback they heard from players was validated in what we saw,” Fortenberry said.
Tinker views this not only as a safety tool, but an advantage overall to find a player’s peak body temperature.
“You want to be able to use the heat to your advantage. You want to be able to play your best in all conditions, but nobody knows until it’s too late and you got to get through in the cold tub because you overheated.”
Alabama is just the start for HeatSense, which has the goal of reaching three to five Division I programs this summer.
According to Weather Spark, the average temperature in Tuscaloosa eclipses 90 degrees during Alabama’s fall camp. Fortenberry now has a way for the Crimson Tide to respond.
“People, I think, are afraid of the heat, but you don’t know you can do something about it,” she said. “Now you can.”
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter or Instagram @colingaytnews.
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