Alabama completed its second SEC road sweep of the year this past weekend, taking all three games at Auburn to move to 39-3 overall and 12-3 in conference play. The Crimson Tide now sits alone in second place in the SEC, and along with Oklahoma, remains one of only two teams yet to drop an SEC series this season. While the opener ended in a tight score, Auburn never truly threatened throughout the series. Alabama edged out a 1–0 win in Game 1, followed with another shutout in a 4–0 Game 2 victory, and closed the weekend with a 9–1 run-rule win in six innings on Sunday.
The Tide’s pitching staff surrendered just one run across the entire series. Even though Auburn’s offense has struggled, that level of dominance against any SEC opponent is noteworthy. Pitching against the Tigers again on Sunday, Jocelyn Briski was locked in, throwing a complete game on just 80 pitches—60 of them strikes. As head coach Patrick Murphy noted after the win, Alabama has had only one game all season without a quality start from its pitchers. Week after week, regardless of opponent, Briski and Vic Moten continue to deliver strong outings and consistently put the team in position to win. Briski hasn’t shown any signs of being impacted by last season’s injury, and Moten certainly isn’t pitching like a typical SEC freshman. After a few tough starts early in conference play, Moten has emerged as one of the nation’s top freshmen, and both pitchers carry ERAs under 1.70 despite frequent starts. While Alabama’s offense has taken a major step forward from a year ago, the pitching staff remains the team’s most reliable anchor—even on days when the bats cool off.
Murphy kept Alexis Pupillo in the leadoff role, continuing the approach from the Texas series. Pupillo delivered, going 4-for-9 with a double, a home run, three walks, two RBIs, and three runs scored.
After a brief slump that pushed her out of the lineup, Jena Young fought her way back into the starting second-base job and earned a move up to the No. 5 spot by Game 3. Young went an impressive 5-for-6 against Auburn with a double, two triples, and two RBIs. She scored the only run in Game 1 and reached base four times in Sunday’s finale. Audrey Vandagriff—usually the team’s leadoff hitter over the past two seasons—has shifted to the six spot over the last two weekends and recorded a hit in each game of the Auburn series. Alabama’s depth gives Murphy the flexibility to shuffle the lineup whenever needed, a strength that will be valuable heading into the postseason.
Coming off an emotional home series win against top-ranked Texas, Alabama could have easily let its guard down against a struggling Auburn team. Instead, the Tide took care of business with a midweek win over South Alabama, then went on the road and swept its rival. With Alabama firmly among the nation’s top five teams, the target on its back is bigger than ever. Early in the season, the Tide may have flown somewhat under the radar, but that time has passed—every opponent is giving its best shot. Still, Alabama has plenty of motivation of its own. The Tide is in strong position to compete for the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament and chase its first SEC regular-season title since 2019. The team continues to approach the schedule one game at a time, but those major goals loom larger as the wins keep building.
