TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (March 24, 2026) – In what has become a yearly meeting between in-state opponents, the University of North Alabama softball team will make a midweek stop in Tuscaloosa to take on the No. 6 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

This game will be the second half of a doubleheader for Alabama at Rhoads Stadium, as the Tide will play Jacksonville State at 3:30 p.m. prior to facing UNA.

Fans can purchase tickets at this link — valid for both games.

The games will air on SEC Network + with Gray Robertson and Ally Shipman on the call. Live stats are also available through StatBroadcast.
 

SERIES INFO

Teams: North Alabama vs. No. 6 Alabama
Date: Wednesday, March 25 at 6 p.m.
Location: Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Venue: Rhoads Stadium
Capacity: 3,940
Watch: SEC Network +
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Tickets: Click Here
Game Notes: Click Here
 

NOTES

LAST TIME OUT: UNA picked up a series win on the road this past weekend, defeating Austin Peay 5-4 in the rubber match Sunday. Junior Bayleigh Rouse hit a go-ahead RBI single in the top of the seventh, then fifth-year senior Alivia Wilken closed it out for her second consecutive complete game victory.

SCOUTING THE LIONS: UNA has a 21-7 record and ranks among the top 20 teams in the NCAA for win percentage. The Lions are getting attention from many of the mid-major polls, including a No. 18 ranking in the On3 Top 25 Mid-Major Softball Power Rankings. UNA is also 54th in the NCAA RPI Rankings out of 308 teams. Wednesday's game will be the fourth in a stretch of seven road games that ends this weekend at Bellarmine. UNA is one of three teams to rank top three in the ASUN in batting average, fielding percentage and ERA along with North Florida and Central Arkansas. The Lions are hitting .310 as a unit, pitching a 3.67 ERA as a staff and fielding .971 as a defense.

SCOUTNG THE TIDE: Alabama has a 29-2 record and started the season on a 25-game winning streak. The Crimson Tide are ranked sixth and seventh nationally in the national polls, coming off a series win over Missouri with wins in two of three. Alabama also took two of three from Arkansas and swept Ole Miss to open SEC play. Nine players with at least one start this season are batting over .300, including six regular starters. The pitching staff has an impressive 1.44 ERA with all five pitchers at a 3.00 ERA or lower. The three primary starters are all under a 1.50 ERA.

SERIES HISTORY: Alabama has a 6-0 lead in the series, but nearly every game in the series has been close. Perhaps the closest was last season's game at the Florence Sportsplex, as the Lions were one out away from a 2-0 win over Alabama. The Tide, however, scored four runs on a pair of untimely errors in the seventh inning and stranded UNA's tying run at the plate to steal a 4-2 win. That game drew 3,058 fans. The series began in 2021 with three trips to Tuscaloosa, two games in Florence and one at UAB in a neutral site tournament.

COMMON OPPONENTS: UNA hosted Ole Miss on March 10 and was on the verge of victory, but much like the Alabama game last year, the Rebels came from behind to win 4-2 in eight innings. Alabama won 5-3, 2-1 and 13-2 in three games in Oxford, Miss. Alabama and UNA also have common wins over Oakland and Samford. Bama won those two games 8-1, while UNA run-ruled Oakland 9-0 and Samford 10-2. UNA also took a second game from Oakland by a 7-1 final.

NATIONAL CHAMPS: UNA and Alabama have both won national championships in softball. The Crimson Tide won it in 2012, while the Lions won the NCAA Division II national title in 2016. The coaches that brought those titles back to the Yellowhammer state are still leading their respective programs with Patrick Murphy in his 28th season at Alabama and Ashley Cozart in her 13th season at UNA. Cozart and Murphy have 2,002 combined wins in their careers.

WILKEN WINS: Fifth-year senior Alivia Wilken is living up to the hype of her ASUN Preseason Co-Pitcher of the Year title, sporting a 2.63 ERA to rank third in the league. This past weekend against Austin Peay, she pitched 14.0 innings with two complete game victories, including a one-hit shutout to even the series in game two.

SIMON SHUTS THEM DOWN: Fellow senior Katie Simon has been stellar this season, owning a 3.24 ERA over 62.2 innings. Prior to her last three outings against tough conference opponents, she had a 2.85 ERA. She also pitched a valiant effort against Ole Miss, going 7.1 innings. She allowed just two runs in the first seven innings.

DOVER SENDS IT OVER: Junior infielder Briley Dover has 31 runs this season and leads the ASUN with 1.1 runs per game. She is currently batting .402 with seven homers and seven doubles and has reached in 13 straight games. She also has 13 multi-hit games.

HAMMONS GOING HAM: Senior outfielder Gyvan Hammons has reached in 23 straight games from the leadoff spot when including errors and fielder's choice, but also has reached in 16 games when only including hits, walks and hit-by-pitches. In her last game, she went 2-for-4 with a homer, a double and two runs scored. She also had two web gems to rob a single in shallow center and a multi-base hit in the right-center gap at the wall. She also stole three bases over the three games last weekend.

FIELDING CLEANLY: UNA has committed just four errors in the last 14 games dating back to February 28. UNA is fielding .971 this season with just 21 errors, while opponents are doubling that total against UNA with 42 errors and a .943 fielding percentage. Five every day starters have one or less errors, including Laura Leigh Wheeler with zero in right field.

STARTS AND FINISHES: In most games this season, UNA has gotten off to a hot start. UNA is outscoring opponents 32-13 in the first inning this season, while owning a 9-0 record when leading after the first. UNA is just as strong in the late innings, outscoring opponents 48-24 in the final two frames this season. UNA is 17-2 when leading after six innings.

CARDIAC LIONS: According to available research, there are only three teams in the NCAA right now with four walk-offs in the span of a week. Those teams include North Alabama, South Carolina and San Diego State. The Lions did it with back-to-back walk-offs against Detroit Mercy on March 8, then back-to-back games against Central Arkansas on March 14. Laura Leigh Wheeler had the go-ahead homer in two of the four games, while Briley Dover and EK Wright walked off the others. Dover homered against Detroit Mercy, while Wright hit a sac fly to score Holly Merritt in one of the UCA wins.

ASUN RECAP: UNA and EKU both took two of three in their respective series for the second straight weekend, leading the ASUN Gold Division with a 4-2 record. Central Arkansas took two of three from Lipscomb to improve to 3-3 in a tie with Bellarmine. Austin Peay and Lipscomb are both 2-4. In the ASUN Graphite Division, FGCU sits at the top with a 5-1 record following two wins over Stetson. The Hatters are 4-2, followed by West Georgia and Jacksonville at 3-3, Queens at 2-4 and defending ASUN champion North Florida off to a surprisingly slow start at 1-5 with a sweep by Stetson and two losses to Jacksonville.