TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama softball clinched the weekend series over LSU with a 2-0 shutout Sunday afternoon at Rhoads Stadium.

Alabama (36-16, 12-9 SEC) has now won five-straight SEC series over LSU (38-13, 11-10 SEC) in Tuscaloosa, stretching back to 2008. The Crimson Tide took the early lead Sunday over the Tigers in the bottom of the first courtesy of a solo home run from Ashley Prange. She drove in another run in the bottom of the third with an RBI groundout to make it 2-0 and the two-run lead proved enough for Montana Fouts (20-8) and the Alabama defense as LSU was held out of the run column for the second time this weekend.

The complete-game shutout was Fouts' second of the weekend, fanning nine batters in Sunday's win with just two hits and one walk allowed. The nine strikeouts improve her season total to 277, which ranks 10th on the Alabama single-season records. Her single-season high of 349 from 2021 ranks third, making Fouts the fourth Tide pitcher to have two or more seasons ranked in the top 10. Prange's home run was her team-leading 13th of the season, and the game was her team-leading 11th multi-RBI game of the season.

From Head Coach Patrick Murphy

"Montana [Fouts] just knows how to get into the zone. We all saw it her face that it was going to be hard to beat her. It is fun to watch. I'm so glad that we had 12,000 people out here this weekend and to shut out a team twice like LSU is really hard to do. It shows a lot about Montana, but also shows a lot about [Ally] Shipman and Lance [McMahon] and how great of a job they do. We knew that it was going to be an adjustment with a new pitching coach; Stephanie [Van Brakle-Prothro] was here for 11 years and they were used to her and the game she called. Sometimes it takes a little time for a coach and the pitching staff to get used to each other. Overall, it was so much fun to watch today, Ashley [Prange] with two big RBIs and a home run was great."

Highlights

• Alabama is now 43-46 all-time vs. LSU, including a 23-14 mark in Tuscaloosa
• The three-game series win was the Tide's 11th over LSU, with five of those coming in Tuscaloosa
• Alabama lost the first three-game series at home between the teams in 2004 but has since won the next five straight in Tuscaloosa: 2008, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2023
• The SEC series win was the Tide's fourth this season Alabama is 29-7 this season when scoring first and 17-5 when scoring in the first inning
• The shutout was the Tide's 17th of the season, eighth in SEC play and second this weekend
• Ashley Prange's home run was her team-leading 13th of season
• Montana Fouts now has 277 strikeouts this season, which ranks 10th on the UA single-season strikeout record books and marks her second appearance on the top 10 list
• The win was Fouts' 95th of her career, putting her two shy of fourth-place Stephanie VanBrakle (2003-06)
• Fouts now has 34 career shutouts, four behind second-place Kelsi Dunne (2008-11)

Scoring Summary

B1 | Ashely Prange sent the first pitch of her at-bat off the scoreboard in left center (1-0, 1 Out)

B3 | An RBI groundout from Prange tacked on another run for the Tide (2-0, 1 Out)

Up Next: at Ole Miss (Oxford, Miss.)

Friday, May 5 - 7 p.m. ET

Saturday, May 6 - 2 p.m. ET - SEC Network

Sunday, May 7 - 2 p.m. ET