5 things to know about Alabama softball's NCAA Tournament Tuscaloosa Regional

Alabama softball welcomes in Stanford, Murray State and Chattanooga for the NCAA Tournament in the 18th consecutive regional to be played at Rhoads Stadium.

The Crimson Tide (41-11) is coming off a late-season slide after losing five out of its last eight games.

"It's a clean slate, totally wiped clean," said Alabama coach Patrick Murphy. "We are going to work hard to this week to be the most prepared we have ever been."

Play starts Friday and runs through Sunday.

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Here are five things to know about the Tuscaloosa Regional:

Comfort of own home

Alabama has played in every NCAA Tournament since 1999. This will be the 19th regional at Rhoads Stadium. The Crimson Tide has won every regional round since 2005.

Alabama has won 43 straight home games in the regional round — the last loss came in 2007. Alabama is 22-4 at home this season.

“"The fans here are unmatched," infielder Ashley Prange said. "They’re loud and always here to support us. It's going to be a really cool atmosphere, and something I’m looking forward to being apart of.”

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Crimson Tide is tested

Sixth-seeded Alabama carries one of the better résumés into the 64-team field, including a top-10 RPI, the seventh-best strength of schedule and the fourth-best RPI against non-conference opponents.

The Crimson Tide defeated No. 3 seed Virginia Tech twice.

“It was 18 months ago Virginia Tech called me and said, ‘I need to boost my RPI, can I come down for a tournament?'" said Murphy. "I said absolutely: Look what it did for them and us.”

Alabama has played 10 games against the 16 national seeds, winning six.

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Returning to the top?

Stanford (36-19) recorded its best season since 2013 in terms of total wins and Pac-12 finish (fourth). The Cardinal reached the postseason in 2019 and '21 (no tournament was held in 2020 due to COVID-19) but did not reach the super regional round.

Coach Jessica Allister's team has five wins against the top eight seeds in the field.

"They've (Stanford) have been here before for regionals and supers, so they've had a really good year," said Murphy. "They are going in the right direction."

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Year of firsts

Murray State (40-16-1) earned its first NCAA Tournament bid after picking up the first Ohio Valley Conference regular-season and tournament titles in program history. The Racers' 40 wins mark the most ever for the program.

Hannah James (20-6-1, 1.26 ERA) led the conference in wins and ERA en route to OVC Pitcher of the Year honors.

"I kind of thought they would come down after they won their conference because it is a pretty quick drive," said Murphy. "They have never been here, so it's kind of cool to potentially play them."

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Been here before

The second conference champion in the field, Chattanooga (29-25) is coming off a seven-run, extra-inning comeback victory in Southern Conference tournament championship — the 15th title in program history.

The Mocs carry a six-game winning streak with a roster that has no seniors. The Crimson Tide most recently played Chattanooga in the 2011 regional.

"They have been here quite a few times for regionals," said Murphy. "(Coach) Frank Reed does a great job."

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Full schedule

All times Central

Friday, May 20

Game 1, 3 p.m. – Chattanooga vs. Alabama (SEC Network)

Game 2, 5:30 p.m. – Murray State vs. Stanford (ESPN+)

Saturday, May 21

Game 3, 2 p.m. – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2

Game 4, 4:30 p.m. – Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2

Game 5, 7 p.m. – Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3

Sunday, May 22

Game 6, 1 p.m. – Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5

Game 7, 3:30 p.m. – Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 (if necessary)

Reach Brett Greenberg at bgreenberg@gannett.com or follow @74talk on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama softball: NCAA Tournament Tuscaloosa Regional what to know