Montana Fouts return highlights Alabama softball super regional win over Northwestern

Alabama softball is going back to Oklahoma City and the Women's College World Series after beating Northwestern in the Super Regional at Rhoads Stadium over the weekend.

The 5-seed Crimson Tide fell in Game 1, 3-1 to the Wildcats, spoiling the return of ace Montana Fouts. Alabama came back to win both Game 2 (2-1) and Game 3 (3-2) to advance to the program's 14th WCWS and the third in the last four WCWS.

Here is what we learned as the Crimson Tide head back to OKC.

Montana Fouts returns and battles

Coming back from a hyper-extended left knee that she sustained in the SEC Tournament, Fouts shined for the Crimson Tide. She appeared in all three games, pitching almost 10 innings. She allowed four runs on nine hits while striking out eight batters.

It was clear that Fouts wasn't 100%, with her velocity hovering around 5 mph less than normal. She battled through her injury, still needing a brace and taking a ball to her knee in Game 3. In her final game at Rhoads Stadium, she came in and picked up the 100th win of her career.

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Seniors get final Rhoads moment

It was also the last game at Rhoads for Ashley Prange and Ally Shipman, and both delivered in the super regional round.

Prange's moments helped Alabama stave off elimination Saturday. She started the game with a double and came around to score, then later provided the go-ahead RBI.

Shipman's moment came in the third inning Sunday with a two-RBI single that opened the scoring. Jenna Johnson, another senior who should return for the Crimson Tide, added the final run via a home run off the foul pole in left field Sunday.

Offense a cause for concern

After an offensive resurgence from the final regular-season series through Game 2 of the regional, the Crimson Tide offense has returned to the form it was for most of the regular season. Alabama did increase its run total each day but only by one, scoring a total of six runs in the three games. Alabama had two games with six hits, then five hits in the finale.

Alabama left a total of 18 batters on base, leaving potential runs off the board. Luckily for Alabama, the runs didn't matter in the second two games but they could've as Northwestern made late pushes.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Montana Fouts return highlights Alabama softball super regional win