The University of Alabama softball team has begun to forge an identity.
The Crimson Tide is 17-6 after playing as tough a schedule to this point of the season as any team in the nation — with three games each against No. 3 Missouri, No. 4 Georgia, No. 5 Michigan and No. 17 Ohio State — and has taken a few lumps along the way.
Losing at Georgia last weekend in the first game of its opening series of Southeastern Conference play, a young UA team had to stare into the abyss and make some choices. It could tank the series and strive to do well enough the rest of the way to at least be in the mix in the SEC race or it could fight back.
The Tide fought back, beating Georgia in a see-saw second game and then clubbing the Bulldogs into submission with a 13-4 mercy-rule victory in the finale.
This team, it seems, has some fight in it.
There’s a long way to go in a marathon season, but Alabama is as scrappy as it is inconsistent. With a lot of tough away-from-home games under its belt, UA is nothing if not seasoned at this point.
That tough schedule could pay off in the long run.