Montana Fouts has been an integral part for Alabama softball as a go-to pitcher in her career. Unfortunately, Fouts has been sidelined to begin the NCAA Tournament with a knee injury sustained earlier in May.

As of Thursday, Crimson Tide head coach Patrick Murphy announced Fouts would be available for the team in the Super Regional. However, Murphy did not indicate what Fouts’ role would be to open the series.

That matter was finally resolved Friday evening with Alabama announcing in a video and the opening lineups that Fouts is indeed starting the Super Regional opener against Northwestern. Hopefully, she’s able to be effective and stay healthy throughout the series.

Fouts led the Crimson Tide this season with 213.1 innings pitched across 29 starts with 23 complete games to her credit. Fouts also has 311 strikeouts and held opposing batters to a .165 batting average.