Alabama softball has dealt with a postseason injury to Montana Fouts before.

In 2019, then a star freshman, Fouts was coming off back-to-back complete game shuts outs in the Women’s College World Series. After an extra-inning win over Oklahoma, the Crimson Tide was seven innings away from a championship. But due to a rib injury Fouts suffered earlier in the year, she had been on a pitch count and had hit her limit the last game. Fouts deemed herself ready to go, but coach Patrick Murphy decided not to risk further damage.

“Montana,” Murphy recalled telling Fouts, “I want you back here again and again and again.”

And for the next three seasons, not counting the 2020 pandemic-shortened campaign, Alabama returned to the playoffs with Fouts at the forefront. In the process, she became one of the best players in program history while racking up accolades. Yet, on the eve of her final NCAA tournament with the Tide, it’s unclear if Fouts has already thrown her last pitch.

Fouts remains “day-to-day” for the team’s regional opener versus LIU a week after hyperextending her left leg in the Southeastern Conference tournament. The graduate student met with Lyle Cain of Birmingham-based Andrew Sports Medicine on Monday. Murphy also confirmed Fouts has been working with a physical therapist.

Speaking to the media Wednesday afternoon, Murphy said Fouts has three tests to pass before she could return. He failed to remember what specific ranges of motion Fouts would need to demonstrate in order to be cleared while acknowledging it was a better situation than he had previously imagined. Per Murphy, Fouts’ doctor has left the potential return timeline in Fouts’ hands.

“What she’s meant to our program and the sport, I feel that,” Murphy said. “I feel it from everybody that covers us, from our fans, social media. She’s just a special, special kid. I hope you guys realize she’s meant to us, our program. She’s a thoroughbred. I’ve said it before, she’s our version of Tua (Tagovailoa). I don’t know how else to describe it. She’s one of those once-in-a-lifetime kids. … She’s been extremely important to us for the last five years.

“She probably wasn’t gonna start tomorrow night anyway… You gotta be smart about this ‘cause it could end up being three, four, five games.”

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Murphy has refrained from throwing his ace on Friday nights — usually the game in a series where the team’s marquee pitchers face off — during his 25 years with the Tide. The team reviews tape of opposing hitters and tries to connect with “friends,” or former teammates or coaches, who’ve faced the same lineup.

As Alabama saw last year when it was upset by Stanford, the regional round can stress a pitching staff. Even if Fouts was available, one of Alex Salter, Jaala Torrence and Lauren Esman was likely going to have to produce as well. Ally Shipman, a graduate student catcher in her second season from transferring to Tennessee, noted the experience the trio gained over the 181-plus innings they’ve already recorded this year.

“Really, first she’s our friend and she’s our best friend to most of us,” senior outfielder Jenna Johnson said of Fouts. “So getting to go out there and play for her is something that we want to do especially for who she has been for this team and how much she’s given. You guys only get a glimpse of Montana. You get to see the videos and the things she does on the field but she is so much more. She’s a great friend, a great person, a motivator, a leader. I can go on and on. She’s so much more than just the pitcher.”

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].