A group of fans gathered near the left grandstand about midway through Alabama softball’s Sunday afternoon matchup against Middle Tennessee State. The Crimson Tide trailed and was in the middle of a comeback effort, getting two base runners on with nobody out. Yet, a section of the crowd stayed fixated on the home bullpen. Brandishing a brace on her left knee, Montana Fouts was warming up.

Fouts wouldn’t appear as Alabama lost its first game 4-1 and then survived, 1-0, to advance from the Tuscaloosa Regional. But as it did all weekend, even the thought of Fouts returning sent a current through Rhoads Stadium, where many fans proudly wore jerseys with her No. 14 on the back. At one point, security attempted to clear the walkway where spectators tried to catch a glimpse of their ace.

Earlier Sunday, a few hours before Ally Shipman lengthened the season by at least one more week with a seventh-inning home run, Fouts threw her second bullpen of the weekend. Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy said he, Fouts, her parents and Dr. Lyle Cain of Birmingham-based Andrew Sports Medicine spoke on a Zoom call to confirm: Montana was available to pitch for the first time since she hyperextended her left leg on May 11.

“It was a possibility to use Montana,” Murphy said postgame. “I’ve never had this situation. There’s not a coaching 101 that has this situation in it. We’ve been through lots of stuff but never this situation. Of course, I’m having 1,000 scenarios in my head the entire game. You don’t want to screw up. You don’t want this to be (Shipman’s) last game. You don’t want this to be Montana’s last opportunity. Thankfully, both (Shipman and Jaala Torrence) pulled through and (Fouts) can keep rehabbing and doing what she needs to do for next weekend.”

Across four games, Alabama allowed nine runs. Torrence, a right-handed junior, starred with a pair of complete-game shutouts on Friday against LIU and in the winner-take-all rematch against MTSU. The Dothan native pitched 18.2 innings and yielded just 14 base runners while striking out 17. Between innings, Torrence said Fouts would offer brief advice.

“I credit my teammates because of the support they poured into me all weekend,” Torrence said. “I think I said it the day before, like Montana talked to me every inning. Just asked me what I’m feeling, what I’m looking for. I just really wanted to show off and work hard for them.

“It was mostly just short. I don’t want to think about too much when I’m going out there. It was just like, ‘Keep the momentum. Keep throwing strikes. You look good.’ Stuff like that. It just really keeps me in a good headspace.”

Fouts will have five more days of rehab before five-seed Alabama welcomes No. 12 Northwestern for a best-of-three series starting at 7 p.m. CST on Friday, May 26.

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