TUSCALOOSA — Lexi Kilfoyl arrived with as much hype as any who have come before her, joining reigning national semifinalist Alabama as the country’s No. 2 overall recruit in the 2019 class.

And two weeks into her college career, the powerful 6-foot-1 freshman from Florida has already received some lofty accolades after being named SEC freshman of the week this past Monday.

But as she continues to adapt to her new surroundings, Kilfoyl is embracing the opportunity after some early season struggles in the circle thrust her into a leading role on an already-loaded Crimson Tide pitching staff that also includes talented sophomore Montana Fouts and seniors Sarah Cornell and Krystal Goodman.

“I felt like I came in with high expectations, but I think it only pushes us harder (as a group),” Kilfoyl said Tuesday. “I definitely had to come in here and (not take it) easy. I had to push myself, had to compete to make sure I had a spot in the (order).”

Of course, having a spot was never at question for Kilfoyl, who already leads No. 10 Alabama (4-5) in both innings pitched and wins as the former top-ranked Crimson Tide return home for the first of four straight weekends after a difficult start to the season that included facing five top-25 teams on the road.

“It definitely hasn’t been easy by any means,” Kilfoyl said. “We jumped right into the fire playing two or three of the teams that were in the Women’s College World Series, so it wasn’t easy as all. … We gave it all we got, (and) we can only go up from there.”

It’s because of the potential of their year’s team, which includes seven seniors and many more that were major contributors on last year’s WCWS roster, that longtime Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy is hopeful a return to familiar Rhoads Stadium will help spark renewed life in his squad.

Kilfoyl has started just two games this season but has pitched a team-high 24 2/3 innings with at least four innings in four games this season, including allowing just one hit and six strikeouts in an 8-0 shutout of then-No. 1 Washington last weekend.

“You can’t get much better than that,” Murphy said of Kilfoyl.

Still, amid some sensational moments so far, Kilfoyl remains a bit of a mystery to her head coach.

“Lexi, I’m still trying to figure out,” Murphy said of Kilfoyl. “She’s a competitor for sure, but I can’t tell if she’s more (lively or serious) when she pitches, or what she likes really (as far as coaching goes). That’s what I really need to figure out. … I just have to figure out what Lexi needs.”

Through seven games against five preseason top-25 teams, Kilfoyl has a 2.84 ERA and has been the Tide’s most electric pitcher on the mound, limiting new-No. 1 and defending national champion UCLA to two earned runs over five innings pitched in a 7-0 shutout last Friday.

Kilfoyl also come on to replace Fouts in back-to-back starts after last year’s freshman ace struggled a bit with control while allowing five earned runs over four innings against the top-ranked Bruins and No. 14 Oklahoma State to finish up last week’s St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational.

“It’s not good enough, obviously. We want a quality start for whoever starts as a pitcher and … we’ve had maybe four quality starts so far,” Murphy said. “Just way too many freebies — walks, hit-by-pitches, errors, wild pitches, passed balls — too many of those. And then when somebody scores, you have to match. … (We’ve been) a little bit unlucky too, but I think everybody’s just ready to go.”

Murphy attributed some of Fouts’ early season struggles to an eight-week pitching hiatus between the end of the U.S. Olympic Trials this summer and the conclusion of the Fall semester in December.

“We told her, ‘You don’t have to be 100% in February, we want you to be ready to go in May or June,’” Murphy said of Fouts. “Literally, it was her first rest, complete rest since she was 8 years old. And we were going to do it in the summer, and then she made the Junior Olympic team, and then we were going to do it when she got back and she got to try out for the (U.S.) Olympic team, and I wasn’t going to take away any of those, because that’s not fair.”

Alabama and its strong pitching staff — led by Fouts and Kilfoyl — will get another chance to show how complete it is beginning Friday as the Tide opens the three-day, five-game Easton Bama Bash against Wichita State, Penn State and Louisville from Rhoads Stadium.

For Murphy, this weekend’s four-team tournament will serve as another opportunity to see Kilfoyl continue to grow, including at the plate, where Murphy considers her “a threat.”

“She’ll be listed as the DP (designated player), and someone else will be in the 10th spot playing defense,” Murphy said. “I’m just really anxious to see her at home, because she did great in every scrimmage we had. She pitched the majority of the fall innings because she’d never pitched in college. So this is her first shot to be at home, so I’m anxious to see it.”

Alex Byington is the Montgomery Advertiser's Alabama beat reporter. He can be reached by email at abyington@montgome.gannett.com or on Twitter at @_AlexByington.