Bama Softball Defeats Texas A&M
At Southeastern Conference Softball Tournament
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
Bama held A&M hitless through seven innings before a solo home run by the Aggies Tori Vidales tied it up in the bottom of the seventh, sending the game to extra innings. After two more scoreless innings, Hemphill blasted the homer over the fence in center field to give the Tide the 2-1 victory. The 10-inning game is tied for the longest game in SEC Tournament history by innings.
Picking up the win for the Tide was pitcher Alexis Osorio (21-7), throwing a career-high 10.0 innings while limiting the Aggies to just one run on two hits along with an SEC Tournament single-game record 15 strikeouts. Elissa Brown was two-for-four with one run at the top of the order to extend her hitting streak to six games and her reached-base streak to 16 games. Bailey Hemphill was one-for-two with one run and one RBI. Marisa Runyon had a one-for-three day with one RBI. Reagan Dykes had a one-for-five outing yesterday.
Next, Alabama will advance to play to play Ole Miss (37-18) in the semifinal game scheduled today at 2 p.m. CT on ESPNU.
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Bama Baseball To Host 7th-Ranked Florida
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama – The Alabama Crimson Tide baseball team will play its final regular season home series this weekend. Bama welcomes the seventh-ranked
Florida Gators to Sewell-Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa for a three-game weekend series. Alabama and Florida will start things off tonight with a 6 p.m. CT first pitch. The second game of the weekend series is Saturday, also at 6 p.m. CT. The finale will be held on Sunday afternoon with a 3 p.m. CT start. The first two games will air on SEC Network+. Eli Gold will handle the play-by-play with Lance Cormier on analysis. Sunday's contest will air on the SEC Network with Mike Morgan onplay-by-play and Gabe
Gross handling the analyst duties.
Tonight's contest will be the 115th meeting between the two teams. It's a dead heat at 57 games apiece, but the Tide leads 30-20 when playing at The Joe. However, in the last 10 matchups the Gators lead 9-1.
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Alabama Track & Field Completes Day One
Of The 2017 SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships
Alabama Track & Field Completes Day One
Of The 2017 SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics/Robert Sutton |
COLUMBIA, S.C. – It was a strong first day for the University of Alabama track & field team at the first day of competition of the 2017 Southeastern Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships being held at the University of South Carolina's Cregger Track on Thursday. Alfred Chelanga and Antibahs Kosgei finished first and second in the men's 10,000 meters while Jereem Richards turned in the fastest preliminary time in the 200 meters to highlight the championship's first day.
Chelanga (30:25.24) just did edge out Kosgei (30:25.27) in the
10,000 meters as the two managed to beat out Jacob Thomson of Kentucky (2016 10,000-meter champion) over the
last 400 meters. Chelanga turned in a time of 58.88 in the 24th and final lap, while Kosgei turned in a time of 58.76. The win by Chelanga is the first victory for the Crimson Tide in the 10,000 meters since Tyson David won the event back in 2008 and 2009.
In preliminary action, Richards finished with a time of 19,98 for the fastest time in the men's
200 meters to advance to Saturday's final.
Richards' time is the fastest in Alabama
history.
Turning to the men's field events, UA senior McLean Lipschutz placed third in the men's javelin competition with the sixth-best throw in Alabama history, with a distance of 243-10 (74.32m). The finish is the first
top-three placing for the Tide in the javelin since Mats Nilsson won consecutive titles in 1996 and 1997. Senior Elias Hakansson
started the day off for the Crimson Tide with a fourth-place finish in the
men's hammer throw, equaling the ninth-best throw in school history with a mark of 227-4 (69.31m).
With the wins, Alabama takes the lead in the men's team race with 29 points. Georgia and Texas A&M are
tied for second place posting 16 points, with Missouri (13) and Ole Miss (11) rounding out the top five.
Alabama track & field head coach Dan Waters said, "We're excited about the victory in the 10,000 meters and finishing 1-2 is a big deal. There are always some ups and downs in any meet like this but I
like where we're at after the first day. We're happy to be in the lead
on the men's side and we beat the form chart in a several places on the
women's side too. We're competing very hard. We just need to stay
focused the rest of the way."
Turning to the women's finals, Tide junior Danielle McConnell put in a fourth-place performance in the women's hammer throw with a mark of 200-9
(61.19m), the fifth-best throw in Bama history. Freshman Hannah Capek finished 12th in the 10,000 meters, the only running event final for the women on Thursday, in a time of 35:59.40.
The Crimson Tide women are currently in eighth place with five points in
the team race. The top five thus far are Ole Miss (1) with 15 points, Georgia (13) with 13
points. Missouri and Tennessee are tied for third with 10 points.
Arkansas (5) with 8 points.
Day two of the competition is today, with the Tide starting out with the men's discus at 3 p.m. CT. The running events will begin at 5:30 p.m. with the preliminaries of the men's
110-meter hurdles.
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics/Robert Sutton |
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
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Mackenzie Brannan & Keely McNeer Named To
CoSIDA All-District IV At-Large Team
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| Mackenzie Brannan Twitter Photo |
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - On Thursday two University of Alabama gymnasts were honored. Mackenzie Brannan and Keely McNeer were named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District IV At-Large Team.
This is Brannan's second-consecutive district honor and the first such honor for
McNeer. Both women now advance to the national Academic All-America ballot.
The at-large team includes the sports of fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice
hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming and diving, tennis, water
polo, bowling, field hockey and rowing.
Brannan posts a perfect 4.0 grade point average and is already a
CoSIDA Academic All-American. McNeer, who just finished her senior
season, also carries a 4.0 GPA. Of interest, Alabama and Florida are the only two
schools with more than one student-athlete on the District IV team while
the Crimson Tide is the only program with two student-athletes from the
same sport. Another interesting point is that, over the past five years the Crimson Tide has placed 13 women on
the district at-large team, including a record four in 2013-14.
Brannan is a four-time All-American who has also earned two NCAA regional titles while pursuing a psychology degree. A two-time
All-American, McNeer is earning a degree in chemical engineering at Alabama.
To be eligible for Academic All-America consideration, a
student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a
cumulative GPA of 3.30 on a scale of 4.0, have reached sophomore
athletic and academic standings at her current institution.
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| Keely McNeer Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
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Four From Alabama Swimming & Diving
Make 2017 Men's CoSIDA Academic All-District Team
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama - Four swimmers from the University of Alabama swimming & diving team - Anton McKee, Connor Oslin, Pavel Romanov and Luke Kaliszak - have been named to the 2017 Men's Academic All-District IV Team. The selection was made by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
These four now advance to the national ballot for the 2017
Academic All-America At-Large Team. The men's at-large team is made up of student-athletes from the
sports of fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle,
skiing, swimming and diving, tennis, water polo, volleyball and
wrestling.
UA has the distinction of being the only school with four student-athletes on the District
IV list and the only one among all eight district teams to have four
student-athletes from the same team earn the honor. Minnesota had four
student-athletes earn district honors from two different teams. McKee
and Oslin earned district honors for the third consecutive year while
Romanov made the team for the second time and Kaliszak for the first.
To be eligible for Academic All-America consideration, a
student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a
cumulative GPA of 3.30 on a scale of 4.0, have reached sophomore
athletic and academic standings at his current institution.
