Photo Credit: rolltide.com
It took a lot of hard work. After having lost the first two games of a three-game series, Alabama baseball came back on Saturday to shut out seventh-ranked Vanderbilt 1-0 to keep from being swept. The Crimson Tide concludes its regular season 30-26 overall and 12-18 in the Southeastern Conference.
It took four Alabama pitchers to pull it off, but the Tide brought head baseball coach Mitch Gaspard his 200th victory at The University of Alabama. This also marks the fifth time in six seasons that Gaspard has achieved a 30-win season.
It would take a Cody Henry single in the sixth inning to bring the one lone run across the plate and deliver the first shut out of the season to the seventh-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores.
Head coach Mitch Gaspard said, "We didn't have many opportunities today, but Cody's hit was huge. We out-hit them, and we were able to muster up just enough offense to get one run. That run was good enough, and that's all it took for the win."
Gaspard had praise for his pitching crew in yesterday's action. "That was an outstanding performance from all of our pitchers today. You really can't say enough about Alex Watkins and Will Carter and their ability to bounce back from a lot of innings on Tuesday to pitch for us tonight. I thought Tommy was really sharp, too, and credit has to go to our pitching staff; they were real good all weekend long."
The Crimson Tide will enter the 2015 SEC Baseball Tournament as the No. 11 seed. Alabama meets the No. 6 seed Ole Miss Rebels Tuesday morning, May 19 at 9:30 AM CDT. Those not able to attend the tourney will be able to view the competition on the SEC Network.
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Softball
Photo Credit: rolltide.com
The Alabama women's softball team (44-12) is letting college softball know they mean business. Friday the Lady Tide shut out Fairfield 8-0 in impressive style in the NCAA Softball Tuscaloosa Regional. Then yesterday Bama once again rolled, and this time over Washington 9-0 on the strength of three home runs and an impressive performance by starting pitcher Alexix Osorio who was just one hit away from pitching a perfect game.
Bama bats have now blasted out 17 runs in two games on a stage in which victories don't usually come that easily. Now you are playing the best, and hoping to move up to meet the best of the best.
The Crimson Tide scored in three of the four innings in which they batted. In innings two and four Bama was able to account for eight of their nine runs, four in each of the two. The first run came in the first inning.
Both Danae Hays and Haylie McCleney stepped up big on Saturday. Hays and McCleney not only had one run in the Friday win, but again yesterday. It's the third time that Hays has had home runs in back-to-back games. This was a first for McCleney to pull it off.
Marisa Runyon not only drove in the Tide's first run of the game on a first inning RBI single, but she also added four more RBIs on a fourth-inning grand slam. That brings her RBI total this season to 75, which places her in the number three slot on the Alabama single season record list. She is only four shy of tying the single season record.
Bama now advances to the regional final today at noon CDT.
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Men's Golf
The two-time defending national championship Alabama men's golf team will not advance to the NCAA Nationals for the first time since 2010. Bama was unable to overcome a disappointing second round of play and move up to only seventh position in the third to achieve a team total of 882 (298-299-285) in the 2015 NCAA Noblesville Regional.
The Tide recorded it lowest round of the three-day meet, shooting a 3-under par 288 yesterday. Bama was not able to achieve a top-five finish to earn a spot in the Nationals.
Alabama head coach Jay Seawell said, "We just dug ourselves too big of a hole over the first two days to make up any ground today, even though we played well. I am proud of the way our guys fought today. We had three guys in our lineup who made their debut in an NCAA tournament. I am happy with the way they fought and proud of the commitment they made throughout the whole year. I hate to see the season end. This has been an incredible run that we've been on but we knew it would end sometime. It just makes you hungrier to do some things next year and in the future."
Illionois and SMU tied to take the victory at the Noblesville Regional.
Seawell is expecting good things from his team this next season. He commented, "We return everyone from this team next season. We had a lot of adversity when dealing with injuries and with guys leaving the team. I thought the guys did a great job all season. We learned a lot this year that will help our team next year. We have a lot of talent coming in next season and that's how you win, with talent. This week taught our group what it takes to be a championship team and what is needed to compete at the highest level. I am confident and excited for next season."
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Former Quarterback
The Associated Press is reporting that former University of Alabama quarterback Luke Del Rio is transferring for the second time after having been a walk-on with the Crimson Tide in 2013.
Following a very brief stop in the Pac-12 with Oregon State, Del Rio could be headed to the Florida Gators. The former Alabama quarterback is expected to enroll at Florida sometime this summer, according to the A.P. report.
Del Rio transferred to Oregon State last year after red-shirting with the Tide as a freshman. He was granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA and served as backup to their starting quarterback, Sean Mannion. In his three appearances with the Beavers he completed 8 of 18 passes for a total of 141 yards.
Just last month Del Rio announced he was leaving Oregon State for parts unknown. Now it appears Florida could be that destination.
Luke is the son of Oakland Raiders coach Jack Del Rio.
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Football Recruiting
Quarterback prospect Jake Martell has reportedly received an offer from the Crimson Tide. Martell tweeted on Friday:
I'm very blessed to say I've received an offer from The University of Alabama!
