Bama Loses In WCWS 1st Round
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
It was two home runs that cost the Alabama Crimson Tide softball team a win last night at the Women's College World Series at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Michigan blasted a one-run homer in the first with two outs to score first and take the 1-0 lead. Then it was the fourth inning that put the game out of reach on another home run, but this one a grand slam, making the score 5-0 where it remained through the end of the game.
Bama had only four hits on the evening, and suffered only their second shut-out of the season. That first one came at the hands of Florida back in early March.
Though Bama has had to come from behind in series play this season, even losing the opening game in the Super Regional with Oklahoma, it's the first time since 2009 that the Tide has been defeated in it opening game of the WCWS.
Alabama head softball coach Patrick Murphy said, "It was a great win for Michigan. Congrats to them. Their pitcher was awesome. They had two key hits and, really, other than those two big swings, Lexi (Osorio) pitched a pretty good game. We just didn't do enough offensively to support her."
Even though Osario allowed only four hits, all were costly due to the two home runs. Alabama (47-14) saw the first run scored against by Michigan (57-6) on a solo homer by Kelly Christner. Then the fourth inning grand slam came at the hands of Lauren Sweet in the fourth.
"You have to do something to win and on the other side, unfortunately, if you don't do enough of some other things you lose," said Murphy. "We had way too many 0-fers and I think we only had one kid at second base. You're just not going to win too many games against a very good team offensively like that. We had to put some more pressure on them and we didn't do that."
The only Tide player to actually reach scoring position all night was Demi Turner, who tagged up on a long fly out to make it to second base in the sixth inning. Bama's four hits came from Turner, Andrea Hawkins, and two from Jadyn Spencer.
Next up for the Crimson Tide is Oregon, who fell to UCLA 7-1 last night, in an elimination game to be played tomorrow at 1:30 PM CDT. The game can be seen on ESPN.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4-Star Recruit Xavier Kelly Visits UA Today
The University of Alabama football program receives a visit today from the number one prospect in the state of Kansas. Xavier Kelly, a four-star recruit out of Wichita, Kansas, was to arrive in Tuscaloosa last night for his official visit today.
Kelly has been recruited by Alabama assistant coaches Billy Napier and Tosh Lupoi, whom Kelly says he keeps in touch with a lot. The 6'5", 245 pounder plays defensive end in high school but says Bama is looking at a possible move to outside linebacker.
Six visits are done, but Kelly still has fourteen more he's working on. He plans to make his decision on January 9th at the Army All-American Game in San Antonio, Texas.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elite QB Prospect Jawon Pass To Visit Bama
Elite quarterback Jawon Pass out of Columbus, Georgia is scheduled to visit the University of Alabama on June 8. The 6-5", 220-pound QB is highly sought-after with numerous schools vying for his services.
Pass currently has listed Auburn, Louisville, Alabama, North Carolina, and Virginia Tech as his top five schools. Word is that Auburn and Louisville are his co-leaders.
Pass is expected to announce his choice in July.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rating The SEC Opening Games
I came across an interesting article on SaturdayDownSouth.com written by Christopher Smith and want to give him and the site credit up front. The article deals with the ranking the SEC's season openers in order from the toughest to easiest.
It would be a good idea for you to check out their site and read the entire article, so I invite you to go there after you finish here. Just wanted to share the list with you. For a breakdown/analysis on the games, head over to saturdaydownsouth.com and read, "Ranking The SEC's Openers From Toughest To Easiest" by Christopher Smith.
The list was broken down into categories, but I'll just list the games.
Arizona State vs. Texas A&M
North Carolina vs. South Carolina
Western Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt
Wisconsin vs. Alabama
Louisville vs. Auburn
Louisiana-Lafayette vs. Kentucky
Bowling Green vs. Tennessee
UTEP vs. Arkansas
Southern Miss vs. Mississippi State
Louisiana-Monroe vs. Georgia
New Mexico State vs. Florida
Tennessee-Martin vs. Ole Miss
Southeast Missouri State vs. Missouri
McNeese State vs. LSU
That's the order, toughest to easiest, according to Christopher Smith. What do you think?
