Photo Credit: rolltide.com
Roll Tide! It was an impressive performance to open NCAA Regional play. The Alabama Crimson Tide softball team (43-12) will advance to play today after an 8-0 shutout over Fairfield last night in just six innings. Bama meets Washington today in the second round.
Everyone in Bama's lineup reached a base at some point during the night, with eight of the nine starters achieving at least one base hit. Three of Bama's eight runs came as a result of home run smacks. Danae Hays brought in two of those runs in the third inning, and Haylie McCleney added one in the fourth. Demi Turner tied her season high going 4-4, with four hits being the most achieved by any Bama batter this season.
Sydney Littlejohn (16-1) continued her dominance on the mound limiting Fairfield to only two hits. She issued 45 strikes while not pitching a single walk all evening.
"I thought Sydney did a really good job with two hits and no walks," Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy said. "She was hitting her spots for the most part. We played really good defense. We attacked them on offense. I told the team I'd much rather have 15 hits and eight runs than two hits and no runs. I'll take the hits all day long. I think the longer we play the more we are going to get people going with the RBIs."
The Tuscaloosa Regional continues today with Alabama taking on Washington this morning at 11 AM CDT. Fairfield and USC Upstate plays an elimination game at 1:30 PM with the winner of that game meeting the loser of the Alabama-Washington contest in a second elimination game scheduled for 4 PM CDT.
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Baseball
Photo Credit: rolltide.com
It was a valiant effort, but in the end it just wasn't enough for the Alabama Crimson Tide to knock off seventh-ranked Vanderbilt. Bama fell to the Commodores last night 7-5 at the Hoover Met, dropping them to 29-26 overall, 11-18 in SEC play. The second win in as many games also gives Vandy the series win, leaving the Tide today to try to spoil the sweep.
Alabama baseball coach Mitch Gaspard said, "The first two innings got away from us, but after that I thought we
competed and got ourselves back in it. Jay Shaw
did a great job tonight. He threw more pitches than he has all year to
keep us in the game. He did a heck of a job to hang in there for us and
give us a chance to win."
Three Alabama seniors were honored before last night's game. They were Taylor Guilbeau, Jay Shaw, and J.C. Wilhite.
Bama and Vany close out the three-game series, as well as the regular season, this afternoon at 3:30 PM CDT. Sophomore right-hander Geoffry Bramblett will start on the mound for Alabama, with righty Walker Buehler pitching for Vanderbilt.
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Football Recruiting
Photo Credit: kdhnews.com
Shoemaker High School (Texas) prospect Kendell "Hulk" Jones has narrowed his college choices to continue his football career. The 6' 5", 360-pound junior defensive tackle tweeted that he has narrowed his list down to Texas, Baylor, Texas A&M, LSU, and the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Speaking of the Shoemaker annual spring game Jones said, "I will announce my college May 22 at the spring game," according to the Killeen Daily Herald.
Jones was a Texas APSE Class 6A all-state honorable mention. The Killeen Daily Herald selected him as their All-Area Defensive Player of the Year.
Jones is estimated to have had at least 50 offers from NCAA Division I schools, and the Crimson Tide is one of the top 5of his favorites.
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Basketball
Photo Credit: rolltide.com
RollTide.com reports that the UA men's basketball program, along with head basketball coach Avery Johnson, have announced the details for the summer camp program.
The first camp will be from June 14-17, offering two packages for different age groups. There will be an overnight camp for boys ages 10-17. There is also a day individual camp for boys ages 7-17. The overnight camp is $450 while the day camp is $350. The cost includes meals, personal evaluation, a basketball, tee-shirt, and have a photo taken with Johnson.
There will also be four one-day play date camps for varsity, junior varsity, and freshman teams. These will be held on June 19, 20, 23, and 24 for $275 per team. Multiple play date camps are available, and are welcomed to stay in UA dorms at an additional cost.
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Men's Golf
The University of Alabama men's golf team has slipped to eighth after the second round of the 2015 NCAA Men's Golf Noblesville Regional. Friday's score for Bama was 11-over par 299, with a cumulative score of 21-over 597 for 36 holes.
The Tide must finish in the top five in order to advance to nationals. The only team still below par after the 36 holes is 24th-ranked SMU. Next, in order, are Colorado, Illinois, UCLA, and UNLV finishing out the top five.
The 2015 NCAA Championships will be held at the Concession Golf Club on May 29-June 3 in Bradenton, Florida and will consist of the top five finishers from the various regional tournaments.
With the threat of inclement weather in the forecast, all tee times for Saturday's final round in Noblesville have been moved up 30 minutes. UA will tee off at 7 AM CDT and will be paired with Marquette and Georgia Southern.
