Bama Softball's Haylie McCleney Honored
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Named Alabama Sports Hall Of Fame
Scholar-Athlete Of The Year
Haylie McCleney
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
She is no stranger to accolades, awards and honors. The "she" here is Alabama senior outfielder Haylie McCleney. McCleney has been named the 2016 Alabama Sports Hall of Fame Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She now receives a postgraduate scholarship which was established by the Board of Directors of the State of Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.
McCleney sports a 4.0 cumulative GPA in exercise science at UA, and will pursue a master’s degree in the same field. She is a two-time First Team Academic All-American and was named the Academic All-America Team Member of the Year for Division I softball last season. McCleney is the SEC’s H. Boyd McWhorter Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year this season and was the SEC’s Softball Scholar-Athlete of the Year last year.
McCleney has been a phenom on the field. She owns the Alabama career records in batting average, walks and on-base percentage, as well as ranking in the top 10 in slugging percentage, hits, runs and stolen bases. She is a four-time All-Southeastern Conference honoree, three-time All-American and a top-10 finalist this season for the USA Softball Player of the Year award.
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Alabama Crimson Tide Baseball
Chandler Taylor Named To 2016 Freshman All-SEC Team
Crimson Tide Outfielder Chandler Taylor
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
University of Alabama freshman baseball outfielder Chandler Taylor has been selected to the 2016 Freshman All-SEC Team. Taylor was selected to the outfield slot, the position he plays for the Crimson Tide.
Taylor is the only Crimson Tide player to homer in back-to-back games twice this season. The first home run came back on April 22-23 at Texas A&M, and then at Arkansas from May 13-14. The outfielder also leads the team with 37 walks, 24 of which have come during SEC play, and is tied for the team-high total in home runs with nine. Taylor has also managed to safely reach base in 27 of 29 conference matchups, including his last 18.
In his last 23 games overall, Taylor has batted .321 (25-78) with four doubles, a triple, five home runs, 20 RBIs, 12 runs scored, 24 walks and 46 total bases. He ranks either first or second in nearly every offensive category, including first in RBIs, walks, total bases, hitting (.590) and on-base (.485) percentage. Taylor is second in hits and stolen bases.
Taylor's SEC numbers are equally impressive. He is batting a team-leading .295 (31-105) with 16 extra-base hits. He has seven doubles, two triples and seven home runs, 25 RBIs, 16 runs, 24 walks and 63 total bases. He has reached base safely in 18 consecutive Southeastern Conference games and is currently in the middle of a nine-game hitting streak against conference opposition. He is a perfect 3-for-3 on stolen base attempts.
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Cheyenne Knight Finishes 4th In NCAA Golf Championships
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Women's Golf Team Finishes Tied For 12th
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Cheyenne Knight Finishes 4th In NCAA Golf Championships
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Women's Golf Team Finishes Tied For 12th
UA Freshman Golfer Cheyenne Knight
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
Alabama Crimson Tide freshman golfer Cheyenne Knight set a University of Alabama women's golf record and finished in a tie for fourth at the NCAA Women's Golf Championships at the par-72, 6,331-yard Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Oregon. Knight shot a one-over par 73 on Monday in the contest.
Knight (69-69-71-73/282) has now set a school record for the best 72-hole performance with her tournament finish, beating the old record of 284 set by Jennifer Kirby back at the 2010 NCAA Championships.
Assessing her performance, Knight said, "I didn’t give myself any chances for birdies today but I feel
like I had a really good week, finishing in the top 10 in my first
national championship. This was a learning experience but
there’s definitely a lot to build on after this. After yesterday I felt
like we were capable of a good round but today didn’t go our way. It’s
been a great year though."
Alabama (300-292-290-291/1,174) shot a 3-over par 291 in the
fourth round to finish in a tie for 12th at 21-over par. The finish extends
the Crimson Tide’s streak of consecutive top 15 finishes at the NCAA
Championships to nine, dating back to 2008. The 1,174 score is the
fourth-lowest 72-hole total in school history.
Following Monday's final tournament round, Alabama women's head golf coach Mic Potter said, "I thought the hole locations were pretty accessible today, we just didn’t hit enough good shots to them. They were in locations you could get to but
if you were off a little bit there was a lot of break in them. We had a
hard time making birdies today. This group has been a lot of fun,
especially in the spring. They’re very competitive and we had a great
year winning the SEC and being ranked No. 1 when a lot of people weren’t
expecting that out of us."
Senior Janie Jackson (76-76-72-70/294) shot a two-under par on Monday, her lowest round of the
tournament, and finished in a tie for 49th. Fellow senior Emma Talley (77-73-73-74/297) was two-over par in the final round, finishing in a tie for 61st. Sophomore Lakareber Abe (78-74-74-74/300) was also two-over par on Monday while finishing in a tie for 66th. Sophomore Nicole Morales (78-81-79-76/314) shot a four-over par final round and finished 83rd.
UA Golfer Cheyenne Knight & Head Coach Mic Potter
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
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Alabama - Kentucky Face Off In SEC Baseball Tournament
Hoover Metropolitan Stadium-Site of the SEC Baseball Tournament
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
It's Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament time!
Alabama baseball heads just up the road to Hoover, Alabama to open with Kentucky this afternoon at the 2016 SEC Baseball Tournament. The Crimson Tide is seeded No. 8, with the Wildcats a No. 9 seed. The game is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. CT at the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, and will air live on the SEC Network. Dave Neal and Gabe Gross will be handling things from the press box, while Laura Rutledge works the field and dugouts.
This will be the 98th meeting between the pair, with the series dating all the way back to 1925. The Tide holds a 58-39 advantage, and a 4-3 mark when the games are held at neutral sites, all of which have been at the SEC Tournament.
Alabama will put junior righty Nick Eicholtz on the mound to start. Eicholtz is 3-3 in his 11 starts, with a 2.25 ERA (15 ER/60.0 IP). He faced the Wildcats earlier this season, pitching a career-long 7.2 innings and allowing only one run on three hits and a walk with three strikeouts in the victory. Eicholtz retired the first nine batters he faced before giving up a single, and also had a streak of eight straight strike outs in the series finale against the Wildcats.
Kentucky will counter with sophomore left-hander Zach Logue. Logue has made 16 appearances in 2016, eight of which have been starts. He has struck out 36 batters, issued 3 walks and is limiting opposing hitters to a .241 average.
The Crimson Tide has now made 33 SEC Tournament appearances all-time. In those trips to the conference tournament, Alabama has a 56-52 (.519) mark. At the Hoover Met, UA holds a 36-23 (.610) mark with four postseason titles in 1996, 1999, 2002 and 2003. Bama has claimed seven tournament titles overall, with the most recent championship coming in 2003.
This will be the sixth time the Crimson Tide has reached the tourament under Alabama baseball head coach Mitch Gaspard. Gaspard's tourney teams are 8-8 overall.
This afternoon's contest between Alabama and Kentucky will mark the eighth meeting between the two in the conference's postseason tournament. The Crimson Tide hold a 4-3 advantage, with a 4-2 mark in games played at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
Alabama will put junior righty Nick Eicholtz on the mound to start. Eicholtz is 3-3 in his 11 starts, with a 2.25 ERA (15 ER/60.0 IP). He faced the Wildcats earlier this season, pitching a career-long 7.2 innings and allowing only one run on three hits and a walk with three strikeouts in the victory. Eicholtz retired the first nine batters he faced before giving up a single, and also had a streak of eight straight strike outs in the series finale against the Wildcats.
Kentucky will counter with sophomore left-hander Zach Logue. Logue has made 16 appearances in 2016, eight of which have been starts. He has struck out 36 batters, issued 3 walks and is limiting opposing hitters to a .241 average.
The Crimson Tide has now made 33 SEC Tournament appearances all-time. In those trips to the conference tournament, Alabama has a 56-52 (.519) mark. At the Hoover Met, UA holds a 36-23 (.610) mark with four postseason titles in 1996, 1999, 2002 and 2003. Bama has claimed seven tournament titles overall, with the most recent championship coming in 2003.
This will be the sixth time the Crimson Tide has reached the tourament under Alabama baseball head coach Mitch Gaspard. Gaspard's tourney teams are 8-8 overall.
This afternoon's contest between Alabama and Kentucky will mark the eighth meeting between the two in the conference's postseason tournament. The Crimson Tide hold a 4-3 advantage, with a 4-2 mark in games played at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
Alabama Crimson Tide Baseball
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
