Tide Softball Opens Super Regional With 2-1 Victory
Crimson Tide Softballers Celebrate
Photo Credit: RollTide.com/Robert Sutton
It took eight innings, but the University of Alabama softball team defeated Washington 2-1 in the opening game of the 2016 Super Regional. This was the first extra-inning game of the season for the Crimson Tide and its first at home since beating the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the 2014 Super Regional round back in May of 2014.
Bama head softball coach Patrick Murphey was complimentary of both the Tide and Huskies, saying, "That was a great game. They (Washington) came prepared and they are really well-coached. Hopefully we can get it and do it again tomorrow. I knew somebody would come through. We had a couple of opportunities earlier in the game to get the ball out of the infield and I thought eventually something would go through."
The Crimson Tide improves to 50-12 on the season, while the Huskies fall to 39-14. Washington scored first in the contest in the second inning before Alabama came back and tied it in the fourth inning, and then winning the contest in the eighth. Demi Turner drove in both of the team's runs with a bases-loaded walk in the fourth and the infield RBI single in the eighth.
Turning had suffered an injury earlier in the season and referred to it in her statement concerning the win, saying, "It was awesome. This whole time the team has been picking me up. That I could do this for our team, I was so happy."
Alexis Osorio (18-6) was the starting pitcher for the Crimson Tide, throwing a career-high 156 pitches in the eight-inning win. Osorio struck out 13 batters with just one unearned run allowed on four hits. She still has not allowed an earned run in 24.2 innings pitched thus far in the NCAA Tournament. Madi Shreyer was the starting pitcher for Washington, taking a no-decision after pitching 3.0 innings. The loss was credited to reliever Taran Alvelo (18-6)tossing 4.0 relief innings.
The Crimson Tide was unable to get a hit until the bottom of the third inning when Kallie Case led off the inning with a single down the right field line. Going back to the top of the batting order, Case was caught in a force out situation at second base. Haylie McCleney was now at first base on the fielder's choice. McCleney was able to steal second base, then a single through the left side by Chandler Dare put runners at the corners with one out for the Tide. Runner interference helped out aA double play on the next play closing out the inning, leaving the Tide scoreless.
The bottom of the fourth inning found two runners on base for the Tide courtesy of a hit-by-pitch and a base hit, causing the Huskies to reach into its bullpen for the first time pulling in the freshman, Alvelo. It was then a bunt single by Andrea Hawkins loaded the bases, followed by a bases-loaded walk to Turner tied the game at 1-1. A lineout and a double play brought the inning to a close, keeping the score tied up heading into the fifth inning.
The Crimson Tide was able to put two on base in the bottom-half of the fifth inning, but another double play ended the inning again leaving the game knotted.
The score remained tied up 1-1 heading to the bottom of the seventh inning. Bama's Sydney Booker led off the inning with a single and was then moved into scoring position because of a sacrifice bunt. An intentional walk to McCleney put two runners on base and a groundout moved the runners into scoring position before a popup in foul territory ended the inning and sent the teams to extra innings leaving the runners stranded.
Two walks put two runners on base in the bottom of the eighth, and a then a failed force out attempt at third base on a bunt by Hawkins loaded the bases with nobody out. On the first pitch of her at-bat, Turner slapped a hard-hit ball back to the pitcher, bounced off, and allowed the runner at third to score on the walk-off RBI single.
Game two of the best-of-three series is scheduled for a 4:30 p.m. CT start on today. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN. If necessary, a third game will be played at 7:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2.
Crimson Tide Super Regional Team Photo
Photo Credit: RollTide.com/ Robert Sutton
Merris Shroder & Patrick Murphy Celebrate
Photo Credit: RollTide.com/Robert Sutton
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4-Star DL Includes Tide In His Top 12 Football Schools
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4-Star DL Includes Tide In His Top 12 Football Schools
Graphics/Photo Credit: RollTide.com
A four-star defensive lineman out of St. Paul's has trimmed his college list to 12. Ryan Johnson, 6' 4", 225-pound prospect has the Crimson Tide included in his list.
Besides Alabama, Johnson lists Auburn, LSU, Tennessee, Duke, Florida State, Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Stanford and Southern Cal as his top 12 potential colleges for which to play.
In his announcement Johnson thanked all the schools who have recruited him.
He will reportedly narrow that list to a top five in early August.
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Men's Golf Tied For 15th At NCAA Championships
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
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Junior Robby Shelton and sophomore Jonathan Hardee, who each carded rounds of even par 70 on the 7,014-yard Eugene Country Club course, led the Crimson Tide on opening day.. The pair are tied for 16th place overall, just three strokes behind co-leaders Nahum Mendoza III of San Diego State, Will Starke of South Carolina and Theo Humphrey of Vanderbilt.
Alabama men's golf head coach Jay Seawell said, "I thought both Jonathan and Robby did a great job today. To shoot even par on this particular golf course is good. I thought as a team we were a little emotional today. I think we need to get a little more resilient because this golf course is tough and it will test you, and when those tests come we have to do a little better of a job handling that. I know we will do that because that’s something we’ve done all year. We look forward to the challenge before us."
Shelton picked up 14 pars, two bogeys and a pair of birdies. He ended his round with 10-straight pars.
Hardee finished the day with four birdies, the most by any Tide golfer during yesterday's round. He also picked up four bogeys to record his lowest round since a final round of 69 at the Puerto Rico Classic in February.
Freshman Davis Riley and senior Tom Lovelady both came in at 5-over par 75, while junior Dru Love shot a 6-over 76.
The 21st-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks and No. 44 TCU share the overall lead with both teams carding a 2-over par 282. Third-ranked South Carolina, No. 8 Vanderbilt and No. 22 San Diego State are in a three-way tie for third at 3-over par 283.
After 54 holes the 30-team field will be cut in half to 15 . Those 15 teams will be trimmed down even further to eight teams after a fourth round of stroke play. Those eight teams will then begin three rounds of match play for the national title (1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6, 4 vs. 5), which is set for May 31st and June 1st.
The 17th-seeded Crimson Tide will tee off the second round to at 2:20 p.m. CT, and will be grouped with No. 16 seed Florida and No. 18 seed Oklahoma.
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Tide Track & Field Qualifies 6 To Outdoor Championships
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
Six Alabama Crimson Tide track and field athletes have qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Day two of the NCAA East Regional at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida yesterday.
Alabama's discuss squad, consisting of Kord Ferguson, Hayden Reed, Joe Williams and Daniel Haugh
were among those six to qualify. The three men tossed distances of: Ferguson (193-7: 59.01m), Reed (192-2: 58.59m),
Williams (189-2: 57.67m) and Haugh (185-7: 56.57m).
Also for the men's team, Tadashi Pinder sprinted his way to a berth in the championships with a qualifying time of 10.38 in the 100 meter quarterfinals.
These six new qualifiers now join Quanesha Burks (women’s long jump), Elias Hakansson (men’s hammer throw) and Antibahs Kosgei (men’s 10,000 meters), giving the Crimson Tide nine qualifiers for the NCAA Championships with one day left in regional competition. The 2016 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships will be held June 8-11 at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Ore.
Bama has also advanced four athletes to the Saturday quarterfinals at the regional. Vanessa Clerveaux raced to a personal-best time of 13.15 in the women’s 100-meter hurdles allowing her to advance. Her time equaled the fourth-best effort in school history and is the fastest turned in by Alabama this season. Tony Brown posted a time of 13.81 in the 110-meter hurdles to advance as well. The time is the second-best for Alabama this season.
Ahmed Ali advanced to the quarterfinals for the men and Diamond Gause also advanced for the women in the 200-meters. Ali clocked a time of 20.46, his second-fastest time of the season, while Gause came in at 23.37, her fourth-fastest performance in 2016.
The Crimson Tide begins the final day of the East Regional at 2 p.m. CT on today with Jeremiah Green participating in the men’s triple jump.
