Softball to Play Samford Wednesday in Birmingham
2/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
THIS WEEK
No. 3/4 Alabama (6-0) at Samford (4-1)
Birmingham, Ala. - Samford Softball Field
Wednesday, Feb. 11 - 6 p.m. CT
THE TIDE ON THE AIR
RADIO: 95.3 FM (953thebear.com)
VIDEO: www.socondigitalnetwork.com/samford
SCOUTING ALABAMA
- Record: 6-0
- Alabama is one of three schools in the SEC with a 6-0 record (Alabama, Auburn, Georgia)
- The Crimson Tide have gone undefeated on opening weekend in each of past five seasons.
- Overall, Alabama has gone undefeated on opening weekend 12 times in the program's 19 seasons (`00, `01, `05-'09, `11-'15)
- The pitching staff sports a combined 0.97 ERA, as senior Leslie Jury (Anderson, S.C.), sophomore Sydney Littlejohn (Rusk, Texas) and freshman Alexis Osorio (Riverside, Calif.) have only allowed five earned runs over 36.0 innings along with 45 strikeouts.
- The team is hitting .373 overall, led by freshman Demi Turner (Huntsville, Texas) at .647 with a team-leading 11 hits and two triples. Junior Haylie McCleney (Morris, Ala.) is hot on her heels with a .563 average (9-16) along with three doubles and five stolen bases.
- Demi Turner was named the Sand Dollar Classic MVP and was joined on the All-Tournament team by Haylie McCleney, Leslie Jury, Sydney Littlejohn and Alexis Osorio.
SCOUTING SAMFORD
- Record: 4-1
- The Bulldogs rattled off four straight wins to open the season at the Total Control Sports Invitational in Chicago, Ill., before falling to Butler, 8-0, in the weekend finale.
- Redshirt junior Mollie Hanson (Dothan, Ala.) was named the Southern Conference Pitcher of the Week after going 2-0 last weekend with eight strikeouts over 13 innings.
- Offensively, Samford is led by Preseason All-SoCon pick Megan Dowdy (Fairhope, Ala.), who is hitting .526 (10-19) with a pair of stolen bases. Freshman Shelby Maze (Morris, Ala.) and junior Caroline Wilder (Montgomery, Ala.) are also hitting above .400 on the young season.
THE MATCHUP
- All-Time Record: 19-2 Alabama
- Last Meeting: Feb. 27, 2013 - W, 11-0 (5) - Tuscaloosa, Ala.
- Last Meeting at Samford: April 2, 2008 - W, 4-0 - Birmingham, Ala.
- First Meeting: March 18, 1997 - L, 1-5 - Tuscaloosa, Ala.
LITTLEJOHN THROWS PERFECT GAME, NAMED SEC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Sydney Littlejohn didn't need to ease into her sophomore season, as she threw a perfect game in her first start against Eastern Kentucky on Feb. 6 at the Sand Dollar Classic in Gulf Shores, Ala. It is just the second perfect game in school history, joining current UA pitching coach Stephanie VanBrakle who did so against Kentucky on April 1, 2006. The perfect game, along with a shutout victory over McNeese, helped Littlejohn earn SEC Pitcher of the Week honors.
ALABAMA MAINTAINS TOP FIVE RANKING IN BOTH POLLS
After a big win over a Top 25 opponent to open the season and an undefeated weekend at the Sand Dollar Classic, Alabama softball remains in the top five in both national polls, ranking third in the USA Today/NFCA poll and fourth in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll.
The top four in both polls remains unchanged from the preseason, while Kentucky's win over Florida State last weekend allowed the Wildcats to jump the Seminoles to No. 5 in the NFCA rankings, but not in the USA Softball poll. A pair of tough losses for UCLA slid them out of the top 10 in both polls while Georgia moved in to the top 10 in the NFCA poll after being ranked 12th in the preseason.
All nine ranked SEC teams from the preseason remain in the top 25 in this week's polls: Florida (1/1), Alabama (3/4), Kentucky (5/6), Georgia (10/9), Tennessee (11/14), LSU (16/16), Auburn (17/17), Missouri (18/18) and Texas A&M (23/22). South Carolina and Mississippi State are also receiving votes in both polls.
SAMFORD/ALABAMA COACHING CONNECTION
The Samford coaching staff consists of three familiar faces to many Alabama fans:
- Samford head coach Mandy Burford played at Alabama from 2004-07, helping lead the Tide its first regular season SEC title in 2006. The Anniston, Ala., native collected 61 stolen bases over her four-year career, which ranks ninth in program history.
- Samford assistant Ashley Holcombe Bell was a mainstay behind the plate for the Tide from 2006-09. She picked off eight runners in 2008 and 10 in 2009, which are the top two single-season marks in school history. She also holds the career mark in that category with 26, which is 15 more than the next-highest on the list.
- Michele Moultrie enters her first season as an assistant at Samford and was a familiar foe to the Crimson Tide as a standout at Florida from 2009-12. Since her graduation, she has been a mainstay on Team USA, playing alongside Holcombe and, most recently, Alabama junior Haylie McCleney.
Haylie McCleney NAMED PRESEASON ALL-SEC
Defending Southeastern Conference champion Alabama has been picked second in the annual vote of the league's 13 coaches. Defending national champion Florida is the preseason favorite, earning 11 of a possible 13 first-place votes. Women's College World Series participant Kentucky was picked third, LSU fourth and 2014 SEC Tournament champion Georgia fifth. The top nine teams are all ranked in the Top 25 in both preseason polls. South Carolina is also receiving votes outside the Top 25 in both polls while Mississippi State is receiving votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll.
SWEET HOME ALABAMA
- A combined 19 players from Alabama (6) and Samford (13) are in-state products.
- Alabama's Danae Hays and Haylie McCleney were both prep stars at Mortimer Jordan in Morris, Ala., as was Samford freshman Shelby Maze.
- Samford junior Callie Brister is a Tuscaloosa native and a Hillcrest High School graduate.
WEEKLY QUOTES - Sydney Littlejohn (SO. - RHP - RUSK, TEXAS)
What was working for you so well during your perfect game?
"Well, the curveball was working. Chaunsey [Bell] was framing up everything behind the plate. She was the one making me look good, I swear it was. The defense made me look good, they didn't have any errors or anything. I couldn't ask for a better performance from them. The offense had their bats going and they really supported me and I am very thankful for that."
Was there anything specifically you worked on in the offseason that you think helped you in the game?
"One thing I've really focused on the last few months is to be more consistent. I'm trying to eliminate the wild pitches, passed balls and things like that. That really helped heading into this season. [UA pitching coach] Steph [VanBrakle] had me working on a lot of things in the offseason and, so far, it's coming together nicely."
McCLENEY NAMED TO TOP 50 PLAYER OF THE YEAR WATCH LIST
Alabama junior Haylie McCleney was named to the Top 50 "Watch List" for the 2015 USA Softball Player of the Year, marking the second straight season in which she qualified for the prestigious list. McCleney was a Top 10 finalist for the award last season and is one of 18 juniors on this season's list. She is also one of eight players on the list who will play for Team USA this summer. A total of eight SEC schools are represented with a combined total of 13 student-athletes on the list. Arizona leads all schools with four representatives, followed by Georgia, Michigan, Oklahoma and Oregon with three each.
This year's list includes 26 seniors, 18 juniors and six sophomores. Freshmen are ineligible for the initial Top 50 "Watch List", though they can be added for consideration for the Top 25, which is announced on April 8. From there, it is narrowed down to a Top 10 on May 6 and a Top 3 on May 20. The winner will be announced at the Women's College World Series team banquet on May 26.
NEXT TIME OUT: AT STANFORD NIKE INVITATIONAL
The Tide travels west to Stanford, Calif., for the Stanford Nike Invitational. There, Alabama will play five games over three days starting on Friday, Feb. 13. Opponents include Stanford, Cal Poly and Pacific.
