Softball Heads West for Stanford Nike Invitational
2/12/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
THIS WEEK - STANFORD NIKE INVITATIONAL (STANFORD, CALIF.)
Friday Feb. 13
- vs. Pacific - 2:30 p.m. CT
- at Stanford - 7:30 p.m. CT
Saturday, Feb. 14
- vs. Cal Poly - Noon CT
- at Stanford - 2:30 p.m. CT
Sunday, Feb. 15
- vs. Pacific - 11 a.m. CT
THE TIDE ON THE AIR
RADIO: 95.3 FM (953thebear.com)
SCOUTING ALABAMA (7-0)
- Alabama is 7-0 to start the year for the fifth straight season and the 10th time in the last 11 years.
- The pitching staff sports a combined 0.98 ERA, as senior Leslie Jury (Anderson, S.C.), sophomore Sydney Littlejohn (Rusk, Texas) and freshman Alexis Osorio (Riverside, Calif.) have only allowed six earned runs over 43.0 innings along with 52 strikeouts.
- The team is hitting .369 overall, led by freshman Demi Turner (Huntsville, Texas) at .579 with a team-leading 11 hits and two triples. Junior Haylie McCleney (Morris, Ala.) is hot on her heels with a .571 average (12-21) along with five doubles and six 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.
LAST TIME OUT: ALABAMA DEFEATS SAMFORD, 7-1, ON WEDNESDAY
Alabama softball remains undefeated on the young season, as the Crimson Tide defeated Samford, 7-1, Wednesday night in Birmingham. Alabama (7-0) knocked in a season-high 12 hits, led by Haylie McCleney with a 3-4 performance at the top of the order including two RBI. Leona Lafaele had a 2-4 day with an RBI double while Marisa Runyon's lone hit was a long solo home run in the fifth inning. Tide starter Leslie Jury (2-0) earned the win, throwing 5.0 shutout innings with just three hits allowed, while SEC Pitcher of the Week Sydney Littlejohn closed out the game with 2.0 strong innings in relief.
DID YOU KNOW?
- This will be Alabama's first trip to California since the 2009 Cathedral City Classic in Palm Springs.
- Alabama has been to Stanford once before, starting the 2004 season at the Stanford Spring Classic. Alabama went 3-1 that weekend.
- The trip will be a homecoming for junior Leona Lafaele, who is from Sacramento
STORIED HISTORY VS. STANFORD
- Five of the eight meetings between Alabama and Stanford have come in the NCAA Super Regional round
- The Tide swept the seventh-ranked Cardinal in 2006 in Tuscaloosa, deafeating them 4-1 in the opener and then going extra innings for the 8-7 clincher in game two. This sealed the Tide's fourth trip to the Women's College World Series.
- The second postseason meeting between the teams also provided plenty of drama at the 2011 NCAA Super Regional round in Tuscaloosa. Stanford won the opener, 5-2, before Alabama came back with a dominant 10-0 win the next day to set up a deciding game three. The two teams were scoreless until Cassie Reilley-Boccia ripped a sixth-inning triple to score Jaclyn Traina from first base and make it 1-0. Traina, pitching that day, finished the game by shutting down the Cardinal in the seventh to punch Alabama's ticket to Oklahoma City.
CALIFORNIA TO THE CAPSTONE
Alabama has welcomed five players in program history from the state of California
- Melissa Bautista - RHP - 2000-01
- Amy Bernard - RHP - 1998-99
- Leona Lafaele - UTIL - 2013-pres.
- Charlotte Morgan - UTIL - 2007-10 (3x All-American, Career RBI Leader)
- Alexis Osorio - RHP - 2015-pres.
GETTING BASES THE HARD WAY
- Alabama earned its bases the hard way against No. 23 South Alabama, as Alabama players were hit by a pitch six times during the game. This ties the school record for most times hit by a pitch in a game, originally set on June 5, 2012 in game two of the national championship series agianst Oklahoma.
- Junior Haylie McCleney accounted for three of the HBP, which ties an individual school record originally set by Cassie Reilly-Boccia vs. UAB on March 4, 4009.
- Interestingly enough, senior Danae Hays escaped the night unscathed despite ranking fourth in school history with 33 career HBP.
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.
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.
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 UAB / EASTON BAMA BASH
Alabama will be back in Birmingham on Tuesday, Feb. 17 as they take on the UAB Blazers at 6 p.m. That weekend, the Tide welcome in three NCAA Tournament teams from last season to the Easton Bama Bash in Tuscaloosa at Rhoads Stadium. Alabama will play Lipscomb, James Madison and No. 8/7 Michigan.
