Softball Wraps Up Regular Season With Road Series at Arkansas
4/30/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
THIS WEEK
#4/6 Alabama at Arkansas
Fayetteville, Ark. - Bogle Park
Friday, May 1 - 6 p.m. CT
Saturday, May 2 - 8 p.m. CT (ESPNU)
Sunday, May 3 - 2 p.m. CT
THE TIDE ON THE AIR
TV
Saturday: ESPNU
PXP: Melissa Lee, Color: Jennie Ritter
Friday/Sunday: SEC Network + (Online Only)
RADIO
95.3 FM (953thebear.com)
*streaming audio also available on RadioPup app*
SCOUTING #4/6 ALABAMA (38-11, 14-7 SEC)
- Alabama is coming off a series victory against Tennessee last weekend, taking two out of three games against the Lady Vols. The Crimson Tide has won six of its seven SEC series this season.
- The Crimson Tide are currently third in the SEC with a 14-7 conference record, trailing only Florida at 16-4 and Auburn at 16-5. LSU is tied with Alabama for third, owning an identical 14-7 SEC record. The teams that finish in the top four in the SEC at the end of the regular season will earn a first round bye in the upcoming SEC Tournament.
- In SEC games this season, Alabama leads the league with a 2.14 ERA and 150 strikeouts with Alexis Osorio (1st, 1.63) and Leslie Jury (5th, 2.56) both ranked among the top five pitchers in conference ERA. Osorio also leads the league with 101 strikeouts in SEC play.
- A scorching month at the plate has helped sophomore Marisa Runyon break out as one of the top power hitters in the SEC. In conference-only games, she leads the league with 30 RBI and is tied for the league lead with nine home runs.
SCOUTING ARKANSAS (16-34, 1-20 SEC)
- The Razorbacks have struggled mightily this season in SEC play, winning just one conference game against South Carolina on April 11. The Razorbacks' win in game one of Wednesday's doubleheader vs. SEMO marked their first win at Bogle Park this season, where they are 1-14.
- Senior Devon Wallace leads the team with a .365 batting average, seven home runs and 26 RBI. This season, she broke the Arkansas career home run record with her 44th on March 19. She was also selected 20th overall in the 2015 NPF Draft by the Pennsylvania Rebellion.
- The pitching staff owns a 5.50 staff ERA as six different pitchers have seen time in the circle. Sophomore Sydney Wright (10-12, 4.29 ERA) has seen the most time with 148.1 innings
ALL-TIME VS. ARKANSAS (50-8)
Last Meeting: April 5, 2014 - W, 4-3 - Tuscaloosa, Ala.
First Meeting: March 14, 1997 - L, 9-1 (5) - Fayetteville, Ark.
Last Meeting in Fayetteville: April 29, 2012 - W, 5-1 - Fayetteville, Ark.
Current Streak: Alabama 4
LAST TIME OUT: ALABAMA VS. TENNESSEE
- GAME ONE: TENNESSEE 3, ALABAMA 2 - Alabama softball couldn't capitalize on its scoring opportunities Thursday night against Tennessee, as the Lady Vols held off a late comeback attempt to defeat the Tide, 3-2, in the series opener. Alabama left a total of 13 runners on base in the game, including the bases loaded in the fourth and sixth innings. Jadyn Spencer went 3-4 in the losing effort, including a solo home run in the seventh, while Demi Turner went 2-4 out of the leadoff spot. Leona Lafaele knocked a single through the left side in the sixth inning, extending her hitting streak to a season-high eight games. Alexis Osorio took another hard-luck loss in the circle, throwing a complete game on 140 pitches with three runs allowed on four hits.
- GAME TWO: ALABAMA 3, TENNESSEE 1 - Alabama overcame an early one run deficit, scoring three unanswered runs to defeat Tennessee, 3-1, Friday night and even the weekend series at 1-1. Alabama fell behind early on a second inning solo homer by Tennessee but a pair of runs in the fourth and some insurance in the sixth was all the Crimson Tide needed to come away with a narrow victory. Danielle Richard went 2-3 batting ninth, including an RBI single to score Alabama's first run of the game in the fourth inning. Demi Turner tallied the lone other RBI for the Tide with a groundout in the fourth as the third run scored on a sixth-inning wild pitch. Leslie Jury limited the Lady Vols to just one run and stranded nine baserunners, throwing 6.2 innings for the win as Sydney Littlejohn entered in the bottom of the seventh to secure the final out and earn the five-pitch save, her first of the season.
- GAME THREE: ALABAMA 10, TENNESSEE 3 - After two low-scoring performances to open the series, the Alabama bats came alive in the series rubber match on Saturday as the Tide earned a convincing 10-3 win to clinch the series victory. The offense for Alabama was led by sophomore Marisa Runyon, who slugged two home runs and drove in seven RBI. Besides Runyon, four other Tide players had multi-hit performances, including a 2-2 day by Andrea Hawkins off the bench with two RBI. In the circle, Alexis Osorio earned the win, throwing 4.2 innings, while Leslie Jury earned her third save of the season with 2.1 shutout innings in relief, allowing just one hit.
Leslie Jury NAMED SEC CO-PITCHER OF THE WEEK
After going 2-0 while allowing just one run over 11.1 innings pitched this week, Alabama senior pitcher Leslie Jury has been named SEC Pitcher of the Week, announced by the league office Monday.
Jury earned two wins and a save this weekend, throwing 11.1 innings over three appearances while allowing just one earned run (0.62 ERA) while striking out 10 batters. She started her week with a win in relief against Troy on Tuesday, throwing 2.1 shutout innings with just one hit allowed as the Crimson Tide rallied from a 2-0 deficit to eventually win, 5-2. She earned her next start in game two against 11th-ranked Tennessee on Friday, holding one of the SEC's top power-hitting offenses to just one run on five hits, three of which were singles, to earn her second win of the week. The team turned to Jury again in a crucial situation in Saturday's rubber match, as she entered with two outs in the fifth inning with the bases loaded holding a 6-3 lead. Before she could even throw her first pitch, lightning in the area forced a delay of nearly an hour before play could resume. Upon resumption, she promptly struck out the batter to strand the bases loaded, as she went on to throw 2.1 shutout innings with just one hit allowed to earn the save, her third of the season.
ALABAMA WINNING WEEKLY
- The six weekly SEC awards so far this season are the most for Alabama since winning seven in 2012.
- This season is the first time since 2011 that Alabama has earned Player of the Week, Pitcher of the Week and Freshman of the Week honors in the same season. Alabama accomplished the feat five straight seasons from 2007-11 but had not done so since.
- It is the first time since 2011 that two different pitchers have both earned Pitcher of the Week honors. Leslie Jury and Sydney Littlejohn have done it this season while Kelsi Dunne and Jackie Traina were the winners in 2011.
- The most weekly awards won in program history is nine in 2006. Alabama has earned seven awards three times (`07, `08, `12) and six awards three times (`09, `11, `15).
HOME RUNYON
Sophomore Marisa Runyon has enjoyed an incredibly productive month, as the March 25 game against Georgia Tech has sparked a fantastic string of 19 games:
- She has earned a hit in 14 of those 19 games and driven in at least one RBI in 15 of those 19 games.
- She has three multi-homer games over those 19 games after hitting just four home runs total in the 26 games prior. Kelly Kretschman is the only other player in UA history to hit three multi-homer games in a season (1998).
Marisa Runyon Splits Pre/Post March 25
Feb. 5 - March 21 (26 Games): 19-66 (.288), 11 R, 19 RBI, 4 HR
March 25 - Pres. (19 Games): 25-55 (.455), 17 R, 44 RBI, 10 HR
SOFTBALL CLIMBS TO NO. 4 IN WEEK 12 USA TODAY/NFCA POLL (APRIL 28)
Alabama softball has been ranked in the Top 10 since the preseason poll and will remain there heading into the final weekend of the regular season, as the Crimson Tide moved up to No. 4 in the latest USA Today/NFCA poll and held steady at No. 6 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll.
In the USA Today/NFCA poll, a trio of teams each moved up one spot to fill the vacancy left by LSU, who lost two out of three games to Missouri this past weekend to slide from No. 3 to No. 6. Michigan, Alabama and Oklahoma each moved up one spot to round out the top five while Florida and Oregon remain in the top two spots for the second straight week. The No. 4 ranking is Alabama's highest ranking in the NFCA poll since Week Four. The Tigers only dropped two spots in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll from No. 3 to No. 5, slotting in one spot ahead of Alabama who remains at No. 6 for the second straight week.
ALABAMA RANKED NO. 6 IN LATEST RPI (APRIL 27)
- Despite winning two out of three games last weekend against Tennessee, Alabama fell one spot in the RPI from No. 5 to No. 6.
- Five of the top 10 teams are in the SEC: Florida (1), LSU (2), Auburn (3), Alabama (6) and Missouri (8).
- Alabama has played 26 games this season against teams ranked in the top 35 and is 16-10 in those 26 games:
- #1 Florida: 1-2
- #3 Auburn: 2-1
- #5 Michigan: 0-2
- #10 Louisiana-Lafayette: 2-1
- #11 Tennessee: 2-1
- #13 James Madison: 1-0
- #15 Georgia: 2-1
- #22 Kentucky: 2-1
- #23 Texas A&M: 2-1
- #29 South Alabama: 1-0
- #33 NC State: 1-0
NEXT TIME OUT: 2015 SEC TOURNAMENT
Next week, Alabama begins postseason play at the 2015 SEC Tournament in Baton Rouge, La. Four days of games start on Wednesday, May 6 and culminate on Saturday, May 9 with the championship match. The first two days of the tournament will be broadcast on the SEC Network with Friday's semifinals on ESPNU and Saturday's title game on ESPN2.
For the first time, the tournament field will now consist of 12 SEC teams. The teams that finish the regular season in the top four will earn a first-round bye while seeds No. 5-12 will face each other on Wednesday, May 6. The tournament will continue in a single elimination format with four games on Thursday, May 7, two on Friday, May 8 and one on Saturday, May 9.
