Softball Set to Host Tuscaloosa Regional, Opens Friday vs. Fairfield
5/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
THIS WEEK: NCAA Regional
May 15-17 - Tuscaloosa, Ala. - Rhoads Stadium
Friday, May 15
12:30 p.m. - Washington vs. USC Upstate (ESPNU)
3 p.m. CT - Alabama vs. Fairfield (SEC Network)
Saturday, May 16
1 p.m. - Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner
3:30 p.m. - Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser
6 p.m. - Game 4 Winner vs. Game 3 Loser
Sunday, May 17
12 p.m. - Game 3 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner
3 p.m. (if necessary) - Game 6 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser
THE TIDE ON THE AIR
TV
Friday: SEC Network
Saturday/Sunday: WatchESPN.com (Online Only)
PXP: Cara Capuano, Color: Leah Amico
RADIO
95.3 FM (953thebear.com)
*streaming audio also available on RadioPup app*
SCOUTING #5/6 ALABAMA (42-12, 17-7 SEC)
- Alabama earned the No. 6 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and will host its 11th straight NCAA Regional in Tuscaloosa.
- The Tide finished the regular season ranked third in the SEC with a 17-7 conference record, only losing one of its eight conference series this season.
- Sophomore Marisa Runyon has 70 RBI so far this season, putting her just nine away from breaking the single season school record set by Charlotte Morgan in 2008.
- Junior Haylie McCleney and freshman Demi Turner are each hitting above .400, with Turner knocking in a team-leading 72 hits and McCleney drawing a team-leading 52 walks and swiping 29 stolen bases.
- In the circle, Alabama owns a team ERA of 1.89, led by Sydney Littlejohn at 1.52 with a 15-1 record. Freshman Alexis Osorio was named the SEC Freshman of the Year and has seen the most time in the circle for Alabama, owning a 17-7 record and 1.72 ERA over 146.2 innings pitched. She has struck out 180 batters (1.23 K/IP) as opposed to just 53 walks (3.40 K/BB).
ALABAMA IN THE NCAA TOURANMENT
- Alabama is making its 17th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, qualifying every year since 1999.
- Alabama is one of just eight teams that own an active NCAA Tournament appearance streak of at least 17 years:
- Arizona: 29
- Oklahoma, Washington: 22
- Michigan: 20
- Alabama, UCLA, Louisiana-Lafayette, Notre Dame: 17
- This is the 13th time Alabama has hosted an NCAA Regional, including a streak of 11 straight years (2005-15).
- Alabama has made it past the Regional round 12 times, including the past 10 straight (2005-14).
ALL-TIME VS. WASHINGTON (1-4)
Last Meeting: March 7, 2009 - L, 0-6 - Tuscaloosa, Ala.
First Meeting: May 26, 2007 - L, 3-4 - Seattle, Wash. *Super Regional*
Last Meeting in Tuscaloosa: March 7, 2009 - L, 0-6 - Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Current Streak: Washington 1
ALL-TIME VS. USC UPSTATE (1-0)
Last Meeting: May 17, 2014 - W, 7-1 - Tuscaloosa, Ala.
ALL-TIME VS. FAIRFIELD (0-0)
NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
vs. Washington: 0-2
- May 26, 2007 - Seattle Super Regional - L, 3-4
- May 27, 2007 - Seattle Super Regional - L, 5-7
vs. USC Upstate: 1-0
- May 17, 2014 - Tuscaloosa Regional - W, 7-1
RBI RECORD WITHIN REACH
With a scorching second half of the year, Alabama sophomore Marisa Runyon has put herself within reach of the single-season RBI record, originally set by Charlotte Morgan in 2008.
Alabama Single Season RBI Record
79 - Charlotte Morgan (2008)
77 - Kaila Hunt (2012)
74 - Charlotte Morgan (2010)
70 - Marisa Runyon (2015)
OSORIO TOP 10 FINALIST FOR NFCA FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Alabama's Alexis Osorio is one of 10 finalists for the NFCA Freshman of the Year award, announced May 7. The list will be narrowed down to three on May 20 and the winner will be announced on May 27.
- She is one of three SEC freshman on the list, joining Georgia's Cortni Emmanuel and LSU's Carley Hoover
- Osorio and Hoover are two of the four pitchers in the top 10, along with James Madison's Megan Good and Oklahoma's Paige Parker
- Osorio was named the SEC Freshman of the Year, Alabama's first since 2010
- In her six losses as a starter, she held the opponent to four or fewer runs in five of them and four of the losses were just one-run losses in which the opponent scored no more than three runs.
- She was the only pitcher to have an ERA below 2.00 in SEC-only games and was also the only one to surpass 100 strikeouts in SEC play.
HOME RUNYON
Sophomore Marisa Runyon has enjoyed an incredibly productive second half of the season, as the March 25 game against Georgia Tech has sparked a fantastic string of 24 games:
- She has earned a hit in 17 of those 24 games and driven in at least one RBI in 17 of those 24 games.
- She has four multi-homer games over those 24 games after hitting just four home runs total in the 28 games prior. The four multi-homer games is a single season record at Alabama, beating Kelly Kretschman's previous record of three set in 1998.
- Runyon slugged three home runs in the May 2 win at Arkansas, becoming just the second player in program history to do so. The first was Jackie Traina on Feb. 11, 2011 against Western Michigan.
Marisa Runyon Splits Pre/Post March 25
Feb. 5 - March 21 (28 Games): 19-66 (.288), 11 R, 19 RBI, 4 HR
March 25 - Pres. (24 Games): 30-71 (.423), 21 R, 51 RBI, 13 HR
LAST TIME OUT: SEC TOURNAMENT
- GAME ONE: ALABAMA 2, GEORGIA 1 - Alabama needed just three hits to defeat Georgia in Thursday's quarterfinal matchup at the 2015 SEC Tournament, as a pair of RBIs by Marisa Runyon and a masterful performance by Alexis Osorio in the circle led the Crimson Tide to a narrow 2-1 win. Alabama and Georgia were locked in a pitcher's duel for the majority of the game, as neither team scored more than one run in an inning. Starter Alexis Osorio had a dominant outing in the circle, allowing just one unearned run on two hits with 12 strikeouts against one of the SEC's top power-hitting offenses.
- GAME TWO: AUBURN 7, ALABAMA 1 - Alabama fell behind early to Auburn in Friday's SEC Tournament semifinal game and could not dig out of the early hole, eventually falling 7-1. Alabama allowed Auburn to jump ahead early, scoring a combined five runs over the first three innings. The Tigers took advantage of plenty of late chances in inning, with five of their seven runs coming with two outs in the inning. Haylie McCleney drove in the lone run on the day for Alabama on a third inning RBI single as part of a 2-3 day at the plate. Tide starter Leslie Jury took the loss, lasting just 2.0 innings with five earned runs credited to her while Sydney Littlejohn threw 4.0 relief innings.
NEXT TIME OUT: NCAA SUPER REGIONALS
Next weekend, the winner of the Tuscaloosa Regional will face off against the winner of the Norman Regional between Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Lehigh and Central Arkansas.
