Alabama
South Carolina
Alabama Softball Wins Series Opener Over South Carolina, 3-1
4/29/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Alabama softball won a close series opener on the road against South Carolina, defeating the Gamecocks 3-1 Friday night at Beckham Field.
Alabama (42-9, 13-6 SEC) scored immediately in the first inning and held its lead over South Carolina (33-17, 5-14 SEC) for the rest of the game. Haylie McCleney went 1-2 with a pair of walks, passing Georgia's Alisa Goler (2008-11) for the all-time SEC record with 185 career walks. Chandler Dare went 3-4 batting behind McCleney with Marisa Runyon, Reagan Dykes and Sydney Booker driving in the team's three runs. Demi Turner saw her first game action since her elbow injury against LSU on March 12, entering as a pinch-runner and scoring a run in the sixth inning.
Tide starter Sydney Littlejohn (20-4) earned her 20th win of the season, holding the Gamecocks to one run over 4.2 innings, while Alexis Osorio notched her sixth save in relief with 2.1 shutout innings. The six saves are the most for a Tide pitcher since Chrissy Owens totaled a school-record 11 as a freshman in 2005. Jessica Elliott (16-5) took the loss for South Carolina, exiting after 4.0 innings pitched.
A leadoff walk, stolen base and a single to shallow left put runners at the corners for Alabama in the top of the first and, two batters later, an RBI groundout to the right side by Dykes drove in McCleney from third to give the Tide an early 1-0 lead. McCleney scored the Tide's second run of the day in the top of the third, this time off the bat of Runyon as the RBI single made it a 2-0 game.
South Carolina erased the shutout in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single by Kaylea Snaer, cutting the Tide's lead to 2-1. With two in scoring position and two out, Osorio entered to pitch in the save situation and Runyon fielded a hard shot at third base on the first pitch of the at-bat to end the inning and hold Alabama's 2-1 lead.
Dykes led off the top of the sixth with a double and Turner entered to pinch run. A groundout to the right side advanced her to third and Booker drove her home on an RBI double, pushing Alabama ahead 3-1.
Alabama couldn't add any insurance to its lead in the seventh inning and South Carolina threatened in the bottom half, putting two on base to bring the potential go-ahead run to the plate. Osorio's fourth strikeout of the night halted the comeback attempt for the final out of the game as the Tide held on for the two-run win.
The series continues tomorrow with game two set for a 4 p.m. CT start live on the SEC Network.
