Alabama Softball’s Alexis Osorio Named to Top 50 Player of the Year Watch List
2/1/2017 4:11:00 PM | Softball
OKLAHOMA CITY – For the second-straight season, Alabama junior pitcher Alexis Osorio has been selected to the Top-50 Player of the Year Watch List, released Wednesday by USA Softball.
This is Osorio's second-straight appearance on the initial Player of the Year watch list and the 15th-straight season in which Alabama has had at least one player on the list, a streak stretching back to 2003.
Osorio is one of 18 juniors and 16 pitchers on the list and one of 12 Southeastern Conference players on the list, the most of any conference. The Player of the Year award, currently in its 16th season, is the most prestigious individual athletic honor in Division I softball. The list will be narrowed to a top 25 on April 12, with freshmen also eligible for addition to that list. From there, a top-10 list will be announced on May 10, a top 3 on May 24 and the winner will be announced on May 30 in Oklahoma City prior to the start of the Women's College World Series.
Last season, Osorio made 23 starts and 19 relief appearances, earning a 19-7 record with a team-leading 2.39 ERA and seven saves. She struck out 273 batters over 184.2 innings pitched, an average of 1.48 per inning, with just 74 walks allowed for a 3.69 K:BB ratio. She pitched as part of a combined no-hitter against UAB on Feb. 16, 2016 and, just four days later, threw her own no-hitter in her first start of the season against Mercer on Feb. 20. She was even more dominant in postseason play, going 4-1 with a 0.57 ERA allowing just four runs, three earned, over 36.2 innings pitched with 59 strikeouts.
For her career, Osorio is 41-16 with a 2.06 ERA and has 500 strikeouts over 376.2 innings pitched. Her 9.29 strikeouts-per-game is second in program history and her .183 opposing batting average is third.
The Tide opens its 2017 season at the Kickin' Chicken Classic in Conway, S.C. on Feb. 10-12, facing Towson, Coastal Carolina and Youngstown State. Alabama's home opener will take place the following Wednesday, Feb. 15 against South Alabama at 5 p.m. CT.
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