Wednesday, March 15
Tuscaloosa, Ala.
1:30 P.M. CT
Alabama
vs
Winthrop
Alabama Softball to Host Pair of Midweek Games Wednesday
3/14/2017 3:05:00 PM | Softball
THIS WEEK
NO. 11/8 Alabama (24-2, 3-0 SEC)
Tuscaloosa, Ala. - Rhoads Stadium
Wednesday, March 15
- vs. Winthrop (11-12) - 1:30 p.m. CT
- vs. Georgia Southern (12-10) - 3:45 p.m. CT
FOLLOWING THE TIDE
- Video: SEC Network+ (Online Only)
- Radio: 93.3 FM (praise933.com)
- Live Stats: rolltide.com
- Twitter: @AlabamaSB
SCOUTING NO. 11/8 ALABAMA (24-2)
- Alabama improved its current winning streak to 17 games with five wins this week, defeating Loyola Chicago and Valparaiso before sweeping its three-game series over Arkansas to open SEC play.
- Alabama and Florida were the only SEC teams to sweep its conference series last weekend, though the Gators only played two games due to a rain-out.
- The Tide outscored its opponents 24-3 this week, including a 36-18 edge in hits and 20-2 advantage in RBIs. Alabama batters only struck out 14 times in 120 at-bats while opponents were fanned 60 times in 117 at-bats.
- Alabama moved up one spot to No. 8 in the week five ESPN.com/USA Softball rankings while remaining at No. 11 for the third-straight week in the USA Today/NFCA poll.
- Alexis Osorio earned a slew of accolades following a 4-0 week in the circle, named SEC Pitcher of the Week, NFCA Pitcher of the Week and USA Softball Player of the Week.
THE OPPONENTS
Winthrop Eagles
- Conference: Big South
- 2017 Record: 11-12
- Head Coaches: Mark Cooke / Kendall Fuller
- Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 10/10
- Newcomers: 5
Winthrop Stat Leaders:
- Batting Avg. - Maddie Antone - .414
- Hits - Maddie Antone - 24
- Home Runs - Leah Young - 4
- Wins - Kiley Majette - 4
- ERA - Sabrina Shroades - 2.96
- Strikeouts - Kiley Majette – 37
Georgia Southern Eagles
- Conference: Sun Belt
- 2017 Record: 12-10
- Head Coach: Annie Smith
- Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 16/3
- Newcomers: 5
Georgia Southern Stat Leaders:
- Batting Avg. - Emly Snider - .373
- Hits - Snider / Witkowski - 25
- Home Runs - Emily Snider - 7
- Wins - Dixie Raley - 7
- ERA - Dixie Raley - 2.58
- Strikeouts - Dixie Raley – 69
ALL-TIME VS. THE OPPONENTS
5-0 vs. Winthrop
- Current Streak: Alabama 5
- First Meeting: March 12, 1999 - W, 8-0 (5) - Chattanooga, Tenn.
- Last Meeting: Feb. 24, 2013 - W, 6-1 - Tuscaloosa, Ala.
6-0 vs. Georgia Southern
- Current Streak: Alabama 6
- First Meeting: March 25, 1998 - W, 9-1 (5) - Tuscaloosa, Ala.
- Last Meeting: April 18, 2014 - W, 6-4 - Chapel Hill, N.C.
- Last Meeting in Tuscaloosa: Feb. 5, 2005 - W, 6-0
LAST TIME OUT: ALABAMA SWEEPS ARKANSAS TO OPEN SEC PLAY
- Alabama 9, Arkansas 0 (5 Inn.): Alabama softball scored early and often in its SEC opener Friday night against Arkansas, tallying nine runs to earn the 9-0 run-rule victory in five innings. The Tide bats plated nine runs on 10 hits as six different players earned at least one RBI. Bailey Hemphill led the effort with a 3-3 day and four RBIs while Peyton Grantham and Reagan Dykes each had multi-hit games. Alexis Osorio allowed just one hit in the five-inning shutout, striking out eight.
- Alabama 4, Arkansas 3 (9 Inn.): The Razorbacks scored three unanswered runs to start the game and Alabama only managed to scratch one across before facing a potential loss in the bottom of the seventh. A clutch RBI triple and a sacrifice fly would force extra innings and set Dare up for a senior day walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth as Alabama came back to win, 4-3. Dare was 3-5 batting second in the order, a double shy of the cycle as she scored three runs and drove in two. Sydney Littlejohn started the game, throwing 7.1 innings, but Osorio would ultimately earn the win in relief after 1.2 shutout innings.
- Alabama 5, Arkansas 0 (6 Inn.): Alabama completed the sweep with a 5-0 shutout in game three, only playing 6.0 innings due to an agreed-upon drop dead time of 5:15 p.m. CT due to travel considerations. Osorio pitched yet another shutout, earning her third win of the weekend allowing one hit with 10 strikeouts. Schroder was 2-3, one of seven Tide players in the starting lineup to get a hit.
ALEXIS OSORIOÂ EARNS SEC AND NATIONAL WEEKLY HONORS
A successful week in the circle garnered junior pitcher Alexis Osorio plenty of attention at both the conference and national level. She was named the SEC Pitcher of the Week, NFCA Pitcher of the Week and USA Softball Player of the Week.
- Osorio went 4-0 last week, including three wins in the conference-opening series against No. 24 Arkansas. She threw 19.2 shutout innings to push her current scoreless innings streak to a career-best 35 innings. She struck out 39 batters, an average of 1.98 per inning, with just three hits and five walks. She totaled 18 strikeouts in last Tuesday's win over Loyola Chicago, already her third game this season with at least 18 strikeouts. There are only two other 18-strikeout games in program history and only one other SEC pitcher has earned 18 strikeouts in a game since 2015.
- The SEC weekly award is the fourth of Osorio's career and already her third this season. She is the first Alabama pitcher to earn the award three times in a season since Jaclyn Traina in 2012. Overall, Alabama has won SEC Pitcher of the Week 37 times in program history.
- It is the first national weekly award for Osorio from either the NFCA or USA Softball and the fifth time a Crimson Tide player has won both awards in the same week.
- Teammate Sydney Littlejohn was the last Tide player to earn NFCA Pitcher of the Week honors, doing so last season after two wins against No. 1-ranked Florida, while Jaclyn Traina was the last to earn USA Softball's weekly award, doing so in 2014 after another matchup with the Gators.
- This is Alabama's sixth NFCA weekly award in program history and the ninth from USA Softball.
PATRICK MURPHY APPROACHINGÂ 1,000 CAREER WINS
Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy is just seven wins shy of his 1,000th career win, owning a career record of 993-277 (.782). This includes a 28-20 record as the interim head coach at Northwest Missouri State in 1995 and a 965-257 (.790) mark as the skipper of the Crimson Tide, a position he has held since 1999.
SIGNIFICANT STREAK
- Alabama has won 17-straight games heading into this week, its longest winning streak of the season.
- Merris Schroder has earned a hit in 18-straight games, the longest streak for any player this season and the longest for any Tide player since Kayla Braud hit in 28-straight games in 2011. Schroder's 18-game streak is the sixth-longest in program history, one shy of tying Brittany Rogers who hit in 19-straight games in 2008. Kelly Kretschman holds the school and SEC record at 35, set in 1998.
- Bailey Hemphill's reached base streak of 22 games ended last Wednesday, tying her for the second-longest reached base streak by a freshman in program history. Cassie-Reilly Boccia (2009) and Jackie Wilkins (2002) each reached base safely in 22-straight games during their freshman seasons, but all three are far behind record-holder Kelly Kretschman, who reached base safely in a whopping 49-straight games as a freshman in 1998.
- Alabama pitchers Alexis Osorio and Sydney Littlejohn are currently riding career-best winning streaks, with Osorio at nine and Littlejohn at eight. Osorio has also gone 35 consecutive innings without giving up a run.
CAREER RECORD WATCH
A number of Crimson Tide players are moving up the career school records so far in the 2017 season.
- Junior Alexis Osorio moved into first place with a career 10.18 strikeout-per-game average, surpassing previous record-holder Kelsi Dunne (2008-11) at 9.82. Osorio's 661 career strikeouts rank fifth all-time with fourth-place Jaclyn Traina's (2001-14) 976 career strikeouts as the next milestone.
- Senior Sydney Littlejohn is fifth all-time with a 1.76 career ERA and seventh with a .209 opposing batting average. Littlejohn went 35.1 innings to start the season before allowing an earned run. Osorio is right behind Littlejohn in ERA at seventh (1.83) and is second (.166) in opposing batting average.
- Junior Demi Turner is ranked fifth all-time with a .405 career batting average. She has 148 hits in 365 at-bats, making her one of five on the list with a career average over .400. Former teammate Haylie McCleney (2013-16) holds the record at .447.
- Senior Chandler Dare is sixth in stolen base percentage (.882), just nine points behind fifth-place Whitney Larsen (2008-11) at .891. Dare is 8-9 in stolen bases so far this season. She also cracked the top 10 in batting average, currently ninth at .366 just two points shy of eighth-place Lauren Parker (2007-09) at .368.
- Senior Marisa Runyon is seventh all-time with a .604 career slugging percentage and is ninth with 35 home runs. Her 150 career RBIs put her 12 shy of cracking the top 10.
UP NEXT
Alabama continues SEC play in Starkville, Miss., with three games against the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
- Friday, March 17 at Mississippi State - 6 p.m. CT - Starkville, Miss.
- Saturday, March 18 at Mississippi State - 6 p.m. CT - Starkville, Miss.
- Sunday, March 19 at Mississippi State - 2 p.m. CT - Starkville, Miss.
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
IF
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Thursday, May 22
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