Alabama
Southern Miss
Alabama Softball Returns Home to Host Southern Miss Wednesday
4/18/2017 4:42:00 PM | Softball
THIS WEEK
No. 12/12 Alabama (36-9) vs. Southern Miss (24-22)
Wednesday, April 19 - 6 p.m. CT
Tuscaloosa, Ala. - Rhoads Stadium
FOLLOWING THE TIDE
- Video: SEC Network+ (Online Only)
- Radio: 93.3 FM (praise933.com)
- Live Stats: rolltide.com
- Twitter: @AlabamaSB
SCOUTING NO. 12/12 ALABAMAÂ (36-9, 10-7 SEC)
- Last weekend, Alabama fell twice on the road at Tennessee before the third game of the series was called due to rain. Alabama is now 36-9 overall and 10-7 in SEC play.
- The Tide comes in at No. 14 in this week's NCAA Rating Percentage Index and is ranked No. 12 in both the USA Today/NFCA poll and the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll.
- The Crimson Tide is second in the SEC in strikeouts (393), opposing batting average (.167) and hits allowed (174) and is third in walks (198) and fielding percentage (.978). Against SEC opponents, Alabama is second in strikeouts (110) and third in hits (104) and opposing batting average (.212).
- Alexis Osorio leads the league and is fifth nationally with 225 strikeouts, one of two pitchers in the SEC with over 200 strikeouts. Littlejohn is third in the SEC with 149 strikeouts, making Alabama and Florida the only SEC schools to have over 300 strikeouts between two starters. Littlejohn also ranks fourth in the SEC with a 0.99 ERA, one of four under 1.00 in the league.
THE OPPONENT
Southern Miss Golden Eagles
- Conference: Conference USA
- 2017 Record: 24-22
- Head Coach: Wendy Hogue (3rd Season)
- Starters Returning/Lost: 6/3
- Newcomers: 11
Southern Miss Stat Leaders
- Batting Avg. - Samantha Reynolds - .338
- Hits - Lauren Holifield - 45
- Home Runs - Lauren Holifield - 8
- Wins - Crowson/Robles - 7
- ERA - Kim Crowson - 2.02
- Strikeouts - Kim Crowson – 55
ALL-TIME VS. THE OPPONENT
8-2 vs. Southern Miss
- Current Streak: Alabama 5
- First Meeting: May 27, 2000Â - L, 0-3 - Oklahoma City (Women's College World Series)
- Last Meeting: April 12, 2016 - W, 7-1 - Hattiesburg, Miss.
- Last Meeting in Tuscaloosa: April 1, 2015 - W, 12-1 (5)
LAST TIME OUT: ALABAMA FALLS TWICE TO TENNESSEE
- Tennessee 3, Alabama 2: Alabama softball scored first against Tennessee Saturday in Knoxville, but a 2-0 lead was erased with two runs in the bottom of the sixth and a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh would ultimately give the Volunteers the 3-2 comeback victory. Alabama plated its only runs in the top of the fourth on a two-run triple by Sydney Booker, but a pair of strong offensive innings by Tennessee in the sixth and seventh would give the Volunteers its 17th-straight win and break a three-game winning streak by the Tide over Tennessee. Alexis Osorio threw 146 pitches over 6.0 innings, taking the loss with three earned runs allowed on five hits while Caylan Arnold went the distance in the complete-game win for Tennessee.
- Tennessee 2, Alabama 0: For the second-straight game, Alabama softball fell in walk-off fashion to Tennessee as a seventh-inning home run by Brooke Vines gave the Volunteers a 2-0 win in Sunday's pitcher's duel. With the loss, Alabama suffers its second SEC series loss of the season while Tennessee extends its winning streak to 18 games. Sydney Littlejohn suffered her third loss of the season, giving up just two hits in the game until Vines' two-run home run in the seventh inning. All three of Littlejohn's losses this season have been shutouts, allowing two or fewer runs in each of them. The Tide out-hit the Vols, 4-3, but left seven runners on base.
ALEXIS OSORIO NAMED FINALIST FOR USA SOFTBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Junior pitcher Alexis Osorio is one of 34 finalists for this year's USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award, the organization announced last week.
Osorio, a Riverside, Calif., native, leads the SEC and is ranked fourth nationally with 217 strikeouts so far this season, an average of 1.7-per-inning, owning an 18-4 record and 1.12 ERA. She has thrown seven shutouts, helping lead the pitching staff to its highest shutout total in six years (22) and putting it just four shy of the single-season school record. In her first start of the 2017 season, she threw the fourth perfect game in program history with a school-record 19 strikeouts. In addition to her perfect game, she has pitched in two combined no-hitters this year and has posted double-digit strikeouts in 10 games.
Osorio is one of eight juniors on the list and one of 14 pitchers. She has made the Top 50 Watch List each of the last two seasons but this is her first appearance as a Player of the Year finalist. In 2015, she was one of three finalists for the NFCA Freshman of the Year award, earning Second Team All-America honors that season.
ZEROES IN THE RUN COLUMN
Last Wednesday's 8-0 victory over UAB marked the 22nd shutout of the season for Alabama. It is the most shutouts in a season since 2011 and tied for the fifth-most in program history, just four shy of tying the single-season record.
Most Shutouts in a Single Season at Alabama
- 26 - 2009
- 25 - 2001
- 24 - 2006
- 23 - 2008, 2007
- 22 - 2017, 2011, 2005
SEC LEADERS
- Bailey Hemphill is second in the league with 42 walks, just one of two players with over 40 free passes this season. Her .510 on base percentage is sixth in the SEC.
- As the two-hole hitters in 36 of Alabama's 45 games, Demi Turner & Chandler Dare have performed well in that role, leading the league with nine and seven sacrifice bunts, respectively. In conference play, Dare is second in the SEC with four while Turner is right behind her with three.
- Alexis Osorio has struck out batters at an incredible rate this season, leading the league and ranking fifth nationally with 225 strikeouts. Her 78 strikeouts in conference play ranks second and her seven SEC wins ranks third.
- Peyton Grantham has found her power stroke in SEC play, leading the league with four home runs and is fourth with 14 RBIs against conference opponents. Overall, her seven home runs and 39 RBIs lead the team.
TIDE TRENDS
- Alabama is 31-2 this season when scoring first, but the Tide has also come back to win in five of the 12 games in which the opponent scored first.
- Alabama is 21-0 when it scores in the first inning. So far this season, the Tide is outscoring its opponents 38-10 in the first inning.
- The Tide has scored 45 runs in both the third and fourth inning this season, more than any other inning. The 90 combined runs in the third and fourth innings account for 40 percent of Alabama's run output.
- When the offense hits at least one home run, Alabama is 20-0. When the opponent hits two or more home runs, Alabama is 1-4.
- Six of Alabama's eight losses have come via shutout, while the Tide has shut out its opponents in 22 of its 36 wins.
- Alabama is undefeated in midweek games at 10-0, including six Wednesday wins and four Tuesday wins. Alabama is 10-1 on Friday, 9-4 on Saturday and 7-4 on Sunday.
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 currently holds the strikeout average record with a career mark of 10.00 strikeouts-per-game, surpassing previous record-holder Kelsi Dunne (2008-11) at 9.82. Osorio's 725 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 1.73 career ERA and seventh with a .207 opposing batting average. Osorio is right behind Littlejohn in ERA at sixth (1.85) and is second in opposing batting average (.169).
- Junior Demi Turner is ranked fifth all-time with a .412 career batting average. She has 164 hits in 398 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 (.889), just two points behind fifth-place Whitney Larsen (2008-11) at .891. Dare is 11-12 in stolen bases so far this season.
- Senior Marisa Runyon is ninth with 35 home runs and her 159 career RBIs put her three shy of cracking the career top 10.
UP NEXT
Alabama hosts a pair of out-of-conference games against No. 9/10 Washington on Friday, April 21 and Saturday, April 22 at Rhoads Stadium.
- Friday, April 21 vs. #9/10 Washington - 6 p.m. CT - Tuscaloosa, Ala.
- Saturday, April 22 vs. #9/10 Washington - 4:30 p.m. CT - Tuscaloosa, Ala.
