Alabama Softball Beats North Florida, 2-0, Wednesday in Tuscaloosa

Alabama softball needed just two runs to dispatch North Florida Wednesday night at Rhoads Stadium, winning 2-0 in the low-scoring contest.

Alabama (8-2) was bolstered by a strong start from Sydney Littlejohn (3-0) in the circle, shutting out North Florida (7-5) over 5.1 innings while Alexis Osorio went a perfect five-up, five-down with five strikeouts in relief for her first save of the season. The Crimson Tide’s two runs came courtesy of a solo home run by Caroline Hardy and an RBI triple by Bailey Hemphill. Osprey starter Logan Green (2-4) took the loss, exiting after 4.1 innings with two runs allowed on three hits and seven walks.

“I loved Caroline’s home run,” head coach Patrick Murphy said. “It was her first career home run. She’s hit so many in practice and it was her turn. We told her in batting practice that tonight was the night. Her teammates were really happy for her because she’s a great teammate. Bailey’s triple was a good shot on a changeup. Both pitchers did great. It starts in the circle and then you play good defense and come up with a couple key hits.”

Alabama scored the first run of the day in the bottom of the second on a solo home run by Hardy to make it 1-0. The Tide doubled its lead in the next inning, as Hemphill bounced a triple off the wall in center field to score Elissa Brown and make it 2-0. That was all the scoring Alabama would need, as Littlejohn and Osorio combined to throw a shutout with just four hits allowed and 15 strikeouts.

Next up, Alabama plays five games over three days this weekend at the Easton Bama Bash at Rhoads Stadium. The Tide welcomes UCF (3-4), Texas Tech (6-4) and Gardner-Webb (3-10), opening play against the Knights on Friday, Feb. 24 at 4 p.m. CT.