Alabama Softball Recap: Alabama Sweeps the Easton Bama Bash

Following a disappointing trip to Lafayette, Louisiana, the 10^th ranked Alabama softball team won all six games during the home stand including a five-game sweep of the Easton Bama Bash.

Pitching dominated the week as the trio of Alexis Osorio, Sydney Littlejohn and Madi Moore blanked each of their four opponents once and did not allow more than two runs in any of the six games played last week.

The strikeout proved to be the key weapon in the Crimson Tide arsenal as Osorio, Littlejohn and Moore fanned 61 batters during the six games last week. Osorio struck out 14 batters in wins against Texas Tech Friday night and UCF Sunday afternoon while Littlejohn struck out 10 UNF hitters last Wednesday.

While each pitcher recorded at least one win during the Easton Bama Bash, it was senior Sydney Littlejohn that enjoyed one of her finest weekends in a crimson and white uniform. Littlejohn went 3-0 in 18 scoreless innings last week. The senior right hander did not walk a batter in that span.

One of the unique touches to Alabama softball is the use of various home weekends throughout the season to celebrate individual seniors on the roster. This past weekend, Alabama softball celebrated the career of the senior from Rusk, Texas. After Saturday’s win over Texas Tech, Littlejohn discussed the experience of pitching on the weekend that she was honored.

“It was a very amazing experience. To have all the fans here, and my teammates and my family and to get a little extra love today. I mean that’s always a great feeling, but honesty, it feels like that every day with this team.” Littlejohn said.

Form the plate, junior Carrigan Fain and freshman Bailey Hemphill each posted seven hits during the week. Fain went 3-3 with a two-run double against Gardner-Webb while Hemphill went 4-4 in Friday’s win over Texas Tech.

The Crimson Tide make the short road trip up to Birmingham to face UAB in their only mid-week game this week.

The Blazers lost eight of their first nine games to begin the season but have steadied the ship by winning three of their last four games including a 10-2 drubbing of cross-town rival Samford.

Similar to Alabama’s loss of Haylie McCleney, UAB lost one of their most decorated players in program history in four-time All-Conference USA member Caitlin Attfield. Attfield set school records in numerous categories including batting average (.402), hits (306), steals (54) and runs scored (157).

The Blazers are led offensively by senior Joanna Fallen who leads the team with a .293 batting average, two round trippers and eight RBIs.

Alabama will face UAB for the 20^th time in series history and look to remain unbeaten with a 19-0 record against the Blazers coming into Tuesday’s game.

First pitch from UAB’s Mary Bowers Field is Tuesday at 6 PM.

College Softball around Alabama

Auburn went 5-1 over the weekend including a split with No. 13 James Madison. Tiger pitcher Kaylee Carlson shutout the Dukes with a complete game win Saturday while JMU pitcher Megan Good returned the favor Sunday allowing only one hit in a 1-0 JMU win. The Auburn loss snapped a 13-game winning streak.

After seeing Tuesday’s mid-week clash at Florida State rained out, South Alabama blanked all four of their opponents during the South Alabama Invitational. The Jaguars beat Tennessee Tech 2-0 and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 7-0 on Friday while shutting out Middle Tennessee 1-0 and Stephen F. Austin 3-0 on Saturday. In the weekend opener against Tennessee Tech, South Alabama pitcher Devin Brown recorded her fifth no-hitter of her career in large part due to her 15 strike outs in the game.

Samford lost three of five games in the Samford/UAB Classic. Despite losing to UAB in the tournament finale, the Bulldogs pulled off a 6-2 win over Iowa State on Friday and a 4-2 win over Indiana on Sunday. Junior Shelby Maze paced Samford with 8 hits while sophomore Hannah Trombley plated six RBIs over the weekend including her first homer of the season against the Hoosiers on Saturday.

Jacksonville State and Troy struggled at home over the weekend. The Gamecocks were swept by Southern Miss while Troy lost four of five games in the Troy classic including a pair of games to Lipscomb and Southeastern Louisiana. The Trojans’ only win came in a 7-5 victory over Pittsburgh in eight innings. Becca Hartley delivered a walk-off two-run homer in the eighth winning to seal the win.