On a bright, sunny afternoon at Rhoads Stadium, the Alabama Crimson Tide defeated Cal 8-0 to advance to their 12th straight super regional appearance.

Alexis Osorio continued her dominance from the circle as she struck out seven batters in 6.2 shutout innings. Madi Moore retired the final batter of the game to preserve the shutout.

Offensively, the Crimson Tide jumped out to an early 6-0 lead after two innings thanks to the long ball. With a runner on base in the top of the first inning, Leona Lafaele smashed her 15th round tripper of the season to give Alabama a 2-0 lead. Peyton Grantham followed Lafaele’s shot with a home run of her own to increase the lead to 3-0.

In the top of the second inning, Chandler Dare drove in two runs with a single up the middle to push the lead to 5-0. Lafaele lofted a sacrifice fly to give Alabama a 6-0 lead.

The Crimson Tide capped off the scoring with two more runs including a run scoring single from Lafaele in the sixth inning. For the day, the senior first baseman went 2-3 with a homer, 4 RBIs and a run scored.

After the game, head coach Patrick Murphy lauded the program’s consistency in NCAA Tournament play.

“I told our team afterwards I said, ‘You guys are the most consistent team in college softball with 12 straight regional titles and the only school in the country to play in all 12 super regionals.’ Our seniors went undefeated in regional play for their career which is unbelievable.” Murphy said.

Alabama will host the 11th seeded Washington Huskies who went 3-0 over the weekend including a 15-7 win over Minnesota to clinch the NCAA Seattle Regional. The best of three series begins Friday with first pitch at 8 PM. First pitch Saturday for game two is Saturday at 4:30 PM while a possible game three will begin at 7:30 PM. ESPN2 will air games one and three while game two will be televised on ESPN.

 

College Softball Notes Around Alabama.

-The Auburn Tigers punched their ticket to the super regional round with a convincing 14-2 win over Jacksonville State in five innings. Auburn senior outfielder Tiffany Howard put the game on ice with a grand slam in the top of the third inning.

-Auburn hosts Arizona in the super regional round while Jacksonville State’s season ends with a 43-17 record.

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