FanPost

Tide destroy Rebels in three-game sweep

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Ashley Holcombe and Amanda Locke homered in Game One while Cassie Reilly-Boccia added a two-run single.

 

       See, now this is how you play softball.  Just days after losing a pair of games to LSU, the Tide rolled over Ole Miss in a three game sweep of the Rebels.  The Tide put up 31 runs in three games, including wins of 13-4 and 15-0.  This gives Alabama a 42-2 record all-time against Ole Miss, a 26-4 record so far this season, and a 6-2 mark in SEC play.  They will pick up a non-conference game this week against Samford before heading to Gainesville for what will likely be a season-defining three game series with the Gators.

 

Game One:  #2 Alabama Crimson Tide 13, Ole Miss Rebels 4 (5)

Bama Notes:  Wow, where do we start.  The Tide had 11 hits and 8(!) walks in five innings.  Every starter reached base at least once and eight of them had hits.  The scoring started early, with a Cassie Reilly-Boccia two-run single in the first inning.  Jazlyn Lunceford started things off in the second inning by walking and stealing second and third.  Brittany Rogers singled her in, followed by a Charlotte Morgan single and a double from Amanda Locke, both of which scored runs.  Ashley Holcombe's home run made the score 7-1 in the third inning and the Tide put three more on the board in each of the final two innings, including an Amanda Locke two-run home run.  The incredible Tide offensive overshadowed an off day by pitcher Kelsi Dunne, whose record is now 11-0.  Dunne gave up four runs (two earned) on eight hits and three walks in five innings, striking out nine. 

Ole Miss Notes:  Pitcher Becky Nye dropped her ninth loss of the season, giving up ten earned runs on ten hits and six walks.  Reliever Kelly Chandler didn't fare much better, giving up 3 earned runs in her only inning of work.  The Rebels weren't bad on offense, putting together eight hits and three walks, but they couldn't string baserunners together and only scored three runs in the fourth inning because of two Tide errors.

Player of the Game:  First Baseman Amanda Locke doubled and homered, driving in four runs.  She was also hit by a pitch, reaching base in three of her four plate appearances.

Turning Point:  Alabama's second inning gave the Tide enough runs to win and effectively broke Rebel pitcher Becky Nye.  Really, though, the Tide scored in every inning and had control throughout the entire game.

 

Game Two:  #2 Alabama Crimson Tide 15, Ole Miss Rebels 0 (5)

Bama Notes:  Have you ever seen a team score eight unearned runs in a single inning?  I hadn't.  But that's exactly what Alabama did in the second inning.  Here's how it went down:  Single, single, throwing error on a sac bunt (2), fielding error (1), single, single, sac fly (1), double steal, single (1), double (2), K, single (1), foul out.  Whew.  Eight runs, seven hits, two errors.  The Tide scored another seven runs in third, again with unconventional means: K, double, walk, single, pitching change, single (2), walk, FC (1), K (reached on WP), single (1), HBP (1), single (1), Catcher's Interference (1), FO.  For the two innings Alabama scored 15 runs (only six earned) on 12 hits (only two extra-base hits), three errors, two walks, one HBP, one batter reaching on a third-strike wild pitch, and one reaching on catcher's interference.  The Tide did not manage another hit or walk in any other inning, but Ole Miss did commit a total of SEVEN!!!! errors in the game.  Alabama dominated every aspect of this game.  Despite the Rebels' status as a sub-par SEC team, this was probably the most dominant game the Tide have played all season.

Ole Miss Notes:  Seven Errors.  I don't know how I can make that number seem any larger.  Third baseman Ashley Dowd was responsible for three of those errors and the Rebel pitchers were responsible for another two.  Those errors led to nine unearned runs and, even if they had been able to put together some semblance of an offense, still would have sunk the team.  Ole Miss didn't even really do anything offensively, mustering only two hits over five innings.

Player of the Game:  I guess it goes to Charlotte Morgan.  It's difficult to name one player since most of the Tide offense was due to crappy Rebel defense, but Morgan threw 3.1 scoreless innings and also went 2-3 at the plate with 3 RBI.

Turning Point:  Ole Miss third baseman Ashley Dowd's throwing error in the second inning allowed two runs to score and started the crazy Alabama rally that plated eight runs.

 

Game Three:  #2 Alabama Crimson Tide 3, Ole Miss Rebels 0

Bama Notes:  After outscoring the Rebels 28-4 in Saturday's doubleheader, the Tide actually let Ole Miss stay in the entire game on Sunday.  The two teams were locked in a scoreless battle through four innings, until the Tide were able to use small ball to push a run across in the fifth.  Brittney Rogers led off the inning with a walk and then stole second.  Montalvo sacrificed her over to third and Morgan drove her in with a sacrifice fly.  Morgan followed up in the seventh with a two-run double to finish off the scoring.

Ole Miss Notes:  The Rebels really had nothing going for them in this game.  Becky Nye pitched better, allowing only three runs in seven innings, but still giving up six walks while striking out only two batters.  Meanwhile, the Ole Miss offense managed only one hit in seven innings.

Player of the Game:  Tide pitcher Kesli Dunne threw seven no-hit innings, allowing only one hit and two walks.  She was perfect through four innings.  Honorable mention goes to DH Charlotte Morgan, who drove in all three of Alabama's runs.

Turning Point:  Ole Miss never really threatened (they never put a runner past third base) so Alabama's manufactured run in the fifth inning basically ended the game.

 

 

Midweek Mayhem

Wednesday, March 25th - 6:30pm CST

Samford Bulldogs

Look, the Bulldogs are 9-15, so the likelihood of an upset here is equivalent to a 15-seed over a 2-seed.  So I'm going to talk about logos for a bit. 

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Samford's Logo

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Gonzaga's Logo

 

Now, I don't know which logo came first, but certainly either Samford's or Gonzaga's logo has to be plagiarized, right?  I mean, you've got the same spiked collar and the same toothy grin.  Hell, the colors are even the same.  One of these had to have been copied, right?

 

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