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1. Jaclyn Traina is human. After phenomenal back-to-back outings in the Regional, "J-Train" got roughed up by the high-octane Cornhuskers giving up 8 hits and 5 earned runs in just 4 innings.
2. Freshman pitcher Sydney Littlejohn is a future star. Remember this name, Tide fans. This Texas native has quietly rolled up an 11-2 record this season with a diminutive 1.58 ERA. Thursday night, she entered the game in relief and pitched 8 shutout innings and gave her team a chance to comeback.
3. This team has grit. It would've been easy to fold the tents and start thinking about tomorrow after going down 4-0 and 5-2. But this team kept coming back scoring two in the bottom of the fourth inning, a game tying run in the bottom of the seventh, and the eventual walk-off in the twelfth.
4. Don't overlook any batter on this Bama roster. The late game heroics did not come from the All-Americans. Two more true freshman stepped up to win this game. Marisa Runyon's solo game-tying home run in the bottom of the seventh sent the Crimson Tide crowd into a frenzy. Five innings later it was Peyton Grantham turn with the walk-off dinger to win Game 1.
5. Regardless of what happens with the rest of the season, the future looks bright. As mentioned above, it was three true freshmen that came through for Alabama. However, I must posit: at this point in the season, are they still freshmen?
6. This is a fun and exciting team to watch. Come on out to Rhoads this evening and cheer on the the Tide. First pitch is at 5pm CT. Hopefully, Bama can win this game and the second game at 8pm CT will not be necessary. If you cannot make it to the park, the game will be on ESPNU and CTSN - 95.3 FM
ROLL TIDE!