Alabama Softball: Crimson Tide Dominates Regional

Dominating pitching and hot bats rolled the Tide to a Regional win. In the three games, Alabama pounded out 34 hits - nine of which left the stadium. They scored 28 runs while giving up only five hits and one unearned run. There was only one inning over the entire weekend in which the Bama offense was retired 1-2-3.

GAME 1: ALABAMA 8 Fairfield 0

Winning pitcher - Littlejohn; HR - Hays (3rd inning), McCleney (4th)

Sydney Littlejohn pitched a masterful game against the overmatched Fairfield Stags. An RBI single by reserve catcher Carrigan Fain plated the eighth run of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning to invoke the run rule. Demi Turner was 4-for-4. Danae Hays had a homer and two RBI. Haylie McCleney also went deep and stole two bases.

GAME 2: ALABAMA 9 Washington 0

Winning pitcher - Osorio; HR - Hays (2nd inning), McCleney (2nd), Runyon (4th, grand slam)

Alexis Osorio was one pitch away from a perfect game. Only a third inning single ruined the row of donuts on the scoreboard for the Bama freshman sensation. "Lexi" struck out nine of the sixteen batters she face and walked none. Both Hays and McCleney again went deep but it was Marisa Runyon who came up with the big hit when she launched a two out bases loaded pitch over the wall to end the scoring at 9-0, another run rule ending.

GAME 3: ALABAMA 11 Washington 1

Winning pitcher - Osorio; HR - McCleney (1st & 4th innings), Bell (3rd), Richard (7th)

Stop me if you have heard this one before: Haylie McCleney goes yard. The All-American outfielder hit her third and fourth four-baggers of the weekend leading the Tide to a 11-1 victory. Chaunsey Bell added a 3-run shot in the third while Danielle Richard put the final nail in the Huskies' casket with a 2-run shot off the scoreboard in the seventh.

It took until the fourth inning of Game 3 for an opponent to push a run across the board against the Tide, and it was of the unearned variety. Osorio was again in top form.

UP NEXT

Bama next turns their attention to a somewhat familiar foe in 11-seeded Oklahoma. The Tide defeated the Sooners in a memorable 2012 WCWS. They also beat them in the first round of last season's WCWS 6-2. The two teams will play a best-of-three in Tuscaloosa next weekend.

NCAA Super Regional
05/22/15 vs. Oklahoma, Tuscaloosa, Ala. 6:00 p.m. CT, ESPN
05/23/15 vs. Oklahoma, Tuscaloosa, Ala. 4:00 p.m. CT, ESPN
05/23/15 vs. Oklahoma (if necessary), Tuscaloosa, Ala. 7:00 p.m. CT, ESPN2

*Get your tickets HERE.

OTHER REGIONALS

• The unseeded Kentucky Wildcats won the South Bend Regional, defeating host Notre Dame 4-3 with two runs in the final inning.
• Top-seeded Florida edged by FAU 1-0 to take the Gainesville Regional.
• Speaking of FAU, South Alabama put up a good fight but twice lost close games to Auburn.
  
• LSU came back from the losers' bracket and beat Arizona State twice to advance.
• Georgia also battled back from a loss winning their Regional over WKU.
• Mizzou took two games from former Big XII rival Kansas to advance.
• Eight SEC schools (Bama, Fla, Mizz, UK, Aub, UGA, LSU, Tenn) have clinched spots in the Super Regionals.