Alabama softball finishes weekend 5-0 at annual Bama Bash
Alabama capped off a weekend of dominance with a less than stellar performance on Sunday afternoon.
Still, it was enough for the win as the Tide defeated Central Florida 3-2 to finish 5-0 in the 19th annual Bama Bash to improve to 13-2. The Tide won its five games on the weekend by a combined score of 31-4.
“It was just disappointing with the energy level, the concentration, everything” coach Patrick Murphy said. “Thank goodness we had an All-American on the mound and Reagan (Dykes) hit her home run.”
As she has done several times in the early stages of the season, Alexis Osorio (6-1) controlled the game from the mound. In her sixth win of the season, Osorio registered 14 strikeouts and gave up just three hits.
Despite being put in a few tough situations due to errors and miscues, Osorio battled for seven innings to elevate her team on a day when they weren’t at their best.
“I knew I couldn’t overthink anything. I just had to let the errors and stuff roll off my back,” Osorio said. “I don't ever get frustrated with my teammates. I know how good they are and I know that they’re gonna have my back when I make a mistake in pitching.”
One of Osorio’s only blips on the day was the home run she surrendered to UCF’s Autumn Gillespie in the seventh. Osorio responded by settling down and getting the final two outs via strikeout and groundout to preserve the narrow victory.
It was the third impressive pitching performance in a row for the Crimson Tide, as Osorio was able to echo the success of her teammates Madi Moore and Sydney Littlejohn, who each threw five scoreless innings in Alabama’s doubleheader against Gardner-Webb and Texas Tech on Saturday.
“It’s huge. All three of us bring something different to the table,” Osorio said of Alabama’s weekend-long pitching dominance. “After a tough series with ULL, it's awesome to build our confidence and getting better as the week went on.”
While Osorio, kept the Golden Knights from generating much offense, Reagan Dykes launched her first home run of the season over the left field wall to give the Tide the only runs it needed And give Alabama a 2-0 early advantage.
Carrigan Fain continued her strong play over the course of the weekend, hitting 2-for-against UCF. Fain was named the MVP of the tournament after batting .700 over the course of five games.
“She had some stuff going on with her arm and for her to come out and hit .700 on the weekend and to make the All-tournament team, I’m really, really proud of her and there isn’t a nicer kid on the team or somebody that deserves it more,” Murphy said.
The Crimson Tide will continue their season on the road when they take on the UAB Blazers in Birmingham on Tuesday.
