2004 was the last time Alabama had been swept at home in SEC play. Thanks to junior Haylie McCleney, No. 4 Alabama softball doesn’t have to change that year to 2015. It can add a game to the win column with a 5-1 comeback over No. 2 Florida.
Down 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth, senior Danielle Richard was walked. A sac bunt from Demi Turner advanced her to second, bringing up McCleney. On the first pitch of her at-bat, she knocked the ball over right-center to put Alabama up 2-1.
“We could feel the momentum shifting after about the fourth inning with the way [freshman Alexis Osorio] was throwing, and we just bought in in the dugout,” McCleney said. “We were going up there. Eighteen people were going to bat at once against one pitcher, and you can’t, you’re not going to lose if everyone buys in, and we bought in. And we were resilient. We showed a lot of grit, and thank God [the home run] got out.”
In her next at-bat she clubbed a two-run triple into left-center to put Alabama up 5-1.
Before McCleney’s home run, Alabama had not put up an earned run in 18 innings. The lone run in the first two games came on an error when Richard stole third, allowing her to score. In the final game of the series, Alabama coach Patrick Murphy put McCleney in the three-hole instead of the leadoff where she usually starts.
“You gotta shake it up, and you gotta have someone in the three-hole that wants to be in that position with runners in scoring position,” he said. “And literally I have been flipping coins at home trying to decide who’s going to be in that spot and it was her turn I guess. And she’s been hitting the ball really hard, and I just thought she’d do it.”
McCleney accounted for three of Alabama’s seven hits and four of the Crimson Tide’s seven runs. She hit 3-for-3 with a single, a triple and a home run.
Freshman right-hander Alexis Osorio (10-3) allowed one run on four hits in seven innings pitched. She walked one, hit one and struck out seven, three of which went down looking.
Florida came into the series after putting up 17 runs against then-No. 2 LSU and only scored six all weekend.
The Crimson Tide dropped the first game 1-0 on an unearned run. Game 2 was halted due to rain. Alabama had a 1-0 lead but a four-run inning by Florida gave the Gators a lead the Crimson Tide couldn’t over come in the 4-1 loss.
“We needed a win and Lexi [Osorio] did an awesome job,” Murphy said. “I mean she got two wins over Georgia and one win over Florida. It’s pretty awesome stuff for a freshman.”
Alabama (22-7) hosts Georgia Tech (11-19) at 2 p.m. on Wednesday.
