Behind the arms of freshman right-hander Alexis Osorio (10-3, 1.76 ERA) and senior right-hander Leslie Jury (4-3, 2.61 ERA), No. 5 Alabama softball hasn’t needed to use much of the bullpen.
Since sophomore right-hander Sydney Littlejohn’s perfect game against Ole Miss on March 8, she has pitched two innings for a total of 32 pitches in her only loss of the year, a 7-6 loss to then-No. 8 Georgia.
In the four games since, Littlejohn (8-1, 1.17 ERA) warmed up in the bullpen but wasn’t called on to pitch.
“Sydney probably could’ve finished the two, but we just stuck with Lexi, and you know, Sydney will get the start on Wednesday against Georgia Tech for sure so and I told her in the locker room, you know, we have not given up on her by any means,” Alabama coach Patrick Murphy said on Monday. “It’s just the matchups were better with Lexi and Leslie.”
Osorio powered through 14.2 innings over the weekend, giving up one earned run against No. 2 Florida. The earned run came in the final game of the series when a leadoff double turned into a run following a passed ball and a wild pitch.
The freshman allowed four hits in the game. She struck out seven and retired the Gators in order in the sixth and seventh innings.
Holding the Gators scoreless for the last five innings allowed Alabama’s offense to score an earned run. The Crimson Tide rallied for five runs in the fifth and sixth innings.
“I think that just got our dugout going and got our bats really excited, and Lex just has the ability to really get the team going and I think a lot of that’s ‘cause she’s a freshman and she just bows up and gets it done, and I admire that about her,” senior shortstop Danae Hays said. “So I think she has the ability to make our offense go even though she’s obviously on defense, she’s a pitcher.”
In the first game of the Florida series, Osorio earned the loss after Florida scored one run on an error. On Monday, for the first time in two games, Alabama was able to give its pitchers run support in the 5-1 win.
“As long as she keeps holding them to one or no runs like that I think we’re gonna have a lot of big wins this season especially when our offense gets going,” Hays said.
No. 5 Alabama (22-7) hosts Georgia Tech (11-19) for an afternoon matchup Wednesday. First pitch is scheduled for 2:05 p.m.
