This was the same Kentucky who took two of three against then-No. 1 LSU. That LSU team took two of three at Florida who took two of three at Alabama.
The transitive property doesn’t always work in sports.
What has worked for Alabama is its pitching. Midweek games have helped the team improve and get ready for the weekend series. After Alabama beat Mississippi Valley State 17-0 Tuesday, Alabama coach Patrick Murphy said senior right-hander Leslie Jury found her velocity again.
“For the batters to improve what they need to improve on, they need to see the live pitching and same with [sophomore right-hander] Sydney [Littlejohn],” Murphy said Wednesday. “She probably threw one right down the middle. The kid took advantage of it, but she’ll learn from that. In practice, she’s sitting over here in the bullpen throwing to a catcher.”
Littlejohn gave up a solo home run Wednesday in the 12-1 win over Southern Miss, but she was the pitcher of record in the 7-3 win over Kentucky on Saturday.
Freshman Alexis Osorio pitched 14 innings against Kentucky, allowing one earned run. She pitched six innings in the 2-1 loss on Saturday. On Sunday, she shut out the Wildcats in the 2-0 win. Sunday was her fifth SEC start where she allowed no earned runs. In conference play, she leads the SEC with six wins and 69 strikeouts.
On Tuesday night, Alabama (29-9) faces UAB (24-10) at 6 p.m. in Birmingham. The Crimson Tide has played the Blazers 16 times and has never lost. The two teams will face each other again April 14 in Tuscaloosa.
If Alabama wins, it will be Murphy’s 900th career win. He went 28-20 as the interim head coach at Northwest Missouri State in 1995. At Alabama, Murphy is 871-235.
