The Alabama Crimson Tide wrapped up the Easton Bama Bash with a 3-2 win over Central Florida on Sunday to cap a weekend that saw the team win all five of its games. While the offense bounced back after a poor showing in a series against Louisiana-Lafayette, it was the pitching staff that powered the team all weekend.
“All three of them really had a good weekend,” Alabama coach Patrick Murphy said. “It’s really fun to see, especially at home. You know the field, you know the conditions, you can kind of pitch just carefree and I thought for the most part we did that.”
The trio of senior Sydney Littlejohn, junior Alexis Osorio, and sophomore Madi Moore allowed just four runs and 10 hits while pitching three shutouts.
“All three of us bring something different to the table, which is awesome,” Osorio said. “Being able to come out here after a tough series with ULL, it’s awesome to just come back and build our confidence.”
The offense struggled against Lousiana-Lafayette last weekend, putting up just five runs in two games as the Crimson Tide dropped two of three. That wasn’t the case this weekend, as Alabama put up 32 runs in the five games, including winning two games by the eight-run rule.
On Friday, the Crimson Tide earned a 4-0 win against Central Florida to start the weekend before defeating Texas Tech 7-2 to finish off the day. Another doubleheader awaited the Crimson Tide on Saturday, and the team responded with its two run rule games, taking down Gardner-Webb 9-0 in five innings before winning 8-0 over Texas Tech in six innings.
The final game was not as decisive, as a seventh inning home run made it close before Osorio closed it out. Murphy said that the effort was disappointing, and his players agreed.
“I just think that our team mentality for this game was not where it needed to be,” Dykes said. “I think we just kind of lollygagged through the day. It’s Sunday, it’s our last game, it’s been a long weekend, but that’s not an excuse. I just think that we thought we could just sweep through UCF and that was not the case.”
The Crimson Tide had five players selected to the All-Tournament team, including sophomore catcher Carrigan Fain, who was named the tournament’s MVP. Fain batted .700 on the weekend with seven hits, three RBIs, and two walks.
“The one kid that really stood out to me was Carrigan Fain,” Murphy said. “She’s playing thought-free softball, which is the best thing you could say about her. She doesn’t have any socks in the top drawer, she’s just going out there, seeing the ball, hitting the ball…there’s not a thought in her head and that’s awesome.”
Littlejohn, freshman catcher/designated player Bailey Hemphill, sophomore left fielder Merris Schroder, and senior right fielder Chandler Dare joined Fain on the All-Tournament team.
The Crimson Tide take the field next on Tuesday, when it plays UAB at 6 p.m. in Birmingham.
