Alabama’s softball team could face it’s toughest test of the season this weekend.
The team has prepared to be without it’s ace and All-American pitcher Alexis Osorio for it’s home-opening SEC series against Ole Miss, starting Friday.
Osorio sustained a concussion last weekend against Auburn when she was hit in the head by a ball back to the pitcher’s mound. No. 15 Alabama released a statement earlier in the week that there was no timetable for her return.
Alabama coach Patrick Murphy has not yet ruled her out for the weekend, but Alabama has prepared a game plan as if Osorio will not pitch.
Junior-transfer Courtney Gettins and freshman Madison Preston are going to be needed to step-up for the Crimson Tide.
Both are in their first year in the SEC and have combined to throw just over 100 innings at Alabama, with the only SEC experience coming last weekend at Auburn.
“If we have to split them we’ll split the games,” Murphy said. “Hopefully one of them is doing well and then we bring in the other to maybe go through nine hitters.
But Murphy does not feel the entire burden needs to be on the two pitchers.
“The hitters need to step up and not put so much pressure on them,” Murphy said, “We may not have a first-team All-American pitching for us to come in and stop the other team.”
Alabama’s offense has been slumping of late, but showed signs of breaking out in it’s 10-5 victory over UAB on Tuesday.
It is an offensive performance the team hopes it can build on going forward.
“I hope that carries over to the weekend,” senior shortstop Sydney Booker said. “Murph was saying we have to score more runs when they’re pitching. That’s just the way it is.”
Booker, who collected two triples in that game, knows that a run or two may not be enough to win many games, especially when Osorio is not on the mound.
“We just have to come out stronger than the way we’ve been coming out and put more runs on the board to help them feel more comfortable,” she said.
The Crimson Tide also need to be at the top of their game defensively. Alabama committed three uncharacteristic errors on Tuesday.
Two of the errors came from unusual suspects, from the double-play duo of Booker and Demi Turner.
Turner committed an error on the very first play of the game, bobbling a ball hit at her at second base. She felt she let Preston down, who only lasted 1.2 innings in the game.
“I told her right after the game, ‘I’m sorry, Pres. That’s my fault,’” Turner said. “That’s the way the game started and I felt it was pretty much my fault. Making a play like the first play of the game shuts them down. I let her know, ‘Keep making that pitch, I got you next time.’”
First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Alabama will enter play at 20-7 and 1-2 SEC. Ole Miss is 15-10, 1-5 SEC.
