⚾ 🥎 🥎 2025 Shriners Children's Clearwater Invitational: OK State walks off Alabama to close Bama's Florida trip

Final. UCLA 6 Bama 3. Had a 3-0
lead but of course UCLA made adjustments and Bama didn’t. Bama has now lost 3 games this weekend. Going to be a long and disappointing season. The softball program continues to decline more each year. Very sad. RTR
 

The Crimson Tide concludes its weekend facing No. 9 Oklahoma State Sunday at 4 p.m. CT on ESPN

CLEARWATER, Fla.
– Alabama softball split its two games Saturday at the Shriners Children's Clearwater Invitational, defeating Ohio State, 9-5, before a late rally pushed No. 4 UCLA ahead of the Crimson Tide, 6-3.

Alabama (5-4) hit a pair of home runs as part of a 9-5 win over Ohio State (5-2), with the Tide scoring in five of the six innings it came to the plate. Audrey Vandagriff was 4-for-4 in stolen bases, making her the first player in UA history to steal 4+ bases twice in the same season. She is also just the fourth Tide player to do so twice in a career, joining Kayla Braud, Jennifer Fenton and Elissa Brown. Marlie Giles had a career-best four RBIs on a three-run home run and an RBI double as part of a 3-for-4 day at the plate.

Alabama jumped ahead early over fourth-ranked UCLA (9-0), with solo home runs from Vandagriff and Kali Heivilin along with an RBI double from Vandagriff putting the Tide ahead 3-0 through 2.0 innings. With the score the same in the top of the sixth, the Bruins scored six unearned runs on a pair of RBI singles, a bases-loaded walk and a three-run double to move ahead, 6-3. The Tide got a runner on in the sixth but went down in order in the seventh as UCLA took home the three-run win.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Alabama has had at least one baserunner reach safely in 48 of its 59 innings on offense so far this season (82 percent)
  • With four stolen bases vs. Ohio State, Audrey Vandagriff becomes the first Tide player to steal four or more bases twice in a season and is just the fourth player to do so twice in her career, accomplishing that feat in her eighth career game
  • Marlie Giles had a career-high four RBIs vs. the Buckeyes and tied her career-best mark with three hits
  • Vandagriff had two hits in each game Saturday, giving her a team-leading five multi-hit games this season
  • Kali Heivilin hit a home run in each game, extending her current hitting streak to six games
 
The time for Sunday's games in the SEC to be called is 6, right? Is that time zone dependent? I've never really thought about it before seeing first pitch today is at 5 ET.

OR, does this have something to do with tomorrow and the holiday?
 
Well this Alabama softball team that is 2 deep at every position, has 5 pitchers, and is the most talented team CPM has ever had at Alabama just lost another game 4-3 to Oklahoma State. Not to mention going into the bottom of the 7th Bama led 3-1.
 

The Cowgirls overcame a 3-1 deficit in the seventh, scoring three to defeat the Crimson Tide

CLEARWATER, Fla.
– Alabama softball led Oklahoma State 3-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning Sunday evening at the Shriners Children's Clearwater Invitational, when the Cowgirls ultimately fought back with an RBI double and two-run single to defeat the Crimson Tide in walk-off fashion, 4-3.

Alabama (5-5) broke a scoreless tie in the top of the fourth with an Alexis Pupillo RBI double and an Oklahoma State (5-4) fielding error giving the Tide a 2-0 lead. An error in the bottom of the fifth brought home an unearned run for the Cowgirls and made it a one-run game before Audrey Vandagriff pushed the lead back to two with a seventh-inning RBI single. With the Tide leading 3-1 and the Cowgirls down to their final three outs, a single, strikeout and another single set up Tallen Edwards for a one-out RBI double and made it a one-run ballgame. The next batter reached on a fielder's choice, with the lead runner out at home for out number two, while the batter advanced to second on the play to put two in scoring position with two out. Down to her final strike, Rosie Davis dropped a single into right field, driving in both runs as Oklahoma State completed the seventh-inning comeback to defeat Alabama, 4-3.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Alabama has had at least one baserunner reach safely in 52 of its 66 innings on offense so far this season (79 percent)
  • Alexis Pupillo and Salen Hawkins had two hits, marking their fourth and second multi-hit games of the season, respectively
  • Pupillo has at least one RBI in seven of the Tide's 10 games so far this season
  • Kali Heivilin extended her hitting streak to seven games
 
Key words there, "Mid Majors."
P4 / G5 designations belong in softball as much as baseball or basketball: too many teams.

Softball itself is an outlier. We're only a decade or so away from it being ruled by West Coast teams. Besides A&M (2X) no one won the WCWS outside of teams from the PAC region. Now... The two mid-majors who have won the WCWS? I'm pretty sure it's Cal St-Fullerton and Fresno State.

If you go back in this thread you'll see where I pointed to their ace. SDSU is a good ball club.
 
Back
Top Bottom