Alabama softball won its final regular season game against South Carolina with a 4-3 victory at Rhoads Stadium, according to a May 2 announcement. The win gave Alabama its fourth Southeastern Conference (SEC) series sweep of the season and marked its seventh SEC series victory.
The Crimson Tide finished the regular season with a record of 47-6 overall and 19-5 in conference play, which is their highest number of conference wins since 2014. South Carolina led early in the game, scoring runs in the second and third innings. Alabama responded by batting around in the third inning, drawing two bases-loaded walks and getting an RBI single from Ana Roman to take a 3-2 lead. Alexis Pupillo added an RBI single in the fourth inning, increasing Alabama’s lead to two runs. A solo home run by Karley Shelton of South Carolina brought the score to within one run in the sixth inning, but Jocelyn Briski closed out the game by retiring six straight batters for her twelfth complete game this season.
Head Coach Patrick Murphy said, “I cannot say thanks enough to every fan. Anybody that buys a ticket means a lot to me because they support a women’s sport at Alabama. Our fans have been great all season long. Today, I’ve got to give it up to Jocelyn Briski – she gutted out another win. She’s now 13-2 in the SEC. Time and time again she has given us phenomenal performances and an opportunity for us to win every single start.”
Jocelyn Briski struck out nine batters while walking just one during this game, finishing SEC play with 104 strikeouts and only fifteen walks for a strikeout-to-walk ratio of over six-to-one. Brooke Wells drew two walks during Saturday’s matchup, extending her streak of reaching base safely to fifteen games. Alexis Pupillo went two-for-three from the leadoff spot for her seventeenth multi-hit game this year while Ana Roman has recorded at least one hit in each of her last four games.
Alabama will next compete at the SEC Softball Tournament on Thursday, May 7 in Lexington.
