TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— In her second time facing Arkansas in three days, Alabama starter Jocelyn Briski looked just as dominant as she did the first time.
Jocelyn Briski pitched a complete game with 10 strikeouts as No. 6 Alabama beat No. 9 Arkansas 4-1 on Sunday afternoon at Rhoads Stadium to secure the series win over the Razorbacks.
The only run Briski allowed came on a solo home run from Ella McDowell in the sixth inning. Other than that, the Razorbacks had trouble timing up Briski all day.
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“Today was going to be a dog fight,” Briski said after the game. “Arkansas’ a great team. They have really great hitters, definitely some of the best we’ve faced this season, so it was just another opportunity to go out there and show everyone what we’ve got.”
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Marlie Giles went 0 for 4 on her senior day in Saturday’s game, but when she got her opportunity at the plate in the second inning of the series finale, the Alabama captain came through with an RBI single to give Alabama the first lead of the game. Giles added another RBI on a ground ball in the fourth inning to make it 2-0 Alabama.
Alexis Pupillo added on to her team-leading RBI total with an RBI sigle in the fifth inning that provided a big insurance run at the time. Pupillo now has 33 RBIs on the season.
Right after Arkansas had scored its first run of the game, Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy called on freshman Ambrey Taylor to pinch hit in the bottom of the sixth inning. She delivered with a two-out, solo home run over the wall in right-centerfield to bump the Tide lead back up to 4-1.
“I was staying ready all game,” Taylor said. “I just get my timing down throughout the game. Murph called to me, and luckily I had an at-bat off her yesterday, so I kind of knew what to expect from her. I just went in there knowing I was doing this for my team, it had nothing to do with me.”
The series win over Arkansas (23-4, 3-3 SEC) keeps Alabama (26-1, 5-1 SEC) right in the hunt at the top of the SEC.
“To start out with a sweep on the road and come home and do that, really proud of the team,” Murphy said. “We learned that they were a bunch of fighters, really, because it was a tough game yesterday. It was 3.5 hours and back-and-forth, and things didn’t go our way a lot of the time, but they came back today and completely turned it around.”
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Alabama football is hiring Noah Fisher to be its assistant tight ends coach, according to CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz.
Fisher spent two seasons as a graduate assistant working with the offensive line and tight ends at Louisville before joining the Tide’s staff. He played three years on the offensive line at South Alabama and spent one season with Tulane. The Jaguars started Fisher along its offensive line when he was a player for multiple games.
The Crimson Tide appear to want to use their tight ends in multiple ways in the future including as extra blockers along the line of scrimmage. Fisher looks as if he can assist the Tide with this mission.
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Justin Smith is the Managing Editor and Lead Writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine with over 10 years of writing experience & expertise. Smith has consistently delivered high quality, extensively researched information on the University of Alabama’s Crimson Tide football team that fans can trust. Smith is official credentialed media with the University of Alabama under Touchdown Alabama Magazine. He is also the Director of Recruiting for Touchdown Enterprises, specializing in scouting and analyzing high school recruits around the nation, specifically focusing on recruits within the state of Alabama.
PRICHARD, Ala. (NBC 15) — Sewage overflows during storms in Prichard are sending wastewater into local waterways that feed Mobile Bay, prompting an environmental group to push for state funding to upgrade aging infrastructure.
Mobile Baykeeper says sewage overflows during storms flow into Three Mile Creek, then into the Mobile River, and ultimately end up in Mobile Bay. The group said that last week, during heavy rain, more than 256,000 gallons of sewage spilled into Gum Tree Branch and Three Mile Creek.
Mobile Baykeeper has launched a petition seeking funding from the state of Alabama to fix Prichard’s old water infrastructure.