No. 14-seeded Alabama softball began NCAA Regional play Friday, defeating USC Upstate 1-0 in the Tuscaloosa Regional.
The victory was Alabama head coach Patrick Murhphy’s 1,300th win of his career, with 1,272 of those wins occurring at Alabama.
Alabama and USC Upstate remained scoreless until the sixth inning when a Jenna Johnson single and stolen base put Bailey Dowling in position to drive in the go-ahead run with a two-out single. Jocelyn Briski received the win, pitching 6.1 innings without allowing a hit. Kayla Beaver came in for the final two outs to secure her fourth save of the season after inducing a game-ending double play.
In her postseason debut, Briski allowed just two baserunners in her 6.1 innings of work, giving up a single and a walk. Johnson and Dowling each went 2-for-3, responsible for four of Alabama’s seven hits on Friday.
After the game, head coach Patrick Murphy had a few things to say about the pitcher’s duel his team was involved in on Friday.
"To have two freshman [pitchers] in their first postseason starts put together performances like that was remarkable to see,” Murphy said. “Kudos to her [USC Upstate pitcher Sierra Maness] and Jocelyn Briski. She has been doing a great job for us this year. In the postseason it's survive and advance. It doesn't matter if it's 1-0, 8-0 or 10-9 - you only need to score one more run than the other team. USC Upstate made a lot of plays as did our defense. Briski was awesome and Bailey Dowling came up with the key hit."
Southeastern Louisiana defeated Clemson 6-2 in their half of the bracket, setting up a Saturday morning matchup against the host team Alabama. The matchup between the two undefeated teams will open Saturday’s round of games at 10:30 a.m. All three of Saturday’s game times were moved up due to weather.
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