2018 Tuscaloosa Regional Preview
Tuscaloosa Regional
For the 14th-straight season, Alabama softball has earned a top-16 national seed and will host an NCAA Regional as the No. 12 overall seed, welcoming Wisconsin (28-21), Oregon State (28-26) and Middle Tennessee (39-20) to Tuscaloosa. Action at the Tuscaloosa Regional will begin on Friday, May 18 when Wisconsin faces Oregon State at 6 p.m. CT before Alabama takes on Middle Tennessee State at 8:30 p.m. CT. The winner of the Tuscaloosa regional will advance to face the winner of the Seattle Regional, hosted by fifth-seeded Washington. Other teams playing in Seattle include Minnesota, Texas and Boise State.
Top Seed
Alabama has earned a top-16 national seed 16 times, including a hosting streak of 14 straight starting in 2005. The Crimson Tide is 53-9 (.855) all-time in NCAA regional play and has won every regional round since 2005, the longest active streak in Division-I softball. Alabama has not lost a game in regional play since 2007, a streak of 34-consecutive games. In 2018, Alabama (33-18) is batting .276 as a team and is led by freshman Kaylee Tow’s .350 average. The Bama pitching staff holds a 2.49 ERA and has been relying on the arms of senior Alexis Osorio and junior Courtney Gettins. Osorio (13-9) has pitched the majority of the innings with 148.1. She has struck out 203 batters in those innings and has an impressive .167 batting average against. Gettins (13-4) holds a 2.50 ERA and has struck out 62 batters in 115 innings pitched.
Best Shot at the Upset
The Oregon State Beavers opened the season with a 17-9 record but struggled down the stretch, going 11-17 including a 9-14 record in the Pac 12. They broke a nine-game losing streak with a pair of wins over Utah in their final weekend of play. Five players earned all-conference honors, including senior Alysha Everett who leads the team with a .304 batting average and 52 hits. Alabama and Oregon State have met twice in program history, last doing so on Feb. 16, 2002, a 2-1 Crimson Tide loss.
Players to Watch
Wisconsin’s Kelsey Jenkins holds a .421 batting average heading into Regional play. The senior has recorded 56 hits on the season, 18 of those hits being doubles. Jenkins has scored 42 runs this season for the Badgers and is second on the team with 32 RBI.
Prediction
We predict Alabama will come out on top of the Tuscaloosa Regional due to their NCAA Tournament experience and home crowd advantage. Alabama softball fans love their softball and we can expect that Rhoads Stadium will be packed with crimson and white supporters.
