The University of Alabama Football and Crimson Tide Sports Source
April 19, 2024
April 06, 2014
Spring Sports Rock
The Crimson Tide, which has been a fixture in the fall, is now making a move on the spring sports as well. The baseball, gymnastics and softball teams have turned it up a notch in 2014.
Last year the Tide baseball team could not hold a lead. The pitching was an adventure. This year they are on top of the SEC west leading Ole Miss by a full game and they just took a series at Texas A&M. Mitch Gaspard’s charges can win anything if they can score three runs. This year, for the most part, the pitching has held up.
This year after losing six straight, Alabama finally beat Auburn in Montgomery. Last year the Tide finished the season 35-28 and was 14-15 in the SEC, which put them fifth in the west. They made the post season, but made a quick exit. This is a new year and a new team. Alabama is now 22-9 and 8-4 in the SEC. That’s a far cry from this time last year last year. With 25 games left in the regular season this could be a big year for the Tide. They have SEC east leader Florida and Mississippi State at home but they must travel to South Carolina and Tennessee. The Tide is 16-3 at home 4-6 away and won both games at neutral sites.
Softball is much the same as baseball, last year the Tide won their regional and advanced to the super regional in Knoxville where they were quickly eliminated. This season is different. They have pulled games out in the last inning and they have pitching that can hold up under the pressure of the SEC. Last year they were 45-15 and finished third in the SEC west. Though they did finished ranked in the top ten.
Now, the Tide is ranked fourth and riding a nine game winning streak. They lead the SEC with a 14-1 mark. They are 20-2 at home 8-3 away and 7-0 at neutral sites. The softball team is back in championship form. The difference this year is the pitching of senior Jackie Traina. The offence is paced by sophomore Haylie McCleney. She is leading the SEC with a batting average of .495 and a slugging percentage of .798. This team is poised to make a return to Oklahoma City.
The gymnastics team has already won the SEC and punched its ticket to the NCAA championships by winning the Seattle Regional. The championships are in Birmingham where the Tide is almost unbeatable. This team improved over the course of the season and is now poised to bring another championship back to Tuscaloosa.
Coach Sarah Patterson, the dean of SEC coaches, and is one of the, if not the best, nationally. With her team’s win in Seattle the Tide picked up its NCAA leading 29th regional title. For Coach Patterson it was her 1,000 win. In her 36th year we all just need to appreciate what the phenomenal woman has accomplished in her long and storied career at Alabama. We should appreciate it all the more because someday she won’t be here anymore and we will miss her. I’m quite sure she’s not ready to go just yet. So sit back and enjoy the next meet.
Oh and yeah – spring football is also in bloom. So it’s a pretty good time to be a Tide fan.
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