Tag Archives: Haylie McCleney

Star Series: Walk-on pitcher breaks out in no-hit start

Posted on April 16, 2013 by | Comments Off

Senior outfielder Kayla Braud laying down a bunt in the three-game series against Missouri last weekend. (Photo courtesy of UA Athletics)

Senior outfielder Kayla Braud laying down a bunt in the three-game series against Missouri last weekend. (Photo courtesy of UA Athletics)

Each week for the duration of the Alabama baseball and softball seasons, Daily Bama Blog contributor Brett Hudson will track outstanding individual performances with the Star Series. Three players from each team will get 1-star, 2-stars and 3-stars with a running season tally.

Baseball

Alabama compiled a 2-3 week, sweeping two midweek games with Alcorn State on Tuesday and Wednesday, 3-2 and 7-3. Alabama was then swept in a three-game series against the Ole Miss Rebels in Oxford, Miss., and Swazye Field: 6-0, 5-2 and 4-3 (11 innings).

3-Star Player: Second baseman Kyle Overstreet. Overstreet led the team in most hitting categories, including the following: hits (six), doubles (one), RBI (four), total bases (seven) and slugging percentage (.368 on a .316 batting average). Overstreet also had 16 putouts and 15 assists without an assist.

2-Star Player: Pitcher Mike Oczypok. Oczypok, a walk-on, had one apperance in the week: a five-inning start on Wednesday where he walked just one batter and did not giev up a hit. Oczypok struck out one batter and mproved his record on the year to 2-0 with an opposing batting average of .205 on the season.

1-Star Player: Third baseman Kenny Roberts. Roberts went 4-18 from the plate (.222) and led the team with three runs scored. Roberts also added two RBI and sported an on-base percentage of .364 while not committing an error in the five games.

Season Tally:

Ben Moore: 6 stars

Spencer Turnbull: 6 stars

Kyle Overstreet: 6 stars

Austen Smith: 5 stars

Brett Booth: 4 stars

Charley Sullivan: 4 stars

Georgie Salem: 4 stars

Kenny Roberts: 4 stars

Cary Baxter: 3 stars

Ray Castillo: 3 stars

Mikey White: 2 stars

Jon Keller: 2 stars

Mike Oczypok: 2 stars

Andrew Miller: 2 stars

Jake Hubbard: 1 star

Softball

The Crimson Tide had a rare weekend off, only playing two games this week and winning both of them. Alabama had to battle hard with Mississippi Valley State in a 8-5 win on Tuesday before rebounding to beat UAB 11-0 in six innings the next day.

3-Star Player: Catcher Molly Fichtner. Fichtner wins the three stars for the second week in-a-row after leading the team in the week’s two games with five hits. Fichtner batted in three runs and finished the two-game stretch with a batting average of .833.

2-Star Player: Left fielder Kayla Braud. Braud went 4-8 from the plate while scoring two runs in the two games. Braud also had a double.

1-Star Player: Center fielder Haylie McCleney. McCleney, in addition to stealing two bases without being caught, reached base in all but one of her plate appearances in two games, with three hits and four walks.

Season Tally:

Jackie Traina: 12 stars

Haylie McCleney: 12 stars

Kayla Braud: 10 stars

Kaila Hunt: 8 stars

Molly Fichtner: 6 stars

Danielle Richard: 4 stars

Andrea Hawkins: 3 stars

Jadyn Spencer: 2 stars

Keima Davis: 1 star

Danae Hays: 1 star

Leslie Jury: 1 star

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Star Series: Outfielders steal the show

Posted on April 8, 2013 by | Comments Off

Kayla Braud, the senior from Eugene, Ore., is one of four outfielders in this week's Star Series. (Photo courtesy of UA Athletics)

Kayla Braud, the senior from Eugene, Ore., is one of four outfielders in this week’s Star Series. (Photo courtesy of UA Athletics)

Each week for the duration of the Alabama baseball and softball seasons, Daily Bama Blog contributor Brett Hudson will track outstanding individual performances with the Star Series. Three players from each team will get 1-star, 2-stars and 3-stars with a running season tally.

Baseball

The No. 22 Crimson Tide compiled a 2-2 week, winning its midweek game against Southeastern Louisiana 9-1 before losing its three-game series with No. 9 Arkansas: 1-3, 0-6 and a 5-0 win on Sunday. Click here to read more on the Thursday loss to Arkansas, televised by ESPNU, and click here for more on the Saturday win that ended the sweep.

3-Star Player: Starting pitcher Spencer Turnbull. Turnbull finds his way into the Star Series for the second week in-a-row after another strong start, pitching seven innings in Alabama’s Saturday win over Arkansas. He pitched seven innings and gave up just five hits to the No. 9 team in the nation, while walking two batters and striking out four.

2-Star Player: Left fielder Andrew Miller. Miller led the team with a .364 batting average, going 4-11 from the plate and tying for the team-high with three runs scored. Miller also walked twice and batted one run in.

1-Star Player: Center fielder Georgie Salem. Salem went 6-17 from the plate (.353) on the week, leading the team with six hits. Salem started all four games and did not commit and error.

Season Tally

Ben Moore: 6 stars

Spencer Turnbull: 6 stars

Austen Smith: 5 stars

Brett Booth: 4 stars

Charley Sullivan: 4 stars

Georgie Salem: 4 stars

Cary Baxter: 3 stars

Kenny Roberts: 3 stars

Ray Castillo: 3 stars

Kyle Overstreet: 3 stars

Mikey White: 2 stars

Jon Keller: 2 stars

Andrew Miller: 2 stars

Jake Hubbard: 1 star

Softball

The Crimson Tide went 3-1 on the week, blowing out Jacksonville State in its line midweek game

3-Star Player: Catcher Molly Fichtner. Fichtner was named the SEC Player of the Week for her performances on the week, batting .778 with one home run and five RBI. Fichtner is the first player to start at catcher for Alabama in all three-games of a weekend series, previously competing with Chaunsey Bell and Jordan Patterson.

2-Star Player: Center fielder Haylie McCleney. McCleney went 7-12 from the plate (.583), throwing in five RBI, five runs scored and leading the team with four walks alongside Danae Hays.

1-Star Player: Left fielder Kayla Braud. Braud batted an even .500 (6-12), scoring a team-high six runs and stealing four bases.

Season Tally

Jackie Traina: 12 stars

Haylie McCleney: 11 stars

Kaila Hunt: 8 stars

Kayla Braud: 8 stars

Danielle Richard: 4 stars

Andrea Hawkins: 3 stars

Molly Fichtner: 3 stars

Jadyn Spencer: 2 stars

Keima Davis: 1 star

Danae Hays: 1 star

Leslie Jury: 1 star

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Alabama softball splits two games on ESPNU, takes the three-game series with Missouri

Posted on April 8, 2013 by | Comments Off

Alabama catcher Molly Fichtner hitting her three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning in Alabama's 14-6 win over Missouri. (Photo courtesy of UA Athletics)

Alabama catcher Molly Fichtner hitting her three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning in Alabama’s 14-6 win over Missouri. (Photo courtesy of UA Athletics)

After splitting the first two games of the series, both showcased on ESPNU, the No. 4 Crimson Tide softball team took advantage of a worn-down Chelsea Thomas pitching for No. 7 Missouri and won the Sunday rubber match 14-6 on 11 hits.

“That’s better,” Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy said. “I thought our hitters really took it to them. To score 14 against probably one of the top three pitchers in the country is just something else.

“I thought everybody battled hard. We took the walks when they gave them to us and then we hit good pitches when they gave those to us.”

Alabama ended the game one inning early in the bottom of the sixth when center fielder Haylie McCleney walked in Jackey Branham from third for the 14th run, invoking thee eight-run mercy rule.

Alabama got some runs from power, too, like a three-run home run from catcher Molly Fichtner in the bottom of the first to give the Tide a 4-1 lead after one inning. The four-run rally that followed in the bottom of the second started with a one-out triple in the right-center gap from senior right fielder Keima Davis.

Alabama won the series-opener over Missouri 4-1 Friday night before dropping Game Two 9-4.

The Crimson Tide wore special helmets during the three-game series to honor former Athletic Director Mal Moore. The helmets were white with a crimson stripe down the middle and crimson No. 15s on each side, the 15 representing the number of football national championships in school history. The 1961 national championship team, which Moore was a backup quarterback on, wore similar helmets.

The Tide (35-6, 10-5 SEC) will host two midweek games, Tuesday against Mississippi Valley State and Wednesday against UAB before a weekend off. Alabama will return to SEC play on April 19th against Mississippi State in Tuscaloosa.

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Long balls push both Alabama baseball and softball to Tuesday night wins

Posted on April 3, 2013 by | Comments Off
Alabama third baseman Kenny Roberts had one of two three-run home runs in the bottom of the sixth that pushed Alabama's offense to the win. (Photo courtesy of UA Athletics)

Alabama third baseman Kenny Roberts had one of two three-run home runs in the bottom of the sixth that pushed Alabama’s offense to the win. (Photo courtesy of UA Athletics)

The Southeastern Louisiana Lions had put together five strong innings, outhitting the Crimson Tide five to three through five innings.

Then, for the first time since June of 2010, Alabama had multiple home runs in one inning, as third baseman Kenny Roberts and first baseman Austen Smith both turned on two-out three-run homers in the bottom of the sixth, pushing Alabama to a 9-1 win.

“I’ve got no problem with three-run homers,” Alabama baseball coach Mitch Gaspard said. “That was good to see and to especially have one that was a no-doubter.

“I’m happy for Kenny Roberts – not only tonight, but the way he has stayed with it and stuck with a plan and really had a consistent year for us both offensively and defensively and that was a big blow for him tonight to hit the three-run homer.”

Roberts and center fielder Georgie Salem both had multi-hit games, both going 2-4 and combining for four RBI and two runs.

The Tide used four relief pitchers after Tucker Hawley’s five-inning start in which he walked two batters and struck two out while giving up five hits. Mike Oczypok, Justin Kamplain, Mitch Greer and Ray Castillo all pitched one inning in the win.

Relief pitcher steadies softball Tide in mercy-rule win

Alabama pitcher Lauren Sewell left the circle in disappointment, having her start ended by coach Patrick Murphy after 3.1 innings, allowing five hits and striking out seven batters.

What ended her start five outs early with that kind of line? The seven free passes – four via the walk and three via hit batters.

“I think when your starting pitcher hits (a batter), walks, hits, walks and strikes out seven or eight, it just doesn’t make sense to me,” Murphy said. “If she can strike out seven or eight she doesn’t need to hit or walk a couple of them, so we need to work on that.”

It was Leslie Jury that entered and pitched 1.2 no-hit shutout innings and watched as Alabama scored 11 runs on 12 hits to earn the 11-3 win in five innings over Jacksonville State.

The Tide scored in bunches against the Gamecocks, scoring five in the bottom of the second then four more in the bottom of the fourth. It was first baseman Jadyn Spencer’s three-run home run in the bottom of the fourth that put Alabama in mercy-rule range before a two-out two RBI single from Jackie Traina ended the game two innings early.

Alabama center fielder Haylie McCleney went 4-4 from the plate with two RBI and three runs, including the game’s winning run. Senior left fielder Kayla Braud, batting behind McCleney in the No. 2 hole, went 2-2 with an RBI and two runs scored.

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Current, former players reflect on Mal Moore

Posted on March 30, 2013 by | Comments Off

Some of the players that are currently succeeding or have recently done so under former Alabama Athletic Director Mal Moore expressed their gratitude for his work…but did not do so through statements. They left that to their coaches and other superiors, statements you can see by clicking here.

They did what most 20-something year olds would do: took to Twitter.

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Star Series: Two baseball sophomores honored

Posted on March 19, 2013 by | Comments Off

Alabama catcher Brett Booth rounding third base to score one of Alabama's 15 runs in the Sunday 15-1 victory over Tennessee. (Photo courtesy of UA Athletics)

Alabama catcher Brett Booth rounding third base to score one of Alabama’s 15 runs in the Sunday 15-1 victory over Tennessee. (Photo courtesy of UA Athletics)

Each week for the duration of the Alabama baseball and softball seasons, Daily Bama Blog contributor Brett Hudson will track outstanding individual performances with the Star Series. Three players from each team will get 1-star, 2-stars and 3-stars with a running season tally.

Baseball

After splitting the midweek series with Memphis, Alabama won the first SEC series of the season against Tennessee, two games to one. The Tuesday loss is recapped here, while the Wednesday win is recapped here and here.

Click here to get a special report from Morgan Upton from the Friday game and click here to recap the rest of the series, mostly Alabama’s 15-1 win on Sunday.

3-Star Player: Right fielder Ben Moore. Moore was 8-19 from the plate, sporing a .421 batting average in the five games. Moore put up a superb .500 on-base percentage in the five games and .579 slugging percentage, with three of his eight hits being for extra-bases. Moore also stole four bases and had a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.

2-Star Player: Starting pitcher Charley Sullivan. Sullivan started the Tennessee series off by pitching a complete game three-hitter to push Alabama to a 12-1 win Friday night. Sullivan struck out seven batters and walked just one.

1-Star Player: Catcher Brett Booth. Booth led the team with a .455 batting average for the five games of the week (10-22 from the plate), with three RBI and five runs scored. Center fielder Georgie Salem almost had this spot with seven RBI in five games, but the batting average almost 100 points less than Booth’s was too much to overlook.

Season Tally:

Ben Moore: 6 stars

Brett Booth: 4 stars

Georgie Salem: 3 stars

Cary Baxter: 3 stars

Austen Smith: 3 stars

Kenny Roberts: 3 stars

Mikey White: 2 stars

Jon Keller: 2 stars

Charley Sullivan: 2 stars

Jake Hubbard: 1 star

Ray Castillo: 1 star

Softball

The Crimson Tide swept the week 3-0, taking to the road to beat South Carolina 6-4 on Friday, 5-3 on Saturday and 7-6 on Sunday.

3-Star Player: Second baseman Kaila Hunt. Hunt led the tema with both a .600 batting average and a 1.000 slugging percentage against the Lady Gamecocks. In her six hits in 10 at-bats, she had one double and one home run, totalling with two RBI.

2-Star Player: Left fielder Kayla Braud. Braud led the team with five runs scored in just three games while batting .33 (4-12). Braud had three RBI and was 3-3 in stolen base attempts.

1-Star Player: Center fielder Haylie McCleney. McCleney batted an even .300 (3-10) in her three games against the Lady Gamecocks, including a double, a triple and three RBI. McCleney stole on base and sported a slugging percentage of .600.

Season Tally:

Haylie McCleney: 9 stars

Kaila Hunt: 7 stars

Jackie Traina: 6 stars

Kayla Braud: 5 stars

Danielle Richard: 4 stars

Andrea Hawkins: 3 stars

Keima Davis: 1 star

Danae Hays: 1 star

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Softball shakes off three-game losing streak with Sunday win

Posted on March 11, 2013 by | Comments Off

The Alabama softball team took to the road for its first Southeastern Conference series of the season and just avoided the program’s first four-game losing streak since 2004. After losing a midweek tilt to No. 4 Florida (which you can read more about by clicking here, including press conference video), the Crimson Tide lost the first two games of SEC play before bouncing back for a 7-1 win on Sunday.

Alabama lost 2-1 to the Lady Volunteers after a 4-3 loss on Friday (you can read more about Friday’s loss by clicking here). On Saturday, Alabama’s Leslie Jury pitched six innings and gave up eight hits and

Alabama pitcher Jackie Traina got her second loss and her 11th win of the season in her two starts against Tennessee. (Photo courtesy of UA Athletics)

Alabama pitcher Jackie Traina got her second loss and her 11th win of the season in her two starts against Tennessee. (Photo courtesy of UA Athletics)

two earned runs. Tennessee starter Ivy Renfroe blanked Traina, third baseman Danielle Richard, center fielder Haylie McCleney and first baseman Leona Lafaele, as the foursome went a combined 0-for-11 from the plate on Saturday.

Alabama’s 7-1 win on Sunday saw the Tide bats explode after a disappointing Saturday, including a 3-for-4 performance from McCleney and two RBI from Richard on a 2-3 day at the plate. Traina returned ti usual form, pitching seven innings and giving up two hits and a run.

Alabama will skip playing midweek games this week as it prepares for a three-game series on the road with the South Carolina Gamecocks over the weekend.

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Softball moves to 16-0 after Easton Bama Bash Sweep

Posted on February 25, 2013 by | Comments Off

Alabama started a 14-game homestand over 12 days with five wins in three days in a clean sweep of the Easton Bama Bash. Alabama beat Western Illinois twice, Iowa twice and Winthrop once to claim the championship in its first of two tournaments it will host in the regular season.

Alabama started the tournament on Friday by winning both games of a doubleheader by a combined 26-0, including a tournament-opening 21-0 win over Western Illinois in five innings. Junior Kaila Hunt ripped a three-run homerun in the top of the first inning, part of a nine-run outburst for the Tide in the opening frame. Freshman center fielder Haylie McCleney was 3-3 from the plate in the opening game, while scoring all four times she got on base and batting in six runs.

In the second game against Iowa, Alabama was led by a complete game shutout from pitcher Jackie Traina. Traina gave up five hits and struck out six batters in the outing. Senior right firlder Keima Davis led the Tide offensively, going 2-3 at the plate with two runs scored and one RBI. Senior left fielder Kayla Braud went 2-4 from the plate with an RBI.

On Saturday, Alabama beat Iowa 4-1 to start the action and won the second game of the doubleheader against Western Illinois 6-0. McCleney was 5-7 from the plate in the two games, knocking in four RBI and scoring two runs. Against Western Illinois, first baseman Jadyn Spencer was 2-3 with a two-run homerun in the bottom of the 3rd inning.

In the tournament finale, a 6-1 win over Winthrop, Alabama went into the bottom of the sixth inning tied at one before a five-run outburst secured the victory, including a three-run home run from sophomore Danielle Richard.

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Star Series: Baseball’s first series starred by first-timers

Posted on February 18, 2013 by | Comments Off

Each Monday for the duration of the Alabama baseball and softball seasons, DailyBamaBlog.com correspondent Brett Hudson will track outstanding individual performances with the Star Series. Three players from each team will get 1-star, 2-stars or 3-stars with a running season tally.

Baseball

Click here to read more on Alabama’s 3-game sweep of VMI in the opening weekend.

3-star Player: Sophomore first baseman Cary Baxter. Baxter now leads the team in the following categories after the first weekend: batting average with .625, slugging percentage with .875, total bases with seven and on-base percentage with .692. Baxter is also tied for the team lead in RBI with four and doubles with two.

2-star Player: Freshman shortstop Mikey White. White’s first three games as a collegiate baseball player saw him go 6-11 from the plate with three RBI, two runs scored and an on-base percentage of .643. White paired with second baseman Kyle Overstreet to turn two double plays on Opening Day and four throughout the weekend. White also stole three bases on three attempts.

1-star Player: Senior catcher Brett Booth. Booth was 4-8 and scored a team-high six runs in the three-game series in eight times on base. Booth led the team with four walks and also had four RBI.

Season Tally

Cary Baxter: 3

Mikey White: 2

Brett Booth: 1

Softball

Click here to read more on Alabama’s 5-0 weekend in Fort Myers, Fla.

3-star Player: Junior shortstop Kaila Hunt Hunt hit for power well over the weekend, getting six extra-base hits on a 7-13 hitting weekend, slugging for 1.308. Hunt hit two home runs, six RBI and scored six of Alabama’s 23 runs in the five wins.

2-star Player: Center fielder Haylie McCleney. McCleney continued her strong freshman campaign by batting 8-17, scoring six runs and stealing six bases for the Tide. McCleney leads the team in stolen bases this season with 11 and has yet to be caught stealing.

1-star Player: Second baseman Danae Hays. Hays hit a walk-off two-run double to push the Tide to a win over Georgia Southern on her way to batting 6-10 with one double, six RBI and a home run.

Season Tally

Haylie McCleney: 5 stars

Kaila Hunt: 3 stars

Jackie Traina: 2 stars

Keima Davis: 1 star

Danae Hays: 1 star

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Star Series: Softball steps to the plate first

Posted on February 11, 2013 by | Comments Off

Each Monday for the duration of the Alabama baseball and softball seasons, DailyBamaBlog.com correspondent Brett Hudson will track outstanding individual performances with the Star Series. Three players from each team will get 1-star, 2-stars or 3-stars with a running season tally.

The Crimson Tide began the 2013 season by winning the UNI Dome Tournament in Cedar Falls, Iowa, this weekend with a perfect 5-0 record. Alabama started the tournament with a 7-2 win over Illinois and an 8-1 win over Northern Iowa. Those were followed by an 8-2 victory over Drake, a 10-7 win over Green Bay and a 10-0 win in five innings over North Dakota State.

3-Star Player: Freshman outfielder Haylie McCleney. McCleney completed her first weekend of collegiate softball with a 13-18 record at the plate, including nine runs scored and another four RBIs. McCleney, who started all five games at center field to replace senior Jan Fenton, stole five bases. McCleney was named SEC Freshman of the Week.

2-star Player: Junior pitcher Jackie Traina. Traina pitched three times, with two complete games and one relief performance. Both of Traina’s starts were complete games: the first a seven-inning, three-hit performance giving up one earned run and 12 strikeouts, and the other a five-inning shutout giving up four-hits and striking out eight batters. Traina’s relief appearance was 2.1 shutout innings with four strikeouts and two hits allowed. At the plate, Traina was 4-6 with 3 RBIs and one run.

1-star Player: Senior outfielder Keima Davis. The highlight of Davis’ weekend was a pinch-hit three-run home run in the top of the seventh inning to give Alabama its 10-7 win over Green Bay, prompting her teammates to take to Twitter to celebrate.

Davis went 4-11 with 11 RBIs and one stolen base.

2013 Season Tally
Haylie McCleney: 3 stars
Jackie Traina: 2 stars
Keima Davis: 1 star

Contributed by Brett Hudson

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