Tuscaloosa Region 2014 Softball World Series Breakdown
#2 Alabama, South Alabama, USC Upstate, SIU-Edwardsville
The Alabama Crimson Tide once again secured a coveted top four national seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament. Alabama, seeded second behind Oregon, comes into the Tuscaloosa Regional with a very balanced offensive attack that can beat you with power and speed. Sophomore Haylie McCleney sets the tone for the Crimson Tide as she is hitting .454, with nine homeruns and 29 stolen bases. Senior Kaila Hunt provides the experienced leadership and power offensively with her 11 homeruns as well. Senior pitcher Jaclyn Traina is going to be the key for Alabama if they are going to get back to Oklahoma City and the Women’s College World Series. Traina has 20 wins on the season and 16 complete games and was the SEC Pitcher of the Year.
USC Upstate is the Atlantic Sun Conference champion and has a pitching duo that could be very dangerous in the regional. Freshman Lexi Shubert is 18-1 with a 1.25 earned run average and senior Anna Miller is 18-5 and is the more strikeout dominant pitcher of the duo as she has 233 strikeouts in 136.2 innings pitched. South Alabama has big wins against other SEC schools LSU and Georgia during the regular season and, with senior ace pitcher Hannah Campbell in the circle, the Lady Jaguars are also going to be a tough out in Tuscaloosa. SIU-Edwardsville is the Ohio Valley Conference representative in the Tuscaloosa Regional. The Cougars are not dynamic offensively as they are hitting .254 on the season but if they can get a big performance out of sophomore Haley Chambers they will have a fighting chance.
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