Alabama softball senior pitcher Alexis Osorio recorded her 1,000th career strikeout last Saturday with her 14th and final strikeout in a 1-0 loss to Tennessee.
Osorio, who is from Riverside, California, ranks fourth on Alabama’s all-time strikeout list and is within striking distance of third place all-time.
Kelsi Dunne (2008-11) struck out 1,219 batters in her career to lead the Crimson Tide in all-time strikeouts. Stephanie VanBrakle Prothro, now UA’s pitching coach, struck out 1,113 from 2003-05 to place second. Shelley Laird (1999-2002) struck out 1,045 batters.
Osorio is a two-time All-American selection. This season she carried a 10-7 record with a 2.21 earned-run average into Monday night’s series finale against Tennessee with 166 strikeouts in 111 innings pitched with 79 walks. Opponents have batted .167 against her.
On the edge
Alabama softball is ranked No. 17 in the latest official NCAA Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) rankings, which are released each Monday. The RPI is a key component used by the committee that selects and seeds the NCAA Tournament field, with the top 16 seeds hosting regionals. Alabama is fighting to host a regional for the 14th year in a row. The Crimson Tide fell one spot from the previous week after dropping the first two games of its series with Tennessee, ranked ninth in the RPI, going into Monday’s series finale.
Alabama is 27-15 overall and 7-10 in SEC play. The Crimson Tide is ninth in the SEC standings.
In addition to a third game against Tennessee on Monday, Alabama has a three-game series at Georgia (seventh in the RPI) this weekend and closes out the regular season at home against Texas A&M, which is 13th in the RPI.
