Briski Strikes Out Six as No. 15 Alabama Takes Game 1 from Missouri

Brooke Ellestad provided the key hit in the first inning as the Crimson Tide wins the opening game of the final home SEC series.

Jocelyn Briski pitches against Missouri / Alabama Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— On a night where she admittedly didn't have her best stuff, Alabama pitcher Jocelyn Briski still found a way to get the job done for the Crimson Tide in the series opener against Missouri.

Brooke Ellestad provided the big blow with a bases-clearing double in the first inning, and Audrey Vandagriff's solo home run to lead off the fifth inning provided the knockout punch as No. 15 Alabama beat Missouri, 4-2, at Rhoads Stadium on Friday night.

"Gritty not pretty–– that's the theme" Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy said after the game. "As long as we get a W, I don't care what it looks like. Sometimes if you play your B- game, and you win in the SEC, it's a hell of a night."

Briski picked up her 13th win of the season, throwing 6.1 innings with an SEC-high six strikeouts but also had five walks. Catelyn Riley came in to relive Briski in the seventh inning and earned the save. Briski was able to get out of a bases-loaded jam in the second inning and two on with one out in the third inning.

"I honestly didn't feel like I had my best stuff out there, and I thought it definitely could've been better," Briski said. "I had a lot of walks. So really just tried to get better as the game went on. It kind of felt like I didn't have it at the beginning of the game. Went and threw in the bullpen and figured some things out. Once I did that, I felt a lot better out there."

Alabama only had four hits on the night, but got the key hits when it needed to. Ellestad had one of those key hits with a double ripped down the right field line to get Alabama the early lead in the first inning.

"I knew they had a pretty good changeup pitcher and watching the at-bats before me, I knew she was throwing it for a strike," Ellestad said. "I was just sitting something like that and something that I could elevate, and it just happened to be that pitch."

Missouri made it interesting in the seventh inning. Facing a three-run deficit heading into the final frame, Julia Crenshaw lined a one-out double into the left center gap. She came around to score on a wild pitch to cut it to 4-2.

A single and a walk later, Missouri brought the winning runner to the plate with the tying run on first base. Riley got the next batter to pop up on the first pitch to end the Tiger threat and the game.

"It's the old bend, but don't break," Murphy said. "That's exactly what happened. Even in the seventh inning with Catelyn. They made the pitches when they needed to. We didn't have any errors. Played pretty good defense behind them, set a school record for double plays tonight."

Alabama (33-18, 9-10 SEC) and Missouri (23-27, 4-15 SEC) will be back at Rhoads Saturday at 8 p.m. for Game 2 of the series.

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