Catelyn Riley's Lights Out Performance Powers No. 22 Alabama To Series Win Over No. 2 Oklahoma

Riley allowed just one run over 13.2 innings of work in Alabama's biggest series win of the year.

Alabama Softball Player Catelyn Riley (7) in action before the game against Oklahoma at Rhoads Stadium in Tuscaloosa, AL on Monday, Apr 14, 2025. / Photo by Crimson Tide Photos / UA Athletics

Catelyn Riley just finished the best series of her career. The senior started two games against No. 2 Oklahoma and was dominant in every sense of the word, allowing just one run over 13.2 innings of work, capped off by a 136-pitch, eight-inning complete game in Monday's 2-1 walk-off win.

Riley went five scoreless innings on Saturday in a game that Alabama was leading 1-0 before she was relieved by Jocelyn Briski. She was called back out to the circle with one out in the top of the seventh after Oklahoma had scored three runs to pull ahead. The runners the Sooners had on second and third scored off a single and a sacrifice before Riley was able to close out the frame with no runs attributed to her.

That type of pitching performance will always turn heads against a team as dominant as the Sooners. Winners of four straight national titles, Oklahoma entered the series 35-3. And Riley somehow managed to one-up herself in Alabama's biggest game of the season so far.

Briski was incredible in her own right on Sunday, going the distance in a 6-1 win. Riley picked up right where she left off, setting the tone early in the rubber match, throwing just 39 pitches while no-hitting Oklahoma over the first three innings.

Nelly McEnroe-Marinas tied the game 1-1 in the fourth with a solo blast, but Riley recovered and got to the seventh inning with no further damage done.

Oklahoma's bats finally woke up in the seventh inning. The Sooners loaded the bases with one out after Riley gave up singles to Ailana Agbayani and Isabela Emerling and hit Maya Bland. Head coach Patrick Murphy walked out to the mound, and it seemed possible that Riley's evening may be done.

It was, in fact, not done. First baseman Abby Duscherer made an excellent play, throwing to home on a fielder's choice to keep the bases loaded, now with two outs.

The next at-bat featured the same result as a grounder was hit directly to Riley, who threw the runner out at the plate to keep the game knotted up. Alabama went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning to set up extras with the series hanging in the balance.

"When she got out of the bases loaded, I was like, 'OK, we're going to let her do it,'" Murphy said. "I thought for a second that she was running out of gas, just a little bit."

It certainly looked like Riley may have been out of gas to start the eighth as Ella Parker ripped a leadoff single. She then recorded consecutive outs, but Agbayani came through with another single to move Parker into scoring position. Another mound visit ensued. It seemed almost improbable to keep a pitcher in with over 130 pitches when she had now gotten into jams in back-to-back innings.

But there would be no call for Briski or Alea Johnson. Riley stayed in the circle and, after getting the count to 0-2, got Abigale Dayton to ground the ball right to second to end the frame.

Leadoff batter Audrey Vandagriff then took the first pitch she saw in the bottom of the eighth to deep left and, just like that, No. 22 Alabama had secured a signature win. Nobody was happier that Riley did not have to go back to the bump then Vandagriff herself.

"She's like a mom to us," Vandagriff said. "She loves everybody, and everybody would put up a big old fight for her, so that was the least we could do... I couldn't be more proud of her."

Riley now rises to 10-1 on the season, but it can be argued that no win is as meaningful as Monday's. Oklahoma's offensive prowess cannot be overstated. Entering the series, the Sooners had scored under two runs just once all year. Alabama found a way to make it happen in back-to-back games.

"We had to keep them on their toes by using a variety of different speeds and bringing out some different pitches that we don't throw that often," Riley said.

Alabama has had its fair share of defensive struggles this season. It goes without saying that if Riley (and Briski) can deliver performances like this consistently, the sky truly is the limit for a Crimson Tide team oozing with offensive firepower and hungry for a return to the national stage.

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