Jocelyn Briski Outlasts Maya Johnson in Pitchers' Duel for Spot in Regional Final

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— The matchup between No. 1 Alabama and Belmont was touted as a pitchers' duel between two of the best in the country in the Crimson Tide's Jocelyn Briski and the Bruins' Maya Johnson.

Briski and the Tide came out on top with a 3-0 victory at Rhoads Stadium on Saturday to advance to Sunday's regional final in the NCAA tournament.

"I thought it was a heck of an entertaining game," Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy said after the game. "I was really pleased with our first inning, it couldn't have gone any better. We practiced a lot this week in just putting pressure on them, being short to the ball, trying to eliminate the strikeouts and put pressure on them all game long. The first inning was terrific, and Briski did the rest."

The Alabama ace carried a perfect game into the sixth inning where a one-out single in the frame was one of three baserunners she allowed all day. Briski needed just 72 pitches to complete here fifth individual complete-game shutout of the season.

Johnson had only allowed one run in the entire month of May, and the Alabama offense jumped out to a three-run lead in the first inning. The Crimson Tide loaded the bases with a hit-by-pitch to leadoff Jena Young, single from Alexis Pupillo and walk by Ana Roman. Senior captain Marlie Giles came through with the big hit on a single through the right side to score two runs.

An RBI-groundout from Audrey Vandagriff added on another run, which was more than enough for Briski to work with. Johnson seemed to settle in, and Alabama struggled to threaten again. It just proved how valuable that first inning was.

"It's awesome when your team puts up there runs in the first inning," Briski said. "It takes a lot of pressure off you when you're on the mound. I'm pretty sure any pitcher will tell you that. I was just able to go out there and throw strikes, making them put the ball in play and trusting my defense."

Things got a little dicey in the seventh inning as the Bruins brought the tying-runner to the plate after a walk and error, but Briski got out of it with two more first-pitch outs.

"Not necessarily worried about making a bad pitch, but making sure I throw strikes," Briski said. "Dont' want to keep allowing free passes because when you just let people on base, I mean, they started that inning with a leadoff walk. So just making sure I threw strikes, and thankfully both batters swung at the first two pitches, so that was the main goal to just pump the zone and not get behind in the count."

Belmont head coach Laura Matthews said by the time her team could get some stuff going against Briski, it was already too late.

"Proud of the fight of our girls," Matthews said. "Bama's awesome. They're good, and you gotta play really, really well, and I think we played OK. They jumped on us quickly, and I'm really proud of how our girls settled in. Maya did a great job settling in and threw really, really well after that first inning."

Alabama is now in a prime position heading into Sunday's regional final. Whichever opponent it faces will have to beat the Crimson Tide twice. Alabama is also in a great spot pitching wise with Friday (Kaitlyn Pallozi) and Saturday's starters throwing complete games that required little exertion.

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