It gets to a point where you just run out of words for Jocelyn Briski's brilliance. The SEC's Pitcher of the Year has put together a dominant junior season for Alabama, but things are not supposed to be this easy in the Women's College World Series. Especially not against dominant offenses like UCLA and Nebraska.
After shutting down the best lineup in college softball on Thursday in Alabama's 6-3 win over UCLA, Briski followed that up with another masterclass against Nebraska on Saturday.
The Crimson Tide's ace threw another complete game, allowing just a single hit - a solo home run by Hannah Camenzind in the 4th inning - and struck out six batters without issuing a walk. It brings her WCWS statline to the following:
14.0 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 15 SO
"It’s just been so fun to watch, especially with the no walks," Patrick Murphy said about Briski's performance. "It’s very difficult to get people out nowadays. I don’t care who it is. But to do without walking anybody and only giving up one run in the process is even more amazing. … For her to do it back-to-back against two really good hitting teams… It’s really cool to watch from the dugout.”
Marlie Giles and Nebraska's Rhonda Revelle offer Jocelyn Briski flowers after dominant performance
Alabama captain Marlie Giles provided the offensive spark that Alabama needed in the 1st inning with a three-run homer. That was the only offense Alabama required with Briski dominating on the mound and putting the Crimson Tide on the doorstep of the championship series.
Giles is Alabama's catcher, so she works hand-in-hand with Briski and has for three years now. Though she was quick to diminish her role in the postgame of Briski's masterclass:
“Wasn’t much I did,” Giles said about her role in Briski’s performance. “She pitched her butt off. She just works so hard to be here and perform for us. Even when we had a couple miscues in the field, she had our backs. I called time each time there was a mishap, and she was confident as all get out. She was like, ‘Hey, I got their backs; we’re getting the next out.’ It just shows her leadership and how amazing she is just as a person.”
Briski's confidence and ability to respond to adversity were pivotal. In back-to-back innings, Alabama's defense had potentially critical errors that could have allowed Nebraska to crawl back into the game. Dropped pop-ups from miscommunication allowed two base runners that never should have been, but Briski shut the door on both occasions and never allowed a Cornhuskers rally.
Even Nebraska head coach Rhonda Revelle couldn't help but be in awe of Briski's performance:
“This year she took it to another level;," Revelle said. "She pounds the zone, she’s vertical, she throws with confidence, she mixes speeds. She gets ahead in the count and comes right at you. She’s really a warrior. She was the SEC pitcher of the year for a reason, and think about some of the pitchers in that conference. I understand after facing her today why she got that designation because she was so good tonight.”
The win advances Alabama to Monday night's semifinals, where they will have two chances to advance to the best-of-three championship series. The Crimson Tide will get Sunday off and await the winner of Texas Tech-UCLA.
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