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OKLAHOMA CITY – On the second day of the Women’s College World Series, two players had incredibly memorable performances to help their teams advance to the National Semifinals on Sunday.
Odicci Alexander shined in the circle against Oklahoma State to help James Madison become the first-ever unseeded team to go 2-1 at the WCWS on Friday, while Alabama’s Montana Fouts achieved perfection, tossing the first perfect game in over 20 years at the WCWS in a stunning 6-0 win over (2) UCLA.
Here are the full recaps done by Extra Inning Softball’s Will Turner from Friday’s action and another terrific day at Hall of Fame Stadium:
*****
James Madison 2, #5 Oklahoma State 1
The Dukes continued their Cinderella story by becoming the first ever unseeded team to go 2-0 at the WCWS as Odicci Alexander made a game-saving tag with one out of the seventh to nab the tying run at the plate on a squeeze play.
Alexander’s tag not only made shockwaves around the softball world, but around the sports world.
The NCAA Softball official Twitter’s video of the tag garnered over half a million views on Twitter and the phrase “WHAT A PLAY” was one of the top-trending phrases on the social media platform throughout the night.
The diving tag out at home that will now be considered one of the greatest plays in the history of the Women’s College World Series.
ODICCI ALEXANDER, ARE YOU SERIOUS?! 😱
📺 ESPN2#WCWS #SCtop10 x @JMUSoftball pic.twitter.com/eVJ0ruSiZY
— NCAA Softball (@NCAAsoftball) June 5, 2021
At the plate, James Madison jumped out to a 2-0 lead on the strength of a walk and two singles to get Alexander home on a throwing error in the first.
Kate Gordon – Friday’s hero in the 4-3 extra-inning win over top-seeded Oklahoma – smacked her second home run in as many games to double JMU’s lead.
Oklahoma State got a run back on a Chelsea Alexander RBI single to score Reagan Wright. When James Madison responded by getting a pair on with nobody out, the Cowgirls turned to lefty Kelly Maxwell in relief of Carrie Eberle to get the Cowgirls out of the jam. Maxwell struck out five in her two innings of work.
Alexander was forced into changing her game plan against the Cowgirls after dominating Oklahoma with a deceptive rise ball on Friday.
The righty worked an effective curveball, drop ball and screwball mix that kept Oklahoma State off balance.
While she didn’t garner as many swings and misses on Saturday, Alexander was effective enough to work her second complete game of the World Series, allowing just three hits and two walks to improve to 18-1 on the season, needing just 95 pitches to do so.
*****
#3 Alabama 6, #2 UCLA 0
On her 21st birthday, Montana Fouts let the world know that she was perfect.
The right-hander faced the minimum on Friday, shutting down defending national champion UCLA, 6-0, the first perfect game in the WCWS since Courtney Blades did it for Southern Miss in 2000 and just the fifth all-time.
To make it sweeter, it was the first time that the Crimson Tide defeated the Bruins in program history (0-10 prior to Friday).
Reverse birthday present: Montana Fouts gives her Tide team a gift they’ll never forget: her perfection!
Postseason Perfection! Montana Fouts throws a perfect game to defeat UCLA#Team25 #WCWS pic.twitter.com/GNRF76jQGg
— Alabama Softball (@AlabamaSB) June 5, 2021
While Fouts worked a hard, deceptive rise ball that netted 14 strikeouts, Alabama did more than enough at the plate against U.S. Olympian Rachel Garcia.
For the second straight night, SEC Player of the Year Bailey Hemphill came up big for the Tide, doubling to right center in the first against a shallow outfield to score Alexis Mack, then Jenna Johnson drove in Hemphill on a 3-2 single to center, giving Alabama a 2-0 lead after a half inning.
Kaylee Tow belted a three-run homer to center to bring home Hemphill and Mack in the fifth, then Savannah Woodard scored on an RBI single to hang six on Garcia, the most she’s allowed in her storied career as a Bruin.
Fouts – like Alexander – needed just 95 pitches to polish off her gem.
Alabama advances to Sunday’s national semifinal, where they’ll play the winner of Oklahoma State and Arizona/Florida State.
“I’m just so proud… so proud of my defense, so proud of my offense,” Fouts told Holly Rowe of ESPN. “I just came out here – if they don’t score, we don’t win. They had my back and they made the plays and this doesn’t happen without them, this doesn’t happen without Bailey behind the dish, it was just a team win.
Even after a ridiculous performance, Fouts still believed she has more to do.
“I definitely feel [the rise ball] has some work to do. I think I could’ve had more command on it. My spin and my timing felt a little bit off at points, but I just trusted the timing, trusted the pitch and trusted my defense,” she said.
The final out as 21 come up and 21 go down:
ALABAMA'S MONTANA FOUTS THROWS A PERFECT GAME AT THE #WCWS! pic.twitter.com/TqJaKZAZ8t
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 5, 2021