Alabama Hoops, Super Bowl and Taylor Swift……..

Happy Friday on “The Joe Gaither Show on BamaCentral” as we get you ready for the weekend.

First we have to go back to Wednesday night and acknowledge that playing on the road has been just too much for this season’s Alabama basketball team. The Tide went down to Auburn and fell 99-81 to split the regular season series. How will Alabama play on the road with the remaining four conference matchups?

Next we ask if Alabama head coach Nate Oats was out of line asking for more defense from his best player, senior Mark Sears?

Then we debate Oats’s recruiting style as a colleague suggested the Crimson Tide opt to bring in a strong power forward into the program. Have we already seen what that player looks like in an Alabama uniform under Oats?

The program then dives into the fun of the weekend as we make our SEC basketball weekend picks followed up by our pick for the Super Bowl. There are no former Alabama players in this years Super Bowl so who do we predict will win?

The show finishes up with Taylor Swift as she’s one of the hottest topics of the football season. We wrap up with 16 prop bets that you can make involving the superstar singer with our opinions on the props, for entertainment purposes only, of course.

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Freshman Pitcher Jocelyn Briski Leads Alabama Over Georgia Tech in Defensive Battle

After run-ruling Longwood 13-0 in five innings on Friday, the Alabama softball team finished the latter part of a doubleheader against Georgia Tech in style with a 3-1 victory in a defensive battle. But unlike earlier in the day, the Crimson Tide’s defense and pitching debut by freshman Jocelyn Briski was the main story.

Alabama’s offense struggled early, as left fielder Jenna Johnson opened up the game with a single, but the next three batters were turned away on two fly-outs and a strikeout. The Tide began to turn after Abby Duchscherer recorded the Tide’s second hit of the game in the third inning. Her double to left center helped shortstop Kenleigh Cahalan sprint home to open the scoring.

This newfound momentum worked in Alabama’s favor in the fourth inning as Kali Heivilin and Lauren Johnson’s doubles brought in two more runs to make the score 3-0. However, that would be all for the Tide’s offensive production for the remaonder of the game.

At this point, the matchup switched focus to the Tide’s efforts on the defensive side of the ball. Pitcher Jocelyn Briski, who was in her freshman debut, was heavily a reason for Georgia Tech’s hitting struggles, as very few balls left the infield. That said, with Yellow Jacket runners on first and second in the bottom of the fourth, Georgia Tech’s Mallorie Black hit the ball high and far toward left center, but Jenna Johnson leaped up and robbed a home run that would’ve tied the game. It was a “That’ll be on SportsCenter tonight” type of play, as it truly altered the outcome. Briski took care of business the rest of the way until a solo home run by Black in the bottom of the seventh put fans back on the edge of their seats. But that didn’t seem to really faze Briski as the game was over three batters later.