Sydney Littlejohn

Classroom

Sydney Littlejohn earned her undergraduate degree in exercise science prior to her senior season and is currently pursuing a master’s in human performance with a sport management track. In 2016, she earned CoSIDA second-team Academic All-America accolades, becoming the seventh player in program history to earn All-America and Academic All-America honors in the same season. She was named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll in 2015 and 2016 and the first-year Academic SEC Honor Roll in 2014.

Character

Littlejohn has endeared herself to her teammates and coaching staff on the basis of her work ethic and selflessness in making everyone around her better. Faith in her mental makeup was evident right from the start of her career when she was given the ball to make her first career start in the final weekend of the regular season for a road game that clinched an SEC title for Alabama. As a sophomore, she threw two perfect games while battling through an ankle injury, never complaining but rather supporting the rest of the bullpen whether she was on the field or not. Following postseason surgery, she rebounded with an All-American junior year thanks to an offseason of difficult rehab. Above all, her most consistent trait is her cheerful personality, which makes her a fan and media favorite while also providing a lighthearted pick-me-up to teammates in need.

Community

Littlejohn has volunteered with a number of community outreach efforts in Tuscaloosa during her Crimson Tide career. This past August, the National Pro Fastpitch league held its championship series in Tuscaloosa, and Littlejohn served as an event volunteer coordinator, assisting in setup, scheduling and planning efforts for the six-day event. At local Maxwell Elementary, she served as a “lunch buddy” for kids who were either being picked on or were sitting alone. With the Tuscaloosa Metro Animal Shelter, she takes dogs out for walks for a few hours each week. Additionally, she has taken part in a number of annual projects over the years. Halloween Extravaganza allows local schoolchildren to play games and interact with Tide student-athletes in a fun and safe environment. For national Women in Sports Day, she and fellow teammates speak at local schools concerning the positive impact athletics has in the lives of our female student-athletes.

Competition

Over the past three seasons, Littlejohn has emerged as one of the premiere pitchers in the SEC and in the nation. For her career, she owns a 50-11 record with a 1.99 ERA, the latter ranking sixth all-time in program history. She has appeared in at least 28 games in each of her previous three seasons and has finished each year with an ERA under 2.00. As a freshman, she led the SEC with a 1.49 ERA en route to an appearance in the WCWS finals, helping clinch the program’s fifth SEC regular-season title in the process. She threw a pair of perfect games her sophomore season, becoming the first player in program history to throw multiple perfect games in a season and just the second overall to throw a perfect game. Her junior campaign was perhaps her best yet, earning second-team NFCA All-America accolades along with first-team All-Region and second-team All-SEC accolades. Her 23 wins were the most on the team, and her 12 wins in conference play were the most of any pitcher in the SEC.