⚾ 🥎 Alabama (20-0) Sweeps Saturday Opponents at Easton Crimson Classic

[UA Press Release]

Softball Improves to 18-0 with Friday Wins Over Michigan State and Southern Miss - Alabama Athletics

Alabama softball swept its Friday opponents at the Easton Crimson Classic in a pair of narrow victories, defeating Michigan State, 2-1, and Southern Miss, 3-...

rolltide.com

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama softball swept its Friday opponents at the Easton Crimson Classic in a pair of narrow victories, defeating Michigan State, 2-1, and Southern Miss, 3-2, to remain undefeated.

Alabama (18-0) edged out Michigan State (4-11) with a one-run victory before another close contest against Southern Miss (9-7) in the nightcap. A two-run double in the second inning proved enough against the Spartans, with strong pitching and defense holding the visitors to just one run over 7.0 innings. The Golden Eagles scored first in the second game, but the Tide answered back immediately to tie it at 1-1 in the first inning and later took the lead for good in the fifth.

GAME ONE: ALABAMA 2, MICHIGAN STATE 1
Alabama and Michigan State cruised through seven innings of play in a close pitcher's duel, with a two-run double from sophomore Kaylee Tow accounting for the Tide's offensive output in the 2-1 victory. The double was part of a 2-for-2 day for the Madisonville, Ky., native, her fourth multi-hit game of the season. Freshman Montana Fouts (7-0) pitched a complete game in the circle, fanning 11 batters.

With the bases loaded in the bottom of the second and two out, Tow went opposite field for a two-run double to give Alabama the early 2-0 lead. Michigan State later cut the lead in half with an RBI double in the top of the third. With the score still 2-1 in the top of the seventh, the Spartans got its first two on base via a fielding error and single. After a quick meeting in the circle, Fouts and the Tide defense bounced back with a pair of strikeouts and a force out to close out the game.

GAME TWO: ALABAMA 3, SOUTHERN MISS 2
The Tide overcame an early one-run deficit to score three unanswered and hold off a late push by the Golden Eagles to win, 3-2. Alabama runs came courtesy of an RBI triple and sacrifice fly from Tow and an RBI double from junior Bailey Hemphill. Junior Krystal Goodman started the game and threw 4.2 innings of one-run ball with fellow junior Sarah Cornell (5-0) ultimately earning the win in relief.

Southern Miss started the game with back-to-back singles to put runners at the corners before a groundout drove one in to make it 1-0. Sophomore Elissa Brown started the bottom half of the inning with a triple and Tow followed suit two batters later with another three-bagger, tying the game at 1-1.

With the score still 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth, freshman Skylar Wallace drew a leadoff walk and then stole second, forcing Southern Miss to make a pitching change. Brown followed with another walk and a sacrifice bunt from sophomore KB Sides moved the two runners into scoring position. Tow then lifted a fly ball to left, allowing Wallace to tag up and score on the sacrifice fly to put the Tide ahead 2-1. Hemphill followed that with a hard-hit double down the left-field line, scoring Tow to make it 3-1.

The Golden Eagles cut it to a one-run lead in the top of the sixth with back-to-back doubles and pushed the potential tying run to third base with one out. A strikeout went for out number two and some heads-up defense after a walk caught the runner off the bag at third to end the half-inning and keep the Tide in front, 3-2. With the score the same in the top of the seventh, Cornell and the Tide defense retired Southern Miss in order to earn the one-run victory.

Alabama continues play at the Easton Crimson Classic Saturday, facing Saint Francis at 1:30 p.m. CT and Southern Miss at 4 p.m. CT.

 

[UA Press Release]

Alabama Sweeps Saturday Opponents at Easton Crimson Classic - Alabama Athletics

Alabama battled to another pair of close victories on day two of the Easton Crimson Classic at Rhoads Stadium, defeating Saint Francis and Southern Miss by i...

rolltide.com

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama battled to another pair of close victories on day two of the Easton Crimson Classic at Rhoads Stadium, defeating Saint Francis and Southern Miss by identical 3-1 scores.

Alabama (20-0) edged out a pair of close victories against Saint Francis (8-10) Southern Miss (9-8), starting the season with at least 20 wins without a loss for the fifth time in program history. The Crimson Tide and Red Flash cruised through four scoreless innings before Alabama took the first lead of the game in the bottom of the fifth. Saint Francis tied the game up in the next half-inning but a pair of solo home runs ultimately put the Tide ahead for good. It was a similar story in the nightcap, though Alabama scored right away in the first inning. Southern Miss tied it in the top of the second before a fielding error allowed two to cross in the bottom of the third, making the difference in the eventual two-run victory.

GAME ONE: ALABAMA 3, SAINT FRANCIS 1
Alabama and Saint Francis were scoreless until a fifth-inning RBI single from sophomore KB Sides gave the Tide the first lead of the game. The Red Flash tied it up in the top of the sixth but a pair of solo home runs from junior Merris Schroder and freshman Skylar Wallace swung it back in Alabama's favor, 3-1, which proved final. Senior Courtney Gettins threw 5.2 innings in the start but junior Sarah Cornell (7-0) took home the win with 1.1 relief innings behind her.

The two teams were scoreless through the first four innings, with the Tide stranding runners at the corners in the second and another in scoring position in the third. A one-out walk and hit-by-pitch put a pair on base in the bottom of the fifth and, two batters later, Sides ripped a hard-hit ball through the right side to score junior Taylor Clark from second and break the scoreless tie.

With two on and two out in the top of the sixth, what looked to be the final out was called back due to an illegal pitch and Saint Francis capitalized on the call, hitting an RBI single into left to tie the game at 1-1. With two on and two out, Alabama made the call to the bullpen as junior Sarah Cornell entered in relief and got the Tide out of the inning with a strikeout.

Leading off the bottom of the sixth, Schroder battled to a full count and blasted a solo home run to straightaway center, which put the Tide back in front, 2-1. Wallace added some insurance with another solo home run to make it 3-1. Saint Francis hit a two-out double in the top of the seventh to bring the potential tying run to the plate, but a swinging strikeout ended the game as Alabama held on for the two-run win.

GAME TWO: ALABAMA 3, SOUTHERN MISS 1
Alabama won its second game by an identical score as the first, defeating Southern Miss, 3-1. Only one of the four combined runs scored was earned, as defensive miscues accounted for the majority of the scoring. Tied at 1-1 in the third inning, a Golden Eagle fielding error allowed two Tide runners to cross, accounting for the difference in the 3-1 victory. For the second-straight game, freshman Montana Fouts (8-0) struck out 11 in the complete-game win.

With one out in the bottom of the first inning, junior Elissa Brown reached on an infield single and stole second before coming home on an RBI single from sophomore Kaylee Tow. With two out and a runner at third in the top of the second, a fielding error extended the inning and allowed the Southern Miss run to score, tying it at 1-1.

Alabama placed two in scoring position with two out in the bottom of the third and an errant throw to first for what would have been the final out kept the inning going, allowing two unearned runs to score to make it 3-1. Fouts and the Tide defense did their part the rest of the way, holding the Golden Eagles at one run and cap the Saturday sweep.

Alabama concludes its weekend at the Easton Crimson Classic Sunday, March 3 at 1:30 p.m. CT against Michigan State.