After playing 13 straight games at Rhoads Stadium, the No. 13 Alabama softball team took a road trip to Austin, Texas, for the Bevo Classic over the weekend. Going through several hard-fought games, the Crimson Tide were only able to finish the four-game series with one win.  

Coming into the series boasting an eight-game win streak, Alabama finally met its match on the trip. With a very late game rally only to come up short against the University of Texas Longhorns and only notching two total hits against the Texas State University Bobcats, the Crimson Tide faced some struggles this weekend. 

Game One: No. 13 Alabama vs. No. 9 Texas 

To begin the road trip for the Crimson Tide (20-5) on Friday, it faced off against a top-ten ranked team in the Texas Longhorns (21-3-1) for the first time. However, after allowing an early scoring surge by the Longhorns, Alabama was unable to retaliate in time and came up short, 5-3. 

After a scoreless first two innings, Texas took charge of the game after an error and a failed rundown attempt by Alabama in the third inning and posted a crooked 5-0 lead to be in control of the matchup.  

Patrick Murphy’s squad could not get the bats going until the fifth inning, when freshman Kenleigh Cahalan picked up the first hit of the game with a single. Kahalan’s single brought up graduate student Ashley Prange who crushed a three-run homerun to tally all three of Alabama’s runs.  

Graduate student Faith Hensley and Cahalan attempted to bring a rally into the seventh inning to put their team ahead by hitting back-to-back singles. However, life had run out for Alabama as Texas struck out the final two batters and gave the Crimson Tide its first loss of the weekend.  

Game Two: No. 13 Alabama vs. Texas State 

Kicking off the Saturday afternoon doubleheader, Alabama took on the Texas State Bobcats (17-7). Once again, the bats were not firing for the Crimson Tide as it only tallied two total hits and took a 3-1 loss. 

Texas State got out to an early start with a solo home run in the second inning to put the first run up on the board. Following that, a fielding error by Alabama resulted in another run for the Bobcats to take a 2-0 lead. After tallying another run in the fifth inning, Texas State took a 3-0 lead with Alabama only being able to tally one hit of its own at the time.  

To bring some life to the struggling bats of the Crimson Tide, graduate student Ally Shipman led off the seventh inning with a double. She was able to advance to third base after a flyout which brought up Hensley to the plate, who was able to come through with a sacrifice fly to bring home Shipman for Alabama’s only run of the ballgame.  

However, after a strikeout, the inning and the game would come to a close. 

Game Three: No. 13 Alabama vs. No. 9 Texas 

For the second matchup against Texas over the weekend, the Crimson Tide came in with a chip on its shoulder as it battled the Longhorns the night before and suffered a loss. This time around, however, it was different for Patrick Murphy’s squad. 

Alabama got the bats going early after Cahalan doubled to right field and brought up Shipman who drilled a single to shortstop to bring Cahalan home for the first run of the game.  

Adding onto the lead, senior Jenna Johnson brought in freshman Larissa Preuitt and sophomore Kali Heivilin to go up 3-0 against the Longhorns. Texas responded in the fourth inning after Alabama’s two fielding errors and a sacrifice fly that resulted in three runs for the Longhorns to tie the game up at 3-3. 

Going into extra innings, the 3-3 score remained for another six innings until the eleventh inning of play began. It started off with Preuitt getting on base after being hit by a pitch and being advanced to second after freshman Kristen White laid down a sacrifice bunt. Following her was the 17 year-old freshman Cahalan, who proceeded to rip a single into left field to bring home Preuitt as the go-ahead run.  

A scoreless bottom half of the inning for Texas concluded the game and Alabama was able to get their revenge against the Longhorns and win the extra– innings thriller 4-3. 

Game Four: No. 13 Alabama vs. Wisconsin 

For the final game of the weekend series, the Crimson Tide finished off the Texas road trip against the University of Wisconsin Badgers (13-8). While Alabama retained a small lead throughout the majority of the game, the Badgers rallied in the sixth inning to take the lead and win the game 7-6. 

Cahalan put pressure on the bases for her team with a two-out walk in the first inning to bring up Shipman. Shipman proceeded to rip a double to center field that was bobbled, resulting in Cahalan coming all the way home for the first run of the game.  

After the second and third inning went scoreless, Wisconsin responded with a two-run home run in the fourth to take a 2-1 lead. However, the fireworks were not over, Alabama put up three runs due to Heivilin’s three-run bomb in the bottom half of the inning to take a 4-2 lead. 

With every punch the Crimson Tide threw, the Badgers responded. Wisconsin was able to have a three-run inning of its own in the top of the fifth to make it a 5-4 ballgame. Patrick Murphy would not let his team quit there, as Alabama once again responded by Shipman drilling a two-run homerun to left field to regain the lead with a 6-5 score. 

Retaliating once again, Wisconsin doubled to left field to begin the sixth inning, only to be followed by a towering two-run home run to left field to take the lead back 7-6. Unfortunately for Alabama, it was not able to respond in the sixth or seventh inning, and the Badgers would be victorious. 

After a rather disappointing road trip for the Crimson Tide, it will look to get back in the win column against the University of North Alabama on Tuesday night in Florence, Alabama, at 6 p.m. CT. 

Questions or comments? Email Blake Byler (Sports Editor) at [email protected]