The No. 3 Alabama softball team bounced back from its Friday loss to the no. 6 Gators with a 9-1 victory on Saturday. With the win, the Crimson Tide clinched at least a share of the Southeastern Conference regular season championship.
The Tide routed the Gators in six innings, handing the Gators its first run-rule loss since April 1 of last season.
Head coach Patrick Murphy said after the Tide’s loss Friday, the message to his team was simple.
“Show some more fight and don’t let them celebrate on our field,” Murphy said. “We want to protect our home field at all times.”
Alabama started slow on Friday and struggled the entire game, with only three hits and one run. It only took the Alabama three innings to match its entire hit count from the Friday’s game.
The Tide got seven hits on the day, including two by junior Kayla Braud. Courtney Conley knocked in three runs for Alabama, while Jazlyn Lunceford drove in two.
Alabama opened the scoring fest in the second inning when sophomore Kaila Hunt lined a solo shot over the fence. The Tide earned two more runs when Conley singled up the middle to score pinch-runner Danae Hays and senior Cassie Reilly-Boccia.
After Hunt hit her 17th home run of the season, senior Amanda Locke smashed her 17th the very next inning. The home run was a two-run shot over the left field wall, pushing the Tide’s lead to 5-0.
With two runners on base, Lunceford hit a single up the middle to score two more runs and increase the lead to 7-0. Kendall Dawson joined the hitting spree with a single, and Conley hit a sacrifice fly to score Lunceford making the score 8-0. Alabama ended the game in the sixth inning, when Conley scored senior Jennifer Fenton on a error in the infield.
Hunt said that Friday’s game gave the team motivation to be more aggressive and drive to win.
“As a group we came out here very motivated,” Hunt said. “It is our home field and it is our home crowd and we were very motivated for them.”
Sophomore Jackie Traina’s consistency on the mound helped keep the Gators offense stagnant. Traina has pitched both games of the series, allowing only 10 hits.
Dawson said Traina did a great job of keeping the Gators off balance.
“I think that Jackie hit her spots really well, and the umpire was seeing it,” Dawson said.
With the win, Alabama improved to 46-6 overall and 22-5 in the SEC, while Florida dropped to 44-9 overall and 21-6 in the SEC. A win by the Tide tomorrow will seal sole possession of the SEC regular season title.
The two teams will close the series on Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. The series finale will air on ESPNU.
