“Get Big” is the Alabama softball team’s motto. That motto was on display Tuesday night against Troy when the Tide had a huge fourth inning as a team. The game was called after the top of the fifth inning.
“When we say get big, we mean get big in situations and with our attitudes,” said head coach Patrick Murphy.
“We want to step up in all situations,” said senior Alex Blewitt. “Another game, another inning, just like practice. Tonight, I was thinking hit big.”
The Tide dominated in all aspects of the game. Offensively, they brought in 12 runs off nine hits. Defensively, they only allowed two runs off three hits. The game was close through the top of the fourth inning, 3-2, but then the Tide showed why they are No. 5 in the nation by pulling away, as Blewitt started the rout with her first of two home runs in the fourth inning. It was a two-run shot to left field.
“I told her to try to get up in the count,” Murphy said. “She told me that if she got the pitch she wanted she would crush it. She got the pitch, and she crushed it. That’s a get big moment for you.”
Blewitt said she didn’t even realize it was in the same inning.
“It felt good to hit the home runs, but it felt even better just to get the runs for the team,” she said.
The next “Get Big” moment came with the bases loaded and Charlotte Morgan at the plate. A pitch came down the middle of the plate and she drilled it into center field for the grand slam.
Everything was going right for the Tide. Pitcher Amanda Locke even got in on the hitting, blasting a two-run shot into center field. Center fielder Jennifer Fenton had two spectacular bunts that could have made any highlight film.
“I wanted to keep the innings going,” Fenton said. “We also wanted to keep the defense off balance and put runners in scoring position so our big hitters could bring them in.”
“We feed off of each other,” Blewitt said. “When we get hits, it spreads like wild fires, and we pass it on to the next person.”
Things are heating up in the SEC race with the Tide and the Florida Gators. Both are ranked in the top five in the country.
“The race is getting exciting,” Murphy said. “Florida lost tonight. I feel like we control our own destiny in the SEC West. We’ve been through this before. The SEC is the biggest race in college softball because there are so many games.”
Murphy and the team said that they are coming together and playing well at the right time.
“The offense is getting more comfortable now,” he said. “Things are looking crisper.”
Fenton said she thinks the team is starting to come together, but that they still have a lot of work to do.
Next up for the Tide is a three game road series in Fayetteville, Ark., which starts Saturday at 1 p.m.
