Senior Kaila Hunt didn’t even realize she had become the fourth player in Alabama softball history to reach 50 career home runs on Friday until she was told so in the clubhouse.
Hunt said she doesn’t normally make it a point to keep track of the numbers. Instead, she said she focuses on her game.
“It’s kind of a cool thing to be mentioned with names like Charlotte Morgan and all them up there, and Kelly Kretschman and all them,” Hunt said. “I don’t really keep up with it, as you can tell – I had absolutely no idea. I just go out and play. It’s cool, though, to be in those types of names.”
The No. 10/11-ranked Alabama softball team defeated Purdue, 7-3, and beat Houston, 11-4, on Friday. The Crimson Tide moved to a 15-3 record on the season after winning the first two games of the Easton Crimson Classic, which continues all weekend at Rhoads Stadium.
A pair of Crimson Tide pitchers Jaclyn Traina and Leslie Jury helped Alabama clinch its two wins. Traina threw a 12-strikeout game against Houston, her third double-digit strikeout game of the season. Jury pitched her seventh complete game of the season and her fourth consecutive complete game against Purdue, allowing only three hits and moving to a 1.76 ERA.
“It’s just really great to have my teammates out there – I get run support every time,” Jury said. “It’s really easy to pitch with a lead, so as long as they’ve got my back, I’ve got theirs.”
While both threw winning games, Alabama found itself in jams, particularly in the top of the sixth against Houston, when bases were loaded on no outs and two runs were scored. Luckily, Alabama’s bats were hot throughout both games, accumulating a total of 21 hits and 18 runs over its two games. Alabama coach Patrick Murphy said he was pleased offensively, but the team needs to focus on getting key outs.
“We hit the ball hard,” he said. “But we need to finish it so the pitcher doesn’t need to go back out and throw thirty more pitches.”
As Alabama prepares to face No. 9 Florida State this weekend, Hunt said this hitting momentum is going to be a key factor in playing a good game.
“It’s huge for us to be able to see those hits and feel good about our swing, especially going into playing Florida State,” she said. “They’re a good team, they have good pitchers. So, building off of that, scoring 11 runs and being able to take that into tomorrow and having that confidence is great for us.”
The Crimson Tide will face Florida State on Saturday, March 1 at 1:30 p.m. Alabama will then face Houston again in the second game of the doubleheader at Rhoads Stadium.
