Plagued by errors, No. 11 Alabama was handed its fourth loss of the season by No. 9 Florida State as it fell 5-1 at home Sunday. The Crimson Tide is now 1-3 against ranked opponents following the loss of the final game of the Easton Crimson Classic.
The loss dampened what was otherwise a successful weekend, which included a win over the Seminoles the day before.
On Sunday, only two of the Seminoles’ five runs scored were earned runs. The Crimson Tide’s three errors were the most in any game it has played this season. A throwing error from third baseman Danielle Richard in the third inning brought in the first Florida State run, and the string of errors would continue later in the game.
Coach Patrick Murphy said the lack of defensive focus was only made worse by a lack of offense.
“We need to do something more offensively,” Murphy said. “And if you’re not going to pitch well, and you’re not going to play defense, then you have to hit the ball, and we didn’t do that.”
(See also “Alabama softball team downs No. 9 Florida State, Houston in second day of Easton Crimson Classic“)
The real trouble for Alabama pitcher Leslie Jury and the defense came in the top of the fourth inning, when three runs were scored.
Three singles in a row off the Florida State bats loaded the bases with one out. A walked-in run accounted for the only earned run on Jury. Two runs then resulted from a fielding error at second, when Kaila Hunt bobbled the ball on a force play. Another bobble by first baseman Leona Lafaele followed, but pitcher Jaclyn Traina came in to get the final out before any more runs could be scored.
The two Alabama pitchers wallked eight batters total.
“If we’re not going to match them defensively in pitching, we can’t have eight walks or three errors,” Murphy said. “We need to put the ball in play and throw more strikes. We’ve got to throw more strikes. We can’t have eight walks.”
(See also “Crimson Tide softball team takes both games in Friday’s doubleheader“)
A Florida State solo home run in the top of the fifth made it 5-0. A solo shot by Richard in the bottom half of the inning would be Alabama’s only response. Richard said the Crimson Tide’s uncharacteristic fielding errors, while unfortunate, can be taken as a learning experience.
“Errors are a part of the game. It happens,” she said. “It’s a game of failure. You’re going to make mistakes. But the thing about it is coming back better the next time, wanting the ball even more even though you just made a mistake. The errors that happened today, it just happens. We’ve just got to get better at that, and we’re going to learn from it. That’s the great thing about it.”
Alabama started strong in the tournament, beating Purdue 7-3 and Houston 11-4 on Friday. On the second day, the Crimson Tide took down Florida State 1-0 and Houston 12-1 before the loss on Sunday.
The 17-4 Crimson Tide will face the Samford Bulldogs in Birmingham on Tuesday.
(See also “Softball team defeats UAB, continues winning streak“)
