The No. 11 Alabama softball team watched its share of chances to end the game early come to nothing.
In the bottom of the sixth, senior infielder Kaila Hunt hit a three-run home run with runners at first and second, and the Crimson Tide took a 14-4 win over South Carolina in six innings.
The mercy-rule win marks the beginning of the SEC season for Alabama.
“Murph talks about all the time how good the SEC is,” Hunt said. “So a win like that is huge for us because they’re a good team, and 14-4 does not show everything that that team’s all about because they went to Arizona State and they beat Arizona State at Arizona State so they’re a good little team.”
Hunt has 52 home runs in her career at Alabama, nine away from breaking the Alabama career-total record. She now has 192 RBIs at Alabama, third most in program history.
Hitting was the story for the Crimson Tide on Friday night as it notched 12 hits in the win.
“We had quality at bats,” Alabama coach Patrick Murphy said. “We had 10 walks and no Ks which is very good for this team because we’ve been about even for the first 21 games so to make that ratio a lot better is good to see.”
Alabama ended the night with 10 walks, four of which turned into runs for the Crimson Tide.
“Hitting’s contagious, but walks are just as good as a hit,” senior catcher Molly Fichtner said.
Senior Jaclyn Traina (6-2) pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing five hits and two earned runs. She struck out five and walked two.
“I thought she pitched well,” Murphy said. “Her off speed was good. Her drop ball was good. [She] used both sides of the plate.”
In the outing, Traina threw 104 pitches for her third-straight win.
“Jackie looked great,” Fichtner said. “She was spinning up, putting the ball where it needs to be. Couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Traina gave up a triple in the first inning that turned into the Gamecocks first run, but it didn’t affect her too much.
“The great thing about Jackie is that she’s the type of pitcher that nothing fazes her,” Fichtner said. “You may give up a hit, but boom, it’s behind us. We’ve moved on. We’re getting the next one.”
South Carolina’s first two runs came on infield errors.
“We messed up on the two plays that gave them two runs so you take away those two, and it’s a lot cleaner for us,” Murphy said.
Alabama (18-4, 1-0 SEC) will face South Carolina (14-5, 0-1) on Saturday at 2:05 p.m.
