The margin of victory was the same. The total amount of errors was the same. Beyond that, Thursday night’s and Friday afternoon’s NCAA Super Regional games couldn’t have been much more different. Less than 18 hours after a walk-off home run from freshman Peyton Grantham won the first game of the series 6-5 for the Crimson Tide, Alabama rode a shutdown start from senior Jaclyn Traina and two first inning runs to a 2-1 victory, clinching a berth in the Women’s College World Series. “We knew that it was going to be a battle and it definitely was,” Alabama coach Patrick Murphy said. “I’m so proud of [Traina] because she has gutted out so many performances over the year.” As slow as Alabama started Thursday night, the Crimson Tide did the opposite Friday afternoon. The Crimson Tide jumped out to an early 2-run lead supplied by catcher Molly Fichtner’s and designated player Marisa Runyon’s RBIs before any Cornhusker had touched a bat. The Huskers halved that lead in the bottom of the second on designated player Austen Urness’s RBI. That was the end of the scoring for either team. From then on, the game became a pitcher’s duel. “It definitely put the momentum on our side,” Traina said. “I was like, ‘That’s it. That’s all they’re gonna have. I just made sure I was doing it for [my team]. [The runs] drove me to do it.” Nebraska picked up Friday afternoon where they’d left off less than 20 hours before: committing errors. None of Alabama’s runs were earned, with both scorers – Kaila Hunt and Jadyn Spencer – advancing to scoring position on errors. “You’re just hoping you don’t waste all those opportunities,” Murphy said. “The one rally was all [we needed] with two outs.” Senior Jaclyn Traina pitched a complete game – three innings deeper than she made it into Thursday night’s 12-inning win, when she conceded five earned runs and threw 100 pitches to 20 batters. Alabama’s ace conceded only three hits and one earned run en route to her 23rd win of the season. “She was much better than yesterday,” Murphy said. “I think everybody here saw that, but you just never know. You’re facing the same team and you just don’t who is going to make the better adjustments…. They were behind on [Traina] a little bit. I know her ball was moving a lot more today. The two runs in the first, she made them stand up. Despite taking the loss, Nebraska’s Tatum Edwards went the distance, conceding no earned runs and walking only one batter of the 30 she faced. “There were a lot of people who didn’t think we would do what we did here,” Edwards said. “I know we lost, but our losses prove that we have fight. We continued to battle, regardless of who were are and who we are playing. My whole entire career, I’ve been on a fighting team. I feel like I’ve always brought my fight, whatever game I’ve been playing. I knew we were going to come in here and do great things. I know it didn’t end in our favor, but we still did good things and showed what we are about.” Alabama will carry a 50-11 record to its 9th Women’s College World Series, where they’ll open against either Tennessee or Oklahoma. Last time Alabama made the trip, the team won the National Championship, largely on the strength of Traina’s arm. This season, her last, Traina said it was the team’s goal all-along to make it back to Oklahoma City. “This is what we wanted,” Traina said. “We made a decision at the beginning of the year that we are going to get where we want to be. Before the game, we had a lot of emotions. I talked to some of the seniors, and we were in the locker room saying ‘this is our last time that we’re going to play at Rhoads Stadium. We are going to leave it all out there.’ It’s a really special time for us.”