After a disappointing two game sweep at the hands of the Washington Huskies, the No. 13 Alabama Crimson Tide bounced back with a Tuesday night win in Birmingham over the Samford Bulldogs. After scoring just two runs against the Huskies, Alabama put up seven runs in the first two innings of its 8-1 win.
The Crimson Tide slugged two three-run home runs to lead the way. Freshman designated player Bailey Hemphill and sophomore catcher Reagan Dykes each hit a home run in the game. Freshman center fielder Elissa Brown, senior right fielder Chandler Dare and Hemphill all went 2-3 as the first three batters in the order.
Sophomore pitcher Madi Moore pitched a complete game for the win, allowing just two hits and one run.
Hemphill got the scoring started for Alabama with an RBI single to score Brown in the first inning. After junior first baseman Peyton Grantham walked to put two on, Dykes followed third baseman Marisa Runyon’s ground out with a home run to left field, giving Alabama a 4-0 lead.
Brown and Dare singled to get back on base in the second inning before Hemphill launched her home run to make the score 7-0. Samford got two on base in the bottom of the third with one out, but Moore escaped the jam with a fly out and a pop up. In the bottom of the fifth, the Bulldogs scored with an RBI double to close the gap to 7-1 and end the shutout. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Brown singled, stole second, advanced to third on a single from Dare, and then scored on a throwing error to score Alabama’s final run of the day.
The win gives Alabama a record of 38-11 on the season. Up next for the Crimson Tide is a three-game road series against No. 20 Ole Miss Rebels. The first game of the series comes on Saturday, with a 2 p.m. start. Sunday and Monday’s games will start at 6 p.m.