No. 2 Alabama (39-8, 14-7 SEC) avoided a sweep Sunday afternoon by defeating Texas A&M (26-18, 5-13 SEC) 4-2 in College Station, Texas.

After using all three other pitchers in Saturday’s run-rule loss, Alabama went back to its game one starter, senior Montana Fouts, on Sunday. Fouts struck out eight batters and gave up only one earned run.

For the first five innings of the game, the Crimson Tide and the Aggies traded singular runs.

Alabama struck first on Sunday in stark contrast to Saturday’s game two. Freshman Jenna Lord drilled a solo home run into left field to give the Crimson Tide a 1-0 lead after one inning.

Lord has slowly become a part of the regular rotation since her four-RBI performance at No. 4 Florida two weekends ago, appearing in every game since April 9. The home run was Lord’s second of the season.

Texas A&M answered immediately with an RBI single in the second.

That led to the bottom of the third when senior Ohio State transfer Ashley Prange knocked a double into center field to bring in Savannah Woodard.

Prange has been one of Alabama’s most consistent players this season. The third baseman is batting .353 on the season, good for second on the team, and has added 21 RBIs. She has provided much needed senior leadership since transferring in from Columbus, Ohio.

The Aggies answered once again in the fourth inning with a home run from designated player Katie Dack. Texas A&M continued to threaten after, with runners on first and second with only one out. 

Alabama’s defense then stepped up big. A double play from Prange to first baseman Kaylee Tow got the Crimson Tide out of the inning. Tow showed some passion in a celebration heading to the dugout.

With the game notched at two runs apiece, Prange came up big once again. She hit a solo home run of her own into deep left field, her sixth of the season, to give Alabama the one-run lead in the fifth. The hit from Prange gave the Crimson Tide three on the day, which was one more than they had the entirety of game two on Saturday.

In the sixth, Alabama finally broke the back-and-forth nature of the game. With one out and runners on second and third, Woodard flew out to deep left field, allowing freshman Megan Bloodworth to tag up and score to give Alabama the go-ahead run.

Despite the win, Alabama lost the overall series for the second time this season. The Crimson Tide will be back in action on the road against Western Kentucky on Wednesday night at 4 p.m. CT.

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