By Carson Keel
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama softball had a dreadful game with a five to three loss to Kennesaw State on Sunday, breaking an eight game winning streak.
The team never got things going on offense, and when it came to pitching and fielding, those were either good at best, or poor at worst.
Pitching woes hurt the tide.
“They have to give us a good game, we can’t start from behind two to nothing” said Coach Murphy when talking about today’s pitching performance.
Pitching was a mixed bag for the Tide, with two pitchers mainly being used, as starter Jaala Torrence was pulled from the game after two full innings, and replaced by Lauren Esman. Torrence would allow 2 runs, and Esman would allow 3 runs.
Torrence was brought back into the game in the sixth inning after her replacement Esman after Esman allowed 3 hits and had only one out. After one out in the 7th, Torrence was pulled from the game again.
Montana Fouts was brought in to finish the last two batters.
There was good to be found. Both the main pitchers had stretches of great runs of striking out or getting base outs, but it seems those streaks would only happen randomly.
However, pitching was not the only problem Alabama had.
Non-existent offense kills Tides chances
The Alabama offense had only one hit going into the fifth inning, with Emma Broadfoot having the lone hit for four innings. The team would have a total of four hits the entire game compared to Kennesaw States ten total hits.
The Tide seemed to have some luck going their way when it came to hitting in the fifth. Kenleigh Calahan was able to double, which brought the crowd back to life, and after a wild pitch, was able to get to third. Larissa Preuitt then hit a sacrifice pop fly to bring in Calahan to make it a four to one game.
However, after that the offense managed to make another cameo in the bottom of the sixth, as Ashley Prange hit a home run to make it cut the lead to a two run difference.
Offense would go cold again to wrap up the game in the 7th, with Alabama having three go up, and three go down.
Alabama next plays on Wednesday, March 1st, as the Crimson Tide hosts the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles at 6 PM.