By: Braden Freedman
Tuscaloosa, Ala.– After splitting the double header yesterday, the Tide were faced with another rematch but weather had other plans as game 2 against Lehigh was canceled.
The cold conditions however seemed to show no effect on the Crimson Tide, as starting pitcher Alex Salter who struck out the side to start the game. Bailey Dowling got the Tide on the board with a sacrifice fly to left. The offense continued to live up to exception in the 2nd inning as Ally Shipman had an RBI single and Ashley Prange drove in 2 on a misplayed fly ball to right giving the Tide a 4-0 lead.
In the 3rd Georgia Southern strung together a few hits and were able to cut their deficit to 3, but a lockdown 4th inning by Jaala Torrence gave the The tide momentum going into the 4th.
Coach Patrick Murphy said “Right before the bottom of the 4th I saw the radar and knew there were only about 20 minutes left before it got really bad.” and as the rain picked up so did the Tide offense, as Jenna Johnson drilled a 3 run double swelling the lead even more, and finally the Kenleigh Cahalan’s inside-the-park-home-run to cap off the 9 run 4th.
When asked about the 4th inning the Cahalan, who reclassified from the 2023 class, couldn’t stopping radiating excitement.
“It gets everybody excited out there and ready to keep hitting and keep the line going,” said Cahalan.
Finally to close out the game Montana Fouts struck out the side sealing the 13-1 mercy rule win against the Eagles.
With a big tournament coming up next weekend after such a dominant win, Coach Patrick Murphy was complimentary of his team.
“Everyone should be really confident next weekend headed to Clearwater,” said Murphy.
Alabama Softball will be back in action this Thursday in the 2023 TaxAct Clearwater invitational where they will face the Duke Blue Devils. Later on in the tournament, they’ll face World Series contenders such as Florida State and UCLA.
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