In game two of the four-game homestand, Alabama fought off the UAB Blazers on Wednesday night and came away with a gritty 4-3 victory to complete the season sweep.

“The girls never lost their focus tonight. More than anything, we found a way to beat a good softball team and you will take that every single time,” Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy said.

The Blazers got on the board for the first time this season against the Tide, scoring 2 runs in the second inning. A fielding error committed by pitcher Jaala Torrence brought in the first run for UAB. Later in the inning, Blazer outfielder Miles notched a run-scoring single to right field.

The Crimson Tide offense responded in the third inning in a loud way. Jenna Johnson put Alabama on the board with her third homer of the year, a solo shot. Kenleigh Cahalan gave the Tide the lead with a 2-run single up the middle, driving in Kali Heivilin and Kinley Pate (pinch run for Abby Duchscherer).

Crimson Tide pitcher Jaala Torrence didn’t have her best stuff tonight, but she did enough to keep her team in the game. She settled down after a rocky first inning and pitched back-to-back 1-2-3 innings in the third and fourth. However, the Blazers got to Torrance again in the fifth inning and tied the game up after two consecutive singles.

Patrick Murphy decided to turn to Jocelyn Briski in the fifth and she did an excellent job of quieting the UAB offense. Briski entered the game and forced back-to-back groundouts to end the inning.  “Nobody should feel like they have to go the whole game. We have so many talented pitchers and they all feed off each other so well,” Murphy said.

With the game tied at 3 in the sixth inning, Jenna Johnson collected her second RBI of the day on a single up the middle. Johnson was 2-for-4 on the day with 2 RBIs. Kenleigh Cahalan had the other two RBIs.

Briski then slammed the door in the seventh with back-to-back strikeouts to end the game. Briski punched out five Blazers in just three innings of work.

NEXT: No. 15 Alabama will host No. 16 Virginia Tech for a two-game series on Friday and Saturday. The first pitch for Friday is set for 6 p.m. CT.