TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – After a tough series loss to Kentucky, Alabama bounced back to take game 1 vs Ole Miss by a score of 4 -0 on Friday night.
“The girls fought hard tonight. We have been losing some tough games recently, it was nice to get a big win tonight,” said Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy.
Kayla Beaver was excellent in the circle again working through big jams all night. The Rebel offense was held to 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position. With this win, Kayla Beaver collected her 12th victory of the season.
The Tide offense got the scoring going in the 2nd inning with back-to-back big hits. Senior third baseman Bailey Dowling lead off the inning with a triple to right center. Then, Kendal Clark followed up with a run-scoring single to left. With that hit, Clark has now reached safely in six straight games.
Both pitchers were rolling throughout most of the game until the Tide offense struck again in the fifth inning. Abby Duchscherer led off the inning with a big single to get her confidence back after a rough past few games. Lauren Johnson was then hit-by-pitch and had to be removed due to injury.
“She was hit pretty hard on her left knee. She is a warrior and we have full faith she will have a strong recovery,” said coach Murphy.
Then, with two outs, Kristen White singled to load the bases for Kenleigh Cahalan. She then followed up with a massive bases-clearing double to put the Rhodes crowd on their feet.
Despite a few stressful innings, Kayla Beaver held on to finish off the complete game to secure game one of the series. With this win, Alabama improved to 27-8 on the season and 4-6 in conference play.
NEXT: Alabama will look to win their first SEC series of the season in game 2 vs Ole Miss tomorrow evening at 5 p.m. CT.
