OKLAHOMA CITY — Alabama opened play in the Women’s College World Series on the wrong foot Thursday, suffering a 10-5 defeat to Tennessee. The Crimson Tide will now move to the loser’s bracket of the double-elimination tournament and will face the loser of the matchup between Oklahoma and Stanford in a must-win game Friday.

Here are a few notes from Thursday’s defeat.

After mowing down batters in both the regional and super-regional rounds, Alabama starter Jaala Torrence couldn’t continue her momentum against Tennessee. The junior five of the first Volunteer batters she faced but began to unravel during a two-out rally in the top bottom of the second before giving up a two-run home run in the third as Tennessee jumped out to a 6-2 lead over Alabama.

Torrence (9-3) lasted just 2⅓ innings, allowing six runs, two earned, on six hits while striking out three batters. She entered the day allowing just two earned runs over 30 innings during this year’s NCAA Tournament.

Alex Salter relieved Torrence in the bottom of the third. The redshirt sophomore didn’t fare much better, allowing four earned runs on three innings over one inning. Lauren Esman finished things off for Alabama, pitching 2⅔ scoreless innings while giving up a pair of hits.

Alabama did not elect to use ace pitcher Montan Fouts who returned to action last weekend after suffering a hyperextended left knee on May 11. Following the game, Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy said that while Fouts was available to pitch, the plan was to use her only on a situational basis.

"To me it's like either tied, within a run, or a lead," Murphy said of when he plans on using Fouts. "So I'm not sure what's going to happen tomorrow, but today that would have been the deal."

Alabama had the opportunity to break things open early — or at least get put the game’s first run on the board. Instead, the Crimson Tide squandered a first-inning rally, foreshadowing a frustrating day on the diamond.

Ashley Prange began the game by drawing a 10-pitch walk from Tennessee ace Ashley Rogers. From there, Jenna Johnson dumped a single into right field to put runners on the corners with no outs for the heart of Alabama’s lineup. Unfortunately for the Crimson Tide, its heavy hitters couldn’t come through.

Bailey Johnson, who has two of the eight home runs Rogers has surrendered this season, provided a measly pop-up to short. Alabama cleanup hitter Ally Shipman also failed to get the ball out of the infield, popping up to first for the second out. From there, Rogers escaped the threat by getting Kenleigh Cahalan to fly out to center field.

"In the first inning, like that's when you really start to punch someone in the mouth," Tennessee centerfielder Kiki Milloy said. "Being able to strand those two runners after a walk and then the single was really great ... that gave us confidence going into the at-bat and into the rest of the game."

Tennessee capitalized in its first clutch situation, using a two-out rally to blow things open in the bottom of the second as it strung together four runs on three hits, including RBI doubles from Katie Taylor and Zaida Puni.

After Torrence started the frame by retiring the first two batters she faced, an error by Prange at third sparked Tennessee’s rally. That was followed by a single up the middle from Destiny Rodriguez, putting two runners aboard for Taylor, who brought them both home with a deep fly off to center. Following an intentional walk to Kiki Milloy, Puni doubled on a fly ball that hit off the glove of reaching center fielder Kristen White, allowing two more Volunteers to reach the plate.

Following the game, Murphy emphasized the importance of defense, stating his team will need to perform better in the field if it want to advance on the game's biggest stage.

"Kristen White made a hell of an effort on that ball in centerfield, but she makes that play," Murphy said. "This is the World Series. You just said it. This is the World Series. ... You just can't give extra outs. The margin of error is so slim. We talked about this. You just have to play clean the whole time."

Two-out rallies are nothing new for Tennessee. The Volunteers scored all seven of their runs with two out during their 7-6 victory over the Crimson Tide in last month's SEC Tournament.

"The way they perform with two outs is really amazing," Tennessee head coach Karen Weekly said. "They never feel like, oh, okay, we'll just get to the next inning."

Alabama put together a couple of its own two-out rallies, scoring a pair of runs on back-to-back RBI singles from Shipman and Cahalan in the top of the third before plating two more on a double from Cahalan in the top of the fifth.

Tennessee finished the game 4-for-12 with two outs and went 5-for-8 with runners in scoring position. Alabama was 3-for-10 in two-out situations and 3-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

Thursday marked the WCWS debut for most of Alabama’s roster. However, a pair of Crimson Tide freshmen demonstrated the poise of seasoned vets.

Cahalan, who graduated high school early to join Alabama this season, led the Tide at the plate, going 2-for-3 with three RBIs. The shortstop saved Alabama from being run-ruled twice in the fifth, cutting Tennessee’s lead to six with her two-run double in the top half of the inning before making a running catch to prevent a pair of runs in the bottom half of the frame.

“She's very, very steady,” Murphy said. “She's not an emotional kid, as you can kind of tell. Very even keeled, doesn't get too high or too low. For an 18-year-old, that's pretty good, especially for a hitter — baseball, softball. The best hitters to me are the ones that they can go 0-for-7 and they know that they're due, not that they're 0-for-7 and I stink.

“She knows that she's due. That was a two-out, I think two strikes as well, the game was on the line, and she comes through with an opposite-field double over the left fielder's head. She's got it in her. I think that was probably a really key hit for her future.”

Cahalan wasn’t the only freshman who came up big for Alabama Thursday. Marlie Giles also provided a pinch-hit home run during her first WCWS at-bat in the top of the sixth.

Giles initially reached first on a hit-by-pitch. However, replay ruled that she leaned into the pitch, forcing her to return to the plate. That worked out even better for her as she lined a solo shot over the left-field wall two pitches later.

“As a fifth-year senior, to see her come through like that in such a cool moment, it meant everything,” Prange said. “I remember just taking it all in with Coach Aly, and I was like, man, my heart could explode right now on the field, just seeing the joy. And just seeing her come through like that. She's worked so hard day in and day out, and everyone here has faith in her like no other. Seeing that all come together for her meant the world.”