The Alabama softball team had maybe 30 minutes to think about it.

That was probably a good thing.

After a lethargic 7-3 loss to 15th-ranked Missouri on Saturday in front of a crowd of 3,442 at Rhoads Stadium, the sixth-ranked Crimson Tide didn't get mad, it got even. Alabama recovered to punish the Tigers 9-1 in the nightcap to salvage a split with a five-inning win by the mercy rule.

The series will conclude Monday at 6 p.m.

The second game was a complete turnaround from the first. Alabama held Missouri's bats in check, save for one solo home run, and was aggressive at the plate and on the base paths.

"After the first game we just wanted to come out with a lot of momentum and a lot of fire," said Marisa Runyon, who hit two home runs and a double in the second game, driving in six runs. "We did that."

UA (28-6, 2-3 in SEC) took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. All-American outfielder Haylie McCleney hit a leadoff double and Runyon hit a home run.

Alabama added three runs in the second, with Chandler Dare singling in a run and Runyon doubling in another.

An Emily Crane solo homer in the top of the third accounted for Missouri's only run. It was also the only hit for the Tigers. Alabama's Sydney Littlejohn (11-2) needed just 53 pitches for the win, striking out two and walking one batter. Only one Missouri out made it out of the infield.

"To me, I feel like my best games are when I do have a low pitch count and I credit that 100 percent to my defense," Littlejohn said. "Of course, our offense really stepped up."

Alabama closed out the game with a bang. Runyon hit her second homer, a three-run shot, in the fourth. Andrea Hawkins singled in the game-ending run in the bottom of the fifth.

Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy's message to his team after the first game was simple and direct.

"Forget it," he said. "And I have to, too, because I'm known to carry it with me for too long. I said, 'Over and done with, we got our (fannies) kicked, forget about it. Next game starts in 20 minutes so nobody can be Pouty Polly.'

"Defense, hitting and starting pitcher (in the first game) didn't have us a shot. ... They got the breaks, we didn't, but we didn't play well enough to win, plain and simple. They beat us."

In the first game, Missouri (24-5, 3-2 SEC) roughed up starting pitcher Alexis Osorio (8-4) for nine hits in 4 2/3 innings, including two solo home runs in the fifth to chase her. Three defensive errors compounded things, resulting in three unearned runs. UA managed just four hits off lefty Paige Lowery (13-2), who walked seven batters but still kept Alabama in check.

The only bright spot for the Crimson Tide was freshman left-hander Madi Moore, who pitched seven outs of shutout relief, allowing one hit and one walk with two strikeouts.

Missouri coach Ehren Earleywine said his team didn't want it enough.

"I think our girls were content with the split," he said. "There was a tangible difference in the effort in game two than there was in game one. In game one we played with the right amount of enthusiasm, we could have beat anybody, and in the second game we played with such a low level of enthusiasm that I honestly think anybody could have beat us.

"It's tough to get up for the second game because you blew them out in the first game and you get content with the split and it's easier just to chill, but being good's hard because it takes work."

So which is the real Alabama team, the one that lost the first game or the one that showed up for the second?

"I'm hoping the second one," Murphy said.