NCAA REGIONAL: Alabama softball beats Albany 5-1
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama softball started what figures to be a daunting run in the NCAA Tournament with a slow start before eventually catching fire in a 5-1 win over Albany in the Tuscaloosa Regional at Rhoads Stadium on Friday afternoon.
The No. 1-seeded Crimson Tide (43-16) continued to struggle at the plate early, leaving four runners on base through the first four innings. After falling into a 1-0 deficit in the top of the second, Reagan Dykes tied the game for Alabama with a solo home run in the bottom half of the inning. Alabama took the lead the following inning as Marisa Runyon poked a single up to middle to score Elissa Brown from second base. A three-run bottom of the fifth then helped the Tide put the game out of reach.
Alabama elected to use its No. 3 pitcher Madi Moore to start the game. However, after the sophomore left-hander struggled with her control, giving up an earned run on two hits and three hit batters over 2 1/3 innings. After Moore hit her third batter of the game in the top of the third inning, Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy turned to senior Sydney Littlejohn (16-8), who earned the win by limiting the No. 4-seeded Great Danes to a single hit while striking out seven batters over 4 2/3 innings.
Littlejohn was also efficient, using just 58 pitches to finish the game.
"That's the first thing I said to her when we got in the locker room. That was pretty awesome for her," Murphy said. "She filled up the strike zone. I'm sure that's something that (Albany) haven't seen either all season or not much at all with the nasty movement. She got a lot of backward Ks. It's a tough pitch to hit if you haven't seen it before.
The victory extends a streak of 32 straight wins in regional play for the Tide, which hasn't dropped a regional game since 2007.
Tide's top performers
Dykes came up big both at the plate and in the field for Alabama. The sophomore catcher got the Tide on the board in the bottom of the second, smashing a towering home run over the wall in left. She also had two pickoff throws, including one in the top of the fourth when she showed off her arm, whipping the ball to first following a strikeout to pick off a runner for a double play. Dykes was 2-for-3 at the plate.
Coming with runners on first and second base and one out in the top of the third, Littlejohn worked her way out of an early jam to preserve a 1-1 game. The senior was aided by a 2-4-5 caught stealing before getting the next batter to ground out to short to end the threat. She was lights-out from there.
Bailey Hemphill hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth, while fellow freshman Brown also had a productive day, drawing three walks, stealing two bases and scoring twice.
It was over when
Hemphill hit a line-drive shot over the wall in left as part of a three-run bottom of the fifth to give Alabama a commanding 5-1 lead. The home run came after Chandler Dare hit an RBI single up the middle to score Brown from to make it 3-1.
"Lately I feel like I've been swinging it pretty well," Hemphill said. "My first two at bats I just missed it. I made a little bit of an adjustment and it worked well for me in the last at bat."
Next up
Alabama will move on to face No. 2 seed Minnesota on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. CT. The Golden Golphers made easy work of No. 3 seed Louisiana Tech 11-3 in five innings earlier in the day.
Due to the blowout, Minnesota (55-3) only used starting pitcher Sara Groenewegen two innings, keeping her fresh to face the Tide. Groenewegen (30-2, 0.58 earned run average) came into the tournament third in the nation in ERA and ninth in the nation in strikeouts with 280. Friday, she held the Lady Techsters (37-23) hitless, striking out two batters and surrendering a walk on 25 pitches.
"It's imperative just throughout the entire postseason, one to keep more people fresh and two, make sure everybody is ready when they get out there," Minnesota head coach Jessica Allister. "It's going to take everybody. It's going to take our entire staff."
Amber Fiser (14-0) earned the win for Minnesota, giving up one unearned run on two hits while striking out two batters over two innings.
Albany and Louisiana Tech will play in an elimination game Saturday at 2 p.m. The winner will advance to face the loser of the game between Alabama and Minnesota in another elimination game scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.
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