No. 5 Alabama softball forces Game 3, downs Northwestern 2-1

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Needing to stave off elimination, Alabama softball won Saturday's pitching duel, downing Northwestern 2-1 to force a winner-take-all Game 3 in the Tuscaloosa Super Regional on Sunday.

Here are a few takeaways from Saturday's game.

Montana Fouts isn't done making memories inside Rhoads Stadium. Despite dealing with a knee injury that caused her to miss last week's regional, the ace pitcher came up big for Alabama, relieving starter Jaala Torrence to earn the win Saturday night. Fouts was perfect over 2⅔ innings striking out three batters, including the final two of the game to secure the victory for the Crimson Tide.

Fouts earned the start in Friday’s Game 1 loss to Northwestern, giving up three runs, two earned, on five hits over 3⅓ innings. She will now get the opportunity to end her time inside Rhoads Stadium on a high note as she and the Crimson Tide look to punch a ticket to the Women’s College World Series in Sunday's decisive Game 3.

"I would say she might be 70%," Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy said. "I'm not sure what she would say — probably 100%. But to me it feels like her ball is so heavy when it comes out of her hand now. I don't know if it's because she's spinning more or what but when you have a heavy ball in softball it's just hard to hit."

With Alabama facing elimination, more lineup changes were made prior to Saturday's Game 2. After making six alterations on Friday, head coach Patrick Murphy made three changes, moving Bailey Dowling up to the No. 3 spot while placing Ally Shipman in the clean-up spot. Then he moved Kenleigh Cahalan up to No. 7 and moved Larissa Preuitt down to the eight-hole. But the most notable shake-up came at the top of the order, as Ashley Prange took over the lead-off duties from Jenna Johnson who hit second.

Although Alabama went a measly 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position, the lineup changes paid off as Prange went 2-for-4 and pushed across the game-winning run thanks to her RBI double in the top of the seventh.

"Her on-base percentage, everything was by far and away the best on the team," Murphy said when asked about his lineup changes. "When you get down to this crunch time, you want your best hitter to have the most at-bats and that's leadoff. That's why we did it."

After more than 27 innings of shutting down opposing offenses, Jaala Torrence's streak of dominance came to an end on Saturday. With a runner on first and one away in the bottom of the fifth inning, Northwestern's Jordyn Rudd drove the second pitch of the at-bat to center field, scoring the game-tying run.

The scoreless run started during the Tuscaloosa Regional when Torrence shut out LIU allowing just four hits in the win. The Dothan, Alabama native then went 11 2/3 innings against Middle Tennessee State, yielding just six hits over two games.

In the super-regional round, Torrence went 3 2/3 innings in relief and once again didn't allow a run as the Wildcats were limited to just two hits when she came into the game.

"She's gotten opportunities at the end of the year and we always say be ready for your opportunity," Murphy said when asked about Torrence's postseason run. "She had and that's why I'm so proud of her. I told (ESPN), she could have folded her tent, way back in March. She didn't, she kept working. She didn't pout, she wasn't a Debbie Downer. She kept working with (Alabama pitching coach Lance McMahon) on little tiny things. Now you're seeing the results of that."

Torrence and the rest of the pitching staff will look to put together another stellar performance in Sunday's winner-take-all Game 3. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN.