Bama fends off MS State comeback, takes series opener

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Alabama softball held off a seventh-inning rally from Mississippi State to take Friday’s series opener, 4-3.

Alabama (30-12, 7-6 SEC) took the early 1-0 lead over Mississippi State (23-17, 3-9 SEC) in the first inning as Kenleigh Cahalan scored from third on a passed ball. With the bases loaded in the top of the third, an RBI single and sac fly tacked on two more runs for the Crimson Tide, but the Bulldogs got on the board in the bottom half to make it 3-1. With the score the same in the top of the seventh, an RBI single from Jenna Johnson made it a three-run game. Down to their final out, a walk led to a two-run home run and then a double quickly put the tying run in scoring position. Montana Fouts (16-6) closed the door with a strikeout to end the game as the Crimson Tide held on to win, 4-3.

Ally Shipman, Larissa Preuitt and Johnson each had two hits on the day, with Johnson accounting for two of the team’s three RBIs. Fouts struck out nine in the complete-game effort to improve her career total to 1,090, now 23 shy of second-place Stephanie VanBrakle (2003-06) on the Alabama career records list.

From Head Coach Patrick Murphy

“Montana pitched great up until that last inning where things got away a little bit, but she really controlled the game for the first 20 outs. The fourth run ended up huge for us. We still left a couple people in scoring position so we need to come through more often, but I think we had traffic on the basepaths almost every inning.”

Highlights

• Alabama has now won the opening game in four of its five SEC series this seasont
• The multi-hit game was Larissa Preuitt’s third of the season, her first in conference play, while it was the seventh for Ally Shipman and sixth for Jenna Johnson
• Kenleigh Cahalan and Ashley Prange extended their reached-base streaks to 12 and seven games, respectively
• MSU’s third-inning run was the first earned run allowed by Fouts since game three at Tennessee (March 26)
• With nine strikeouts, Fouts now has 1,090 for her career, just 23 shy of second-place Stephanie VanBrakle (2003-06) with 1,113
• The win was Fouts’ 91st, with VanBrakle next on the Tide career list in fourth with 97

Scoring Summary

• T1 | Kenleigh Cahalan came home from third on a passed ball (1-0, 2 Out)
• T3 | Jenna Johnson dropped a bases-loaded RBI single into shallow right (2-0, 1 Out)
• T3 | Ally Shipman tagged up and scored from third on a sac fly RBI from Emma Broadfoot (3-0, 1 Out)
• B3 | A fly ball to center scored the Bulldog runner from third on a sac fly RBI (3-1, 1 Out)
• T7 | Johnson pulled an RBI single through the left side (4-1, 1 Out)

Up Next: at Mississippi State (Starkville, Miss.)

• Saturday, April 15 – 2:30 p.m. ET
• Sunday, April 16 – 2 p.m. ET – SEC Network