Alabama 8, Michigan State 0
2/16/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ?? Lauren Parker hit a two-run home run to right field in the bottom of the fifth inning to give the Crimson Tide an 8-0 victory over Michigan State. The Alabama offense took awhile to get going after a long day and temperatures near freezing. The hero of last weekend, Mandy Burford, continued her hot streak with a bases loaded double to drive in three runs. Charlotte Morgan followed with a successful suicide squeeze to score Burford.
"It was my first career walk-off home run," said Parker. "You go out there with the same attitude every time and that is to make something happen. It gives you a little bit of adrenaline when you have six runs and people on base so you try to make things happen."
In the fifth inning, Brittany Rogers kickstarted the offense with a single and a stolen base. Jordan Praytor was then hit by a pitch and Buford laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners. Both runners would later come in to score on a wild pitch and an error. Kelley Montalvo drew a walk and scored on Parker's home run to end the game at 8-0.
Rogers went 3-for-3 with two runs scored while Praytor also scored twice to set the table as the one-two hitters in the lineup. Chrissy Owens pitched all five innings to earn her fourth victory of the year. She allowed five hits with two walks and three strikeouts. The first strikeout was No. 350 for her career. Ashley Holcombe also did a good job behind the plate throwing out two runners trying to steal and picking off another at second base.
"We give credit to Michigan State because they have a lot of great kids on that roster and a lot of them saw Chrissy growing up," said Murphy. "It is all of a sudden a negative for us because for them it was no big deal to see a kid throwing 66 or 67 because they have seen her forever."
