Alabama Advances to BAMA BASH! Championship
2/17/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ?? The University of Alabama softball team won big in its two games on Saturday to earn a spot in the Hampton Inn BAMA BASH! championship game.
The Crimson Tide defeated Radford for the second straight day with a 6-0 victory in the semifinal on Saturday to extend their tournament winning streak to 21 straight since 2003. Alabama has also started the season 9-0 and will be playing for their second tournament championship.
Chrissy Owens combined with Allison Moore for the shutout victory as Alabama has shutout the opponent in five of its nine games so far. Owens has played a part in four of those shutouts with two by herself and two combined shutouts. She pitched five innings and tallied seven strikeouts to go with five hits allowed and three walks. Her ERA for the season is now 0.27 with only one earned run in 26 innings pitched. Moore closed out the game, making her first pitching appearance of the year. She did not allow a hit in two innings with two walks and two strikeouts.
Leadoff hitter Brittany Rogers started the game with a single and a stolen base. She came in to score two batters later when Mandy Burford drove a single up the middle. Buford would later come in to score on a sacrifice fly by Charlotte Morgan to put UA in front 2-0 after the first inning.
In the second inning, the Tide posted two more runs on the board with the second coming on a RBI single by Rogers. It was her sixth RBI of the tournament and ninth hit in four games. UA tacked on one more run in both the third and fourth innings for some insurance and closed the game out with a 6-0 win for their third straight shutout.
The Tide stole six bases in the game, including two each by Rogers and Burford. On the year Alabama has already tallied 30 stolen bases in just nine games. Rogers had a big day at the plate going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and one RBI while Burford was 1-for-3 with a run and one RBI.
The Tide went undefeated in pool play, winning their third game of the tournament and eighth straight to start the season with a 13-0 victory in five innings against Toledo. UA used a nine-run third inning to break the game open.
"The first game was just amazing," said head coach Patrick Murphy. "That was so much fun with the nine-run inning and to have people like Michelle Menningmann, Katie Johnson and Jessica Smith come through. That was just so much fun to see other people come through and do it in a big way. That shows how deep this team is and I think their teammates now appreciate everybody."
Mandy Buford was hit by a pitch to lead off the third inning and would later score on a single up the middle by Jessica Smith. Michelle Menningmann and Katie Johnson then hit back-to-back doubles to drive in two runs and one run, respectively. Brittany Rogers followed with an inside-the-park home run to deep center, her second straight game with an inside-the-park home run. It was only her third career collegiate at bat from the right side of the plate and scored two runs.
"I don't know how it happened but I am thankful for it," said Rogers. "Coach Murphy just told me to try it and I do what he says. I hit right-handed when I was 10 or 11 years old so it has been awhile. When I go up to bat I am not thinking power, power, power I am just trying to do what is best for my teammates because I know that is what they do for me."
After Jordan Praytor walked, Burford hit a home run to left field for her fourth home run of the season in just eight games. Alabama would get back-to-back home runs as Charlotte Morgan matched Buford in the next at bat with a solo shot for her first collegiate home run. In the inning, the Tide scored nine runs on seven hits to take an 11-0 lead.
Alabama added two more runs in the fourth winning when Smith singled to lead off the inning and Menningmann hit her first career home run for two more RBI's.
" I try not to think about hitting home runs," said Menningmann. "I just go up there and swing. I was just trying to put the ball in play because it was a full count. I was just excited that I did something big for the team."
Menningmann finished 2-for-2 in the game with three runs scored and four RBI. Rogers went 2-for-3 with one run and three RBI. Burford had one hit in two at bats with two runs scored and two RBI and Smith was 2-of-3 with two runs scored and one RBI.
Blair Potter improved to 2-0 on the season on her senior day at the Alabama Softball Complex. She pitched all five innings with three hits allowed, three walks and four strikeouts to improve to 7-0 in her career at the Capstone and pick up her first shutout at Alabama.
Michigan State and Radford started day two of the tournament with a high-scoring but close game. Jenn Everhart put Radford on the board first with a solo home run in the first inning but the Spartans put six runs on the board in the top of the second. They tallied five hits in the inning, including a two-run triple by Kara Weigle, her third triple in three games to start the year. The Highlanders put three on the board in the bottom half of the frame to make it 6-4.
Weigle gave MSU another run in the fourth with a solo home run and three hits in the fifth to add two more runs to take a 9-4 lead. Radford was able to get to within two runs with a run in the sixth and a two-run double down the left field line by Amanda Davidson, but Megan Hair was able to close out the game for Michigan State as they improved to 2-1 on the season with a 9-7 win.
Weigle led the Spartans going 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBI. Traci Nicosia and Meghan Darhower each had two hits as well for MSU. Alex Roderick led Radford with two hits and two runs scored. Michelle Carlson went 2-for-3 with one run and two RBI in the game.
The second semifinal game of the day between second-seeded Michigan State and third-seeded Toledo was cancelled due to inclement weather. MSU will take on Radford at 11 a.m. in the consolation game on Sunday and Toledo will play for the championship game at 1:30 p.m. against the host school Alabama.
