Crimson Tide Softball Improves to 14-0 With Two Wins
2/24/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ?? The University of Alabama softball team is off to its best start since 2001 after winning two more games on Saturday in the Hampton Inn Crimson Classic.
The 2001 squad started the year 27-0 and climbed to No. 3 in the national rankings. This year's team is off to a 14-0 start after a 3-1 win over Indiana State and a 7-2 victory against Western Kentucky.
Alabama and Indiana State each entered the day 2-0 in the tournament but it was the Crimson Tide coming out on top, 3-1 in seven innings. Chrissy Owens was dominant for most of the game, retiring 11 straight at one time and posting a career-high 13 strikeouts in the game. She allowed one run on five hits in seven innings to improve to 7-0 on the year.
Owens had a shutout until the final inning when Audrey Childress hit a home run to center field. Alabama had two home runs in the game. Kellie Eubanks hit a solo shot to left field to lead off the third inning. The home run was the first of her career. Lauren Parker made the score 3-0 when she hit her third home run of the season, a solo blast to center field.
"It feels good and I just want to keep it going," said Eubanks on her first career home run. "It was a fastball inside and I saw it good and just hit it, hit it hard. I just started running and Aly (Habetz) told me it went over. She is a really good pitcher and I was just trying to get the ball in play and start a rally."
Parker also drove in a run in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly to finish 2-for-3 in the game with a run scored and two RBI. Darcy Wood received the loss for Indiana State allowing three runs on eight hits in six innings with five strikeouts.
"Indiana State was a really good team and we had to get as many on the board as we could," said Parker. "As many as they would allow us to get, I guess you could say. Their pitcher was phenomenal. She was doing a great job and any mistake that she made we had to jump on it."
Alabama played Western Kentucky in their second game of the day. The Tide jumped out to an early lead against the Hilltoppers with five runs in the first two innings. Jordan Praytor put Bama up 1-0 in the first when she scored after reaching base with her first triple of the season. The triple was Praytor's first of the season and eighth in her career. It moved her into a tie with Carrie Moreman for third on the all-time list.
UA exploded for four runs in the second inning. Dani Woods led off the inning with her second career triple. Parker then drove her in with a sacrifice fly. After Eubanks drew a walk, Ashley Holcombe hit her first home run of the season to make it 4-0. Brittany Rogers would also single and score in the inning, extending her hitting streak to 11 games.
The Tide tacked on one run in both the fourth and fifth inning to take a 7-0 lead, which they held until the bottom of the seventh when Rebecca Horesky homered to left field off Allison Moore to score two runs and make the final score 7-2.
Moore earlier came in to the game for Alabama's starter, Blair Potter, and got out of a bases loaded, one-out jam in the fourth inning with a strikeout and a popup. Moore ended up pitching 3 2/3 innings to get her second win of the year. She allowed two runs on two hits with three walks and two strikeouts. Potter gave up six hits with three strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings.
Praytor led the Tide at the plate going 3-for-4 with one run and one RBI. Alana Towns led Western Kentucky with three hits while Rachelle Boucher was 2-for-4 on the day.
Indiana State bounced back from its first loss in the tournament with a 9-5 win against Winthrop. The Sycamores poured on eight runs in the first three innings but had to stage off a comeback by the Eagles late in the game.
ISU took a 4-0 lead in the second inning on a two-run single up the middle by Katie Armour. After Winthrop scored its first run of the game in the top of the third, the Sycamores answered with four more runs to take an 8-1 lead. Lindsey Starwalt had the big hit of the inning with a triple to left center to drive in a run.
Mallory Hogan added a run to the Eagles' side with a double to the gap in right center, scoring Laura Hill who reached on an error. Rachel McCleary gave ISU its ninth run with a home run to lead off the sixth inning. Winthrop tried to come back in the seventh when they led off the inning with back-to-back singles by Lisa Kingsmore and Stephanie Reid. Jenny Scrymgeour then hit a three-run shot to center field to cut the lead to four but that would be as close as they would get, falling to the Sycamores 9-5.
Starwalt, Christina Meyers and Yvette Tovar each had two hits for Indiana State while four of the first five hitters in the order for Winthrop each recorded two hits. Scrymgeour had a big day going 2-for-4 with four RBI and one run scored while Reid scored twice in the game.
No. 22 N.C. State started the day with a 2-1 victory over Western Kentucky. The Wolfpack jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the first inning on a two-run single by the pitcher, Abbie Sims. The hit helped Sims out on the mound as well as she went on to retire seven straight batters with five straight strikeouts.
Rebecca Horesky broke the streak in the top of the fourth when she recorded the Hilltoppers' first hit of the contest, a solo home run to left field. North Carolina answered with three runs in the bottom half of the frame. Claudia Cooper tallied a pinch-hit two RBI double and Heather Gelbard drove a deep shot to center field for her third home run of the season.
Sims only allowed one hit in the final three innings to close out the complete game. She gave up two hits and one run in the game with two walks and 10 strikeouts to improve to 5-2 on the season. Gelbard went 2-for-4 in the game to lead the Pack. Jennifer Kempf received the loss for WKU to fall to 2-6 on the season. She pitched six innings and allowed five unearned runs on six hits with three walks and two strikeouts.
The second game of the day was a low-scoring affair but had an exciting finish. Trailing 2-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh, N.C. State loaded the bases with two outs and Gelbard laced a walkoff single to the right side to score two runs and give the Wolfpack a 3-2 victory.
N.C. State and Winthrop were scoreless through the first three innings with only one hit apiece. The first run didn't come until the bottom of the fourth inning when Jen Chamberlin hit a solo home run to left field. The home run was the third of the season for Chamberlin and 39th of her career, moving her into a tie for second in ACC history.
The Eagles came back to tie the game in the next inning. Jacqueline Trottier came around to score after pinch-running for Laura Hill who singled earlier in the inning. Winthrop then took the lead in the sixth inning when Hilary Peacock singled to right field to drive in Stephanie Reid.
Shaina Ervin helped N.C. State improve to 9-4 on the season pitching seven innings with one earned run on four hits, one walk and five strikeouts. Megan Evans received the loss with three runs on six hits in 6 2/3 innings with three walks and three strikeouts. State's Shanna Smith went 3-for-3 with a run scored to lead all hitters on the day.
The final day of the tournament will begin with the #2 seed Indiana State facing the #3 seed N.C. State at 9:30 a.m. Top-seeded Alabama will then go head-to-head with #4 seed Winthrop at 11:30 a.m. The winners of the two games will meet in the championship game at 1:30 p.m.
